Splitting Apart
- In Chinese
- 剝 bō
- Above
- Keeping Still, mountain
- Below
- The Receptive, earth
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castWhat hexagram 23 means
Hexagram 23 describes a time of decay, when what was built is being worn away from below. Five broken lines have risen under a single whole line at the top.
The judgment advises against setting out. In Legge's words “it will not be advantageous to make a movement in any direction whatever”.
Legge reads its lesson in one word. The one who remains is told “to wait”.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
剝不利有攸往。
SPLITTING APART. It does not further one To go anywhere.
it does not further it is not favorable
The image
山附於地，《剝》。上以厚下安宅。
The mountain rests on the earth: The image of SPLITTING APART. Thus those above can ensure their position Only by giving generously to those below.
What the commentaries say
The commentary on the judgment gives the reason for not moving. It is that “the small men are (now) growing and increasing”.
The same commentary says what the wise person does in such a time. He “stops all forward movement” and watches how decrease and increase follow one another.
The image is a mountain resting on the earth. From it the commentary draws a rule for whoever stands above others. They “seek to strengthen those below them, to secure the peace and stability of their own position”.
Wilhelm gives the same rule in plainer words. Those above keep their place “Only by giving generously to those below”.
Legge places the hexagram in the calendar. It belongs to “the ninth month, when the beauty and glory of summer have disappeared”.
The six lines
First line
剝床以足，蔑貞凶。
The leg of the bed is split. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
misfortune it goes badly
The harm begins at the lowest point. Legge notes that the attempt “is made by commencing with the legs of the couch”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 27, Nourishment
Second line
剝床以辨，蔑貞凶。
The bed is split at the edge. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
misfortune it goes badly
The same harm has moved up. In Legge's note “the foe has advanced from the legs to the frame of the couch”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 4, Youthful Folly
Third line
剝之无咎。
He splits with them. No blame.
no blame there is no mistake in it
This line stands among those who overthrow and is not at fault. Legge explains that it “differs from the others in being the correlate of 6”, the one whole line at the top.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 52, Keeping Still
Fourth line
剝床以膚，凶。
The bed is split up to the skin. Misfortune.
misfortune it goes badly
The harm reaches the person. Legge writes that “From line 4 the danger is imminent”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 35, Progress
Fifth line
貫魚以宮人寵，无不利。
A shoal of fishes. Favor comes through the court ladies. Everything acts to further.
nothing that does not further everything is favorable
Here the picture turns. The broken lines follow one another “as if strung together”, led toward the whole line above them, and the text speaks of advantage.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 20, Contemplation
Sixth line
碩果不食，君子得輿，小人剝廬。
There is a large fruit still uneaten. The superior man receives a carriage. The house of the inferior man is split apart.
no verdict
The one whole line is left standing. The text calls it “a great fruit which has not been eaten”, and Legge reads that its subject “survives, and acquires fresh vigour”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 2, The Receptive
Hexagram 23 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 23 unchanging, what remains is the advice of the judgment. It is not a time to set out, and the image asks those above to strengthen those below.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 23 mean?
It describes a time of decay in which pushing forward does not help. The judgment says “it will not be advantageous to make a movement in any direction whatever”.
What does hexagram 23 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 23 that is the advice not to set out, and the rule that those above strengthen those below.
What does hexagram 23 changing to 2 mean?
It is hexagram 23 with its top line moving. That line speaks of “a great fruit which has not been eaten”, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 2.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Po in James Legge. Splitting Apart in Wilhelm and Baynes.
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