Hexagram 41 of 64 · Mountain ☶ over Lake ☱
Decrease
Sǔn
Decrease — giving up what is below to strengthen what is above; sincerity with two small bowls beats ceremony with none.
The Judgment
Decrease combined with sincerity brings supreme good fortune without blame. One may be persevering in this. It furthers one to undertake something. How is this to be carried out? One may use two small bowls for the sacrifice.
The Image
The lake at the foot of the mountain: the lake gives up its depth to feed the mountain’s height. The wise person controls their anger and restrains their instincts — decrease of the lower self is increase of the higher.
Hexagram 41 Meaning
Loss, reduction, simplification — but not misfortune. The hexagram is about decrease that strengthens: pruning the tree, spending the savings on the essential thing, giving up a pleasure for a purpose. The judgment is startlingly practical: if you have only two small bowls to offer, offer them sincerely and it is enough. Sincerity is the currency, not scale. Decrease of what is lower (anger, impulse, excess) is increase of what is higher (character, focus, capacity).
Decrease in Love
Simplify. The relationship may need less — fewer demands, fewer expectations, less performance — so that what remains is real. If you are facing a loss in love, the hexagram reframes it: something below is being given up so something above can grow. Sincerity matters more than gesture; the two small bowls are the honest, modest offering that a partner values more than any grand one. Restrain anger and impulse; the relationship gains what you give up.
Decrease in Career & Money
Cuts, reductions, a leaner period. The hexagram says this can be good fortune if done sincerely and purposefully — trimming to the essential, sacrificing a lesser project for a greater one, taking the pay cut for the right role. It favours undertaking something within the reduction. Do not confuse decrease with failure; the lake feeds the mountain. Keep your temper and your discipline while resources are thin.
What to Do
Give up what is lower to build what is higher. Simplify with purpose. Offer what you have sincerely, even if it is only two small bowls. Restrain anger; that is the first thing to decrease.
Decrease as a Yes or No
maybe
Yes if you are willing to give something up for it — the answer depends on accepting a decrease sincerely.
The Trigrams
Above: Mountain (艮 Gèn) — keeping still — stillness, boundary, the youngest son.
Below: Lake (兌 Duì) — the joyous — pleasure, openness, the youngest daughter.
The Six Lines of Decrease
Read when the line is moving (a 6 or 9 in the cast). Bottom line first.
- 1
Line 1 · yang
Going quickly when one’s tasks are finished is without blame, but one must reflect on how much one may decrease others: help others promptly, but do not give so much that you become a burden.
- 2
Line 2 · yang
Perseverance furthers, to undertake something brings misfortune — without decreasing oneself one is able to bring increase to others: serve without self-abandonment; keep your dignity.
- 3
Line 3 · yin
When three people journey together, their number decreases by one; when one man journeys alone, he finds a companion: two is the right number — a third causes jealousy; alone, one is completed.
- 4
Line 4 · yin
If a man decreases his faults, it makes the other hasten to come and rejoice, no blame: honest self-correction draws people to you.
- 5
Line 5 · yin
Someone does indeed increase him, ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it, supreme good fortune: unstoppable blessing arrives — fate is on your side.
- 6
Line 6 · yang
If one is increased without depriving others, there is no blame; perseverance brings good fortune, it furthers one to undertake something, one obtains servants but no longer has a separate home: giving to all without loss — the whole world becomes your household.
Will Decrease Appear in Your Cast?
Cast the coins on your own question — free, instant, with every moving line explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does hexagram 41, Decrease, mean?
Loss, reduction, simplification — but not misfortune. The hexagram is about decrease that strengthens: pruning the tree, spending the savings on the essential thing, giving up a pleasure for a purpose. The judgment is startlingly practical: if you have only two small bowls to offer, offer them sincerely and it is enough. Sincerity is the currency, not scale. Decrease of what is lower (anger, impulse, excess) is increase of what is higher (character, focus, capacity).
What does Decrease mean in love?
Simplify. The relationship may need less — fewer demands, fewer expectations, less performance — so that what remains is real. If you are facing a loss in love, the hexagram reframes it: something below is being given up so something above can grow. Sincerity matters more than gesture; the two small bowls are the honest, modest offering that a partner values more than any grand one. Restrain anger and impulse; the relationship gains what you give up.
What does Decrease mean for career and money?
Cuts, reductions, a leaner period. The hexagram says this can be good fortune if done sincerely and purposefully — trimming to the essential, sacrificing a lesser project for a greater one, taking the pay cut for the right role. It favours undertaking something within the reduction. Do not confuse decrease with failure; the lake feeds the mountain. Keep your temper and your discipline while resources are thin.
Is hexagram 41 a yes or a no?
Decrease answers "maybe". Yes if you are willing to give something up for it — the answer depends on accepting a decrease sincerely.
Previous hexagram
40. Deliverance
release
Next hexagram
42. Increase
gain
Last updated: August 30, 2026
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