Hexagram 23 of 64
剝 Bō · Splitting Apart
上 艮 Mountain (Gèn) over 下 坤 Earth (Kūn)
Shed one thing and be the lighter.
Judgment
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, judgment. English translation in preparation.
Image
In short: a mountain on the earth.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, Great Image. Short gloss by Koyonari; full translation in preparation.
Commentary
Bō portrays a mountain resting on the earth, its earth sloughing away layer by layer, leaving less and less behind. Bō speaks of subtraction: today is not the hour for addition. Discard one burden, and each remaining task becomes lighter. What crumbles away is not all loss; much of it was never yours to shoulder.
Koyonari commentary.
The Six Lines
“The bed is split at the feet; subverting steadfastness brings misfortune.” Erosion begins at the bed's legs, damaging the foundation that supports it. ‘Destroying steadfastness’ means harming or abandoning the right path; ‘misfortune’ indicates an unfavorable situation. The first line of Bō uses the image of ruined bed legs to show that, although erosion begins below, it is already shaking the basis on which stability depends.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 1. Koyonari translation.
“Stripping the bed by its legs: to destroy what is below.” Erosion begins from the legs of the bed; the Xiang Commentary indicates that shadowy forces are secretly undermining the foundation from the lowest level, shaking the fundamental basis of security.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 2. Koyonari translation.
“The bed is split at the frame; subverting steadfastness brings misfortune.” Erosion moves upward from the bed's legs to the place where they join its body. Biàn refers here to this junction between the lower and upper parts. The right path continues to suffer damage, so the judgment remains ‘misfortune’, an unfavorable situation. Compared with the first line, the erosion has come still closer to the bed's body.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 3. Koyonari translation.
“Stripping the bed at the frame: there is as yet no partner.” Erosion spreads to the dividing joints between the bed's legs and frame; the Xiang Commentary explains that six in the second place stands isolated, lacking a proper yang responder in a higher place for mutual alliance and support.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 4. Koyonari translation.
“Splitting apart from them; no blame.” Amid erosion, it is still possible to separate from companions who are jointly undermining the right path. The third line corresponds to the top line, showing that it does not join the surrounding lines in continuing to damage the right path. Thus there is ‘no blame’, meaning no fault. What is commendable in this line is its departure from an improper group.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 5. Koyonari translation.
“Stripped, yet no blame: parting from above and below.” Escaping blame during stripping, the Xiang Commentary says one parts from above and below: six in the third place responds to the yang of top nine, leaving the yin lines around it.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 6. Koyonari translation.
“The bed is split to the flesh; misfortune.” Erosion no longer damages only the bed's legs and body; it approaches the skin of the person lying there, bringing harm close to the person themselves. ‘Misfortune’ indicates an unfavorable situation. Previously, the supports on which stability depended were being destroyed. By the fourth line, erosion has advanced to the point of directly endangering the person.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 7. Koyonari translation.
“Stripping the bed to the flesh: disaster is intimately close.” Erosion reaches the body's skin; the Xiang Commentary explains that the calamity has pressed against the flesh, making the disaster so immediate and grave that it is judged perilous.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 8. Koyonari translation.
“A string of fishes, winning favor like palace attendants; nothing that is not favorable.” The image is of fish arranged in sequence on a string, and palace women receiving favor in order. The fifth line represents leading those of its kind to submit to the top line, no longer successively stripping it away. ‘Nothing unfavorable’ means there is no disadvantage; what is affirmed is an orderly, yielding relationship.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 9. Koyonari translation.
“Favored like palace attendants: in the end there is no fault.” Receiving favor like palace ladies in orderly succession, the Xiang Commentary explains this is because six in the fifth leads the yin lines to serve the yang of top nine in good order, ultimately incurring no resentment or fault.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 10. Koyonari translation.
“A large fruit remains uneaten. The noble person gains a carriage; the petty person's hut is split open.” A large fruit remains uneaten, representing something still preserved when stripping away reaches its final stage. The noble person, meaning someone of virtue, gains a carriage, symbolizing the support of the people. The petty person, meaning someone who harms the right path, tears down their own house, damaging even their place of shelter. This shows the different outcomes of preserving the right path and continuing to destroy it.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 11. Koyonari translation.
“The noble person gains a carriage: borne by the people. The petty person strips his hut: unusable in the end.” The noble person wins a carriage because, as the Xiang Commentary puts it, he is “borne by the people,” meaning supported by the populace; the petty person tears down his own shelter, rendering himself ultimately useless.
Zhouyi, hexagram 23, line 12. Koyonari translation.