Before Completion (火水未济)
Upper Fire (☲ Li) · Lower Water (☵ Kan)
Meaning (1518 summary)
Not yet across: one last step remains — the closer to the end, the more careful.
Original Chinese judgment (通行本《周易》): 「亨。小狐汔济，濡其尾。」
The English above is 1518's plain summary of the hexagram's theme, not a canonical translation. For a canonical public-domain English translation, see James Legge, The Yî King (1899). Line texts (yao ci) are not reproduced here.
Structure
Before Completion is built from two trigrams: the upper is 离 (☲, Fire) and the lower is 坎 (☵, Water). Reading the hexagram starts from the image of the two trigrams together, then settles onto the theme above.
How this hexagram is used
In divination, the primary hexagram (Before Completion) frames the present situation. If your cast produces a moving line, it marks where change is happening, and the changed hexagram shows where things are heading. Cast a hexagram to see whether you draw this one.
Cast an I Ching hexagramNote
The Chinese judgment is the source text; the hexagram structure and casting are deterministic implementations of public traditional rules. Interpretation is a traditional cultural reference, not professional advice. See all 64 in the hexagram index, and the Chinese page at 火水未济.