I Ching 23 Hexagram bō (Splitting apart)

I Ching 23 Hexagram bō (Splitting apart)

I Ching 23 Hexagram bō (Splitting apart)

Keywords
Fall. Separation. The earth is missing under the feet.
Short Interpretation of Hexagram 23 – The Crumbling
Wait to make any decision whether in love or profession.

I Ching – General Description

The dark lines are rising and are about to bring down the last strong and clear line as well, corroding it with their action. The ignoble, dark, fights the noble, strong, not directly, but emptying him internally with his imperceptible action, so that he finally collapses. The sign represents the image of a house. The top line is the roof. As the roof crumbles, the house falls apart. The sign is coordinated with the ninth month (August-September). The yin force pulls ever more powerfully closer, and is in the process of completely removing the yang force.

I Ching – Comment on sentence

The crumbling. It is not favorable to go somewhere.

It is a time when the ignoble are pushing forward and are in the process of removing the last strong and noble. As this is inherent in the course of time, for the noble, in such circumstances, it is not propitious to undertake something. Right behavior in such adverse times should be inferred from images and their qualities. The lower sign means the earth, whose qualities are surrender and dedication, the upper sign means the mountain, whose quality is stillness. Therein lies the suggestion to adapt to bad times and to stay still. Here we are not dealing with human machinations, but with conditions of time which also show an alternation of increase and decrease, of fullness and emptiness, according to celestial laws.It is not possible to act against these conditions of time. It is therefore not cowardice, but wisdom, if we give up and avoid taking action.

I Ching – Image

The mountain rests on the earth: the image of crumbling. Thus superiors can secure their position only with rich donations to inferiors.

The mountain rests on the earth. If it is steep and narrow and does not have a wide base, it must collapse. Only by rising from the earth, wide and large, not superb and steep, is its position assured. Thus the rulers rest on the broad base of the people. For them too it is appropriate to be generous and magnanimous like the earth that brings everything; then they will make their position as secure as the stillness of a mountain.

I Ching – Series

If you exceed in the embellishment then the success is exhausted. For this he follows the sign: the Crumbling. Crumbling means ruin.

I Ching – Single Lines

Analytical description of each individual line

I Ching – First line:

Six at the beginning means:
The bed crumbles at the legs. The persevering are annihilated. Woe!

The ignoble approach and begin secretly and from under their destructive work of erosion, to undermine in this way the place on which the noble is resting. The partisans of the sovereign, remaining faithful to him, are annihilated with every slander and machinations. The situation is unfortunate but there is nothing to do but wait.

I Ching – Second line:

The bed crumbles at the edge.
The persevering are annihilated.
Woe!

The power of the ignoble grows. The danger is already approaching one’s person; and there are already clear clues. The quiet is disturbed. While in this dangerous position one is also without help and sympathy both from above and from below. In this isolation it is necessary to use the greatest caution. We must act according to the moment and avoid promptly. If one were to insist rigorously and persistently on one’s point of view, this would lead to ruin.

I Ching – Third line:

Six in the third place means:
He crumbles from them. No stains.

One is situated in the middle of a bad environment with which one is in contact also for external relationships. However, there is an inner relationship with a superior man. In this way, inner firmness is acquired, and one can free oneself from succumbing to the contagious character of the men of the environment. Doing so ends up in conflict with them, but this is by no means a mistake.

I Ching – Fourth line:

Six in the fourth place means:
The bed crumbles to the skin. Misfortune.

The catastrophe reaches one’s body here; no longer just the resting place. No warning or other remark is added. The disaster is at its peak, it can no longer be postponed.

I Ching – Fifth line:

Six in the fifth place means:
A host of fish. The ladies of the palace are favored. Everything is propitious.

Here, in the immediate vicinity of the strong and clear higher principle, the nature of the dark changes. It no longer contrasts the strong principle with a thousand machinations, but submits to its guidance. Indeed, at the head of the other weak, she leads them to the strong, as a princess leads her servants to her consort, similar to a host of fish, thus obtaining her favor. By voluntarily submitting to the superior, the inferior finds his happiness and the superior also obtains his due. Therefore everything ends well.

I Ching – Sixth line:

Nine above means:
Here is a large fruit not yet eaten. The noble receives a carriage. To the ignoble his house crumbles.

The end of crumbling has been reached. When the tragedy is vented, better times return. The seed of good still remains. When the fruit falls to the ground right then from its seed the good grows again. The action of the noble once again becomes influential. He is carried by public opinion as in a carriage. But his own malice falls on the ignoble. His house is shattered. A law of nature is inherent in this. Evil is not only pernicious for the good, but ends up, in its final consequences, also destroying itself; since evil, owing its existence only to negation, cannot exist by itself. Even the ignoble is better off entirely when he is kept under discipline by the noble.