Hexagram 60 · Line 1
Limitation — 初六
Jie · Chu Liu
The Line
Not going out of door and court is no blame.
Interpretation
Often one would like to undertake something, but sees oneself facing insurmountable limits. Here it is a matter of having the insight as to where one must stop. If one understands this rightly and does not go beyond the limits set for one, one gathers a force that enables one to act energetically when the time for it has come. Discretion is of principal importance in the preparation of important matters. Confucius says of this: "Where disorder arises, words are the step thereto. If the prince is not discreet, he loses the servant. If the servant is not discreet, he loses his life. If matters in their seed are not handled discreetly, this harms the completion. Therefore the noble one is careful in concealing and does not go out."