The sixty-four hexagrams end with Weiji, leaving a situation in which the crossing is not yet complete. A young fox nearly crosses a river but wets its tail, a wheel needs holding back, and the final line moves from drinking wine to a wet head. It neither treats incompletion as hopeless nor mistakes proximity to completion for success already achieved.
未济 is hexagram 64 in the traditional King Wen sequence, with the symbol ䷿. Its lower trigram is 坎☵ and its upper trigram is 离☲, traditionally associated with water and fire respectively. Count the lines from the bottom: 初六, 九二, 六三, 九四, 六五, 上九. A solid line is yang; a broken line is yin. Nine and six identify yang and yin in the line labels; they do not add extra lines.
Line structure (bottom to top): 0 1 0 1 0 1
Six-line figure, displayed top to bottom; line numbering starts at the bottom.
━━━━━━━━━ 上九
━━━━ ━━━━ 六五
━━━━━━━━━ 九四
━━━━ ━━━━ 六三
━━━━━━━━━ 九二
━━━━ ━━━━ 初六
The judgment
未濟：亨。小狐汔濟，濡其尾，无攸利。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Before completion: favorable progress. The young fox is almost across but wets its tail. Nothing is advantageous.
Legge understands Weiji as a goal not yet achieved. The young fox reminds us that caution can still be lost close to completion. He also notes that the Changes does not end in permanent perfection, but leaves change continuing for the reader.
For modern study, state exactly what “not yet finished” means: a missing necessary condition, a delivery action, or a goal that remains unclear? Honestly marking the gap helps the next step more than hiding it behind “nearly,” “should be,” or “probably.”
Sources: zhouyi-64, legge1882-64
Interpretation in the Ten Wings
The Commentary on the Judgment and the Commentary on the Images belong to the Yi Zhuan, the commentaries usually called the “Ten Wings.” Here their explanations are kept distinct from the judgment and line texts, before turning to modern applications for study.
The Commentary on the Judgment points to an inability to carry the undertaking through, while noting that firm and yielding lines still correspond despite occupying improper positions. The Commentary on the Images depicts fire above water and proposes carefully distinguishing things and placing them appropriately. The traditional structural explanation retains the possibility of further adjustment.
This article applies that to distinguishing and arranging different matters: what is finished, what awaits someone else, and what needs renewed judgment. Order does not arise from declaring completion, but from establishing actual conditions one by one.
初六 · At the outset, check whether the necessary conditions are present
濡其尾，吝。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: The tail is wet. Embarrassment.
The opening line repeats the wet-tail image. Legge continues the judgment’s young-fox reading while noting that some commentators understand another animal. Symbolic interpretation therefore has more than one possibility.
Before proceeding, check that the most basic information and tools are available. Having begun does not mean you must maintain the original speed throughout. Adjustment after discovering a gap still has value.
Sources: zhouyi-64, legge1882-64
九二 · The ability to advance includes timely restraint
曳其輪，貞吉。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Holding back the wheel. Constancy is favorable.
Holding back the wheel prevents rash forward movement. Legge interprets it as self-command and cautious action.
If the final check is unfinished, clearly explain why delivery is paused and what remains to be done. The pause should serve completion rather than become an indefinite, unexplained shelving of the work.
Sources: zhouyi-64, legge1882-64
六三 · Preserve a difficult passage rather than forcing its tension into a slogan
未濟，征凶，利涉大川。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Not yet across: advancing is unfavorable; crossing the great river is beneficial. The tension in this wording remains unresolved here.
The line says both that advancing is unfavorable and that crossing the great river is beneficial, creating a clear tension. Legge explicitly calls it difficult and records an older suspicion that a negative word is missing. This article retains the classical wording used here without inserting a character.
For modern study, let this raise a question about conditions for action without claiming to resolve every textual difficulty. Actions both called “advancing” may differ in preparation, method, and support. Specific judgment still needs facts; one cannot choose whichever half of a contradictory sentence endorses an impulse.
Sources: zhouyi-64, legge1882-64
九四 · Sustained responsibility requires real support, not will alone
貞吉，悔亡，震用伐鬼方，三年有賞于大國。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Constancy is favorable; regret disappears. Vigor is used in attacking the Guifang; after three years, rewards come from the great state.
The ancient text returns to the campaign against the Guifang and rewards after three years. Legge connects it with a long, difficult undertaking supported by others. The wartime setting should be preserved honestly.
An ordinary project can use this to examine which resources, cooperation, and recognition sustained work needs. Warfare cannot become a template for present-day divisions into friends and enemies, and persistence for three years does not guarantee a reward.
Sources: zhouyi-64, legge1882-64
六五 · Near maturity, make trustworthy conduct visible
貞吉，无悔，君子之光，有孚，吉。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: Constancy is favorable, without regret. The exemplary person’s light: there is trust. Favorable.
The exemplary person’s radiance is joined with trust. Legge emphasizes the roles of humility, support, and sincerity here.
A nearly completed result can clearly show what has been verified and which limits remain. Credibility comes from quality and honest explanation. It need not conceal small unresolved matters to create a spotless image of brilliance.
Sources: zhouyi-64, legge1882-64
上九 · Celebration is possible while retaining limits
有孚于飲酒，无咎，濡其首，有孚失是。
Original editorial rendering, not a quotation from Legge: With trust in drinking wine, no blame. When the head is wet, trust loses what is right.
Trustful drinking is initially granted no blame, but wetting the head then signals a loss of appropriate judgment. Legge reads a boundary between enjoyment and excess, not a simple ban on all relaxation.
After a stage is completed, celebration is possible, but necessary handover and safety arrangements still need confirming. This article does not encourage drinking to prove trust or attribute a loss of proportion to destiny.
Sources: zhouyi-64, legge1882-64
Closing the last gap before a course is released
Original modern scenario
Most of a course is ready, with only citation checks and trial-listening feedback outstanding. The author lists these matters clearly rather than declaring everything complete because the page already looks attractive.
A trial reveals an easily misunderstood explanation. She revises the example and asks another reader to check it again. Material that cannot yet be verified is removed or clearly limited rather than having its gaps filled with confident wording.
After formal delivery, she keeps a channel open for later corrections and allows herself to celebrate this stage. Learning from Weiji does not mean that every result is forever inadequate. It means distinguishing a sufficient completion standard from unfinished parts that still deserve honest acknowledgment.
Avoiding misreadings
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Weiji does not mean permanent failure or guarantee future success. It cannot excuse endlessly delayed delivery.
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River-crossing, military, and drinking images are not practical guidance for risk-taking, warfare, or alcohol use. Three years is not a deadline for success.
Three exercises
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Replace “almost finished” with separate, explicit lists of completed items and remaining gaps.
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Determine how to verify the last necessary gap rather than relying only on your own satisfaction.
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Define completion for this stage and the ordinary updates that can still be accepted afterward.
Related reading
Jiji — After Completion (hexagram-63): Jiji reminds us that completion still needs maintenance; Weiji reminds us to identify conditions even close to the finish. Both acknowledge continuing change while allowing clear, responsible judgments that particular stages are complete.
When reading Weiji, ask: what do I actually still lack, and how will I confirm that filling it makes this stage ready for confident delivery?
Textual note
The third line retains the base text’s 征凶，利涉大川 and explicitly identifies the interpretive difficulty recorded by Legge. The fourth follows 大國 in the base text’s main reading, without substituting the variant 邦.
Sources
Source: zh · hexagram-64 · SHA256 992b4ee468c11c5d34aa8d44502231ab9d6fca316af91bfe30fd18ff2c300b7d
Translation status: complete_translation_pending_review; independent editorial review: pending_translation_review; human native-speaker/expert review: not performed; unpublished.