15-1 井Jǐng, well ( 一字一太極 100 stories of Chinese Characters )

Radical 15-1 井Jǐng, well

“ Whoever is sitting in the bottom of a well sees only

a small portion of heaven! ”

“Here we see an old well surrounded by four walls; a square lid covers the top so that people do not fall into it!”

Archaeologists have discovered that early wells were made out of wood. They were usually very deep and wooden lids were used so that people did not fall into them. This helps us to understand the graphical representation of the

character 井Jǐng. From this word, we can create油井Yóujǐng oil-well

礦井Kuàngjǐng mineshaft.

“Well” can also be used to mean “valley” because people from the same valley share the same well. People living in the valley drink from the well their whole life.

離鄉背井 Líxiāng bèijǐng “to turn around and leave your well“, is a saying which is used when a person leaves the place of his or her birth and goes

to live somewhere far away.

In the book I-Ching we find the following expression:

井養而不窮也 改邑不改井，乃以剛中也

Jǐng yǎng ér bù qióng yě. Gǎi yì bù gǎijǐng, nǎi yǐ gāng zhōng yě.

“The lord of the manor inspires his people diligently

just as the well gives them its water”.

People come and go, taking water from the well but it never goes dry. Cities can be moved but not the well, it neither overflows nor goes dry, just as the lord of the manor does not waver in his resolve, in spite of any problems he may have.

The upper trigram of 井Jing is ☵（坎 kǎn ）which means water, and the lower trigram is ☴（巽 xùn）which represents wood. In ancient times, wells were lined with wooden panels to prevent mud mixing with the water and wooden buckets were used to collect the water.Water can be both beneficial and

damaging to society.

井泥不食,舊井无禽

Jǐng ní bù shí,jiù jǐng wú qìn .

"No one drinks from a muddy well. Not even animals go to an old well. "

People that receive this hexagram should look within themselves and try to improve (try to cultivate the virtues they possess). The water from the well is fresh and clear. The people that drink it will attract other people and will be prosperous.