Decrease

Decrease is not automatically deprivation. The judgment links trust, great good fortune, no blame, steadiness, and purposeful movement with an offering made using two guǐ—ritual food vessels. The image suggests adequacy without display: a reduced offering can still be fitting. Modern restraint should protect what matters, distribute burdens fairly, and never ask vulnerable people to absorb cuts designed for someone else's convenience.

The judgment joins trust with great good fortune, no blame, the possibility of steadfastness, and advantage in having somewhere to go. It then asks what may be used and answers: two guǐ may be used for the offering. Guǐ are ritual food vessels, not ordinary baskets. The point is not that scarcity is sacred, but that a modest, properly offered provision can be sufficient within the rite.

Mountain over Lake is the trigram structure. The lower trigram └ represents stillness held beneath, while the upper trigram ☲ shows a lake whose waters have been drawn down. Later Image Commentary turns the relation into an ethical practice of checking anger and limiting desire. That teaching belongs to the commentary tradition and should not justify emotional suppression or arbitrary austerity.

In modern use, decrease is a design question: what can be reduced while preserving function, dignity, and trust? Cut duplication before care, status display before safety, and private excess before shared essentials. Consult the people who bear the effect. Restraint becomes harmful when sacrifice is imposed downward or when genuine needs are mislabeled as desire. A sound decrease clarifies purpose and frees capacity for a responsible direction, making room for what matters by removing what does not.