Before Completion
- Upper Trigram
- Fire
- Lower Trigram
- Water
The Judgment
Fire stands above water; the fire rises and the water sinks, each going its own way and not yet meeting — Before Completion is about not yet having crossed over, when everything stands on the threshold and only the last step remains undone. The sixty-four hexagrams set the fullness of After Completion next to last, yet close on Before Completion, and this is the Book of Changes at its most deliberate: the affairs of the world have no true ending, for within every completion hides a new incompleteness, and every incompleteness is itself a fresh beginning. Before Completion is not failure but almost there, not yet arrived — like a little fox that has nearly crossed the river, only to wet its tail at the very end. This hexagram reminds you that the nearer the far bank, the more careful you must be: the great danger now is to slacken, to lose your head with delight at the mere sight of the shore. See your position clearly, set your strength straight, hold your patience, and walk the last stretch steadily — and Before Completion can yet become the crossing. You may be stuck just now at the pass of almost; this hexagram asks you to trust that the threshold is exactly where you must keep your composure — do not, on the very edge of the end, aim your strength wrong.
The Six Lines
First line
Like a little fox that wets its tail while fording, awkward for a moment and caught between going on and turning back. This first line of Before Completion is about rushing at the outset when your strength falls short. To plunge in the instant you see an opening is not always good; while you have not yet gauged how deep the water runs and your strength is still lacking, do not brave the risk — see the road clearly first, and you will not soak yourself at the very start.
Second line
Like dragging the wheel to slow the crossing, holding to what is right is fortunate. This line is about the self-command to touch the brake. The more you long to arrive quickly, the steadier you must be; to slow deliberately and hold your rhythm before you are in place looks like a delay, but it keeps you from losing control at the crucial point — upright and unhurried, you cross more surely and in fact arrive.
Third line
Not yet across; to press rashly forward now brings danger, yet this is just the time that calls for the effort to cross the great river. This line is about the bind of a moment not yet ripe that still cannot wait forever. To force your way is dangerous, but to keep only retreating is no answer either; the key is preparation — build up the strength and the conditions you need, and once you stand firm, brave the passage, for the great river you must cross is in the end yours to cross.
Fourth line
To hold to what is right is fortunate, and regret disappears; like striving in the campaign against the far Demon Land, three years long, at last rewarded by the great state. This line is about breaking through hardship by constancy and uprightness. The real turning is often bought with a long, steadfast effort; do not expect it at a single stroke — keep that undaunted resolve going, and time will slowly bring you the reward that is due.
Fifth line
To hold to what is right is fortunate, with no regret; it is the brightness of the person of character shining from within, carrying sincerity — this is fortunate. This is the ripest line of Before Completion, about lighting the way ahead with inner brightness and good faith. Nearing the point of success, you rely no longer on brute force but on that open, trustworthy quality; when you are clear within and without and full of sincerity, others gladly walk the last stretch with you.
Top line
To drink together in good faith and gladness is without blame; but if the joy goes too far and even the head is soaked, that sincerity too has lost its measure. This line closes Before Completion, and is the very last of all sixty-four, about keeping to measure even as the thing is about to be achieved. Celebrate, yes — but do not lose your head with delight nor tip into abandon at the moment nearest the end. The sixty-four hexagrams do not come here to a full stop; they remind you that completion is never the end — settle the heart, set yourself straight, for the next journey is just about to begin.
Reading the Change
Before Completion is about not yet having crossed, when all stands on the threshold, and it closes the sixty-four hexagrams — within completion hides a new incompleteness, and incompleteness is itself a fresh beginning. From the first line to the top it runs from rushing at the outset with strength falling short and the self-command to brake, through the bind of an unripe moment and breaking through by constancy, to lighting the way with inner brightness, and finally keeping to measure as the thing is about to be achieved. It reminds you that the nearer the end, the more careful you must be — do not aim your strength wrong on the threshold. When a line changes, the emphasis — to slow, to prepare, or to keep measure — shifts at that stage. A change low down mostly asks you to see the road clearly and stay upright and unhurried; a change up top speaks of walking the last stretch with sincerity and brightness, glad without losing measure. Read where the changing line falls, then the resulting hexagram, and you know how this threshold is to be crossed.