Before Completion
The Little Fox Crossing
The crossing nearly made: the fox that wets its tail at the last step gains nothing by coming close.
Hexagram 64 places Li, fire, above Kan, water, and closes the King Wen sequence. Fire rises and water sinks, so the two draw apart instead of acting upon each other, and every line in the figure stands in the position opposite to the one it should hold, the exact inversion of After Completion, which precedes it. The Judgement promises success, then adds that if the little fox, having almost completed the crossing, gets his tail in the water, there is nothing that would further. The Image has the superior man take care in the differentiation of things, so that each finds its place.
Light
Signifies the threshold of achievement and potential not yet realised. It stands for the careful sorting of things into their proper places, by which an unfinished situation is brought to order.
Shadow
Can indicate carelessness at the final step, a task abandoned near its end, and forces working at cross purposes. It may mark hope taken for accomplishment before the crossing is made.
