剥
GUA 23 · BO
DECOMPOSING
Overall Image (大象)
The mountain depends on the earth
Decomposing
Superiors, accordingly, are generous to subordinates
Confirming their positions▼
Overall Image (大象)
The mountain depends on the earth
Decomposing
Superiors, accordingly, are generous to subordinates
Confirming their positions
The mountain towers over the earth. A mighty pile of stones indeed, but no threat to time’s dominion. Compelled by long ages of erosion and gravity, its impressive stature is slowly surrendered for the sake of a broader base. Thus the wise will learn to minimize what they hoard, and to give generously to common and regular people who support them from below. Piles of wealth become talus and scree, or charity. Redistribution will happen, but this can be voluntary and sent to where it does the most good. Only a few can dwell at the top, but the least oppressive can stay there the longest. As life does with its seed, the best wealth to carry also weighs the least.
Main Judgment (Decomposing) (卦辞)
Not worthwhile to have somewhere to go▼
Main Judgment (Decomposing) (卦辞)
Not worthwhile to have somewhere to go
Simply by definition, any endeavor or thing which isn’t sustainable must some day cease to occur or exist. These things will tend to take care of themselves, with a little assist from gravity. Time in unknown quantities will even take care of social reform. To move in enduring ways, then, means allowing the heavy to fall, the old to die, the weak to be eaten and the low to fill up. To move with the time is to move along with least effort. Suppose you have an enemy with self-destructive behavior. Would you give him a reason to rally and fight for his life? It will not end at decay: when husks go seeds takes a turn. Lasting perfection is not more important to nature than death and rottenness are. Seeds do not sprout out of nice-looking fruit. So to not give up will mean giving downwards. In his tower high on the hill, the uppity one will try to sleep smugly, up on his bed of complacency. Had he passed a few of his excesses downward, the mob would not now be coming to get him, seeking to lay him low, hoping to catch this useless encumbrance napping. But it’s only a bad situation for things as they are; it is good for things as they will be. Try going in that direction.
Key Words (关键词)
Curtail, abridge, cut back, trim excess, pare down, deprive, skin, strip, flay, ruin▼
Key Words (关键词)
Curtail, abridge, cut back, trim excess, pare down, deprive, skin, strip, flay, ruin
Ground, downgrade, stabilize, consolidate, broaden base, return to basics, reduce Deterioration, breakdown, overthrow, destabilization, deconstruction, insecurity Overripeness, dross rotting around a seed, nourishment from decay, germination Germaneness, essentials; pruning; concessions for sustainability, wide foundation Leaving what should be left, carrying on with less but with stability; lightening up
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Sovereign Gua, 9th Moon (Oct)
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Saturn in Earth
planet:Saturn
element:Earth
Tarot
card:Ace of Pentacles
suit:Pentacles
Qabalah
note:Kether in Assiah
sphere:Kether
The Lines
11st • YangDepriving the bed of its legs
To dismiss (such)* persistence is unfortunate▼
1
1st • YangDepriving the bed of its legs
To dismiss (such)* persistence is unfortunate
23.1x Depriving the bed of (its) legs:
Thereby to cover up the lowly
There are gnawing sounds in the dark, and slander afoot in the realm. For a while the intrigue goes unnoticed, but even the littlest rat bites add up. All that they want is a few small and simple concessions. Too many have been too hungry too long and thanks to this poor inspiration they have nothing better to do. The thought or the basis upon which he comforts himself is not a stable foundation. It is weak in the basics, with poor legs to stand on. The lowliest things should be the most firm; the heavier things are better stepped on than carried. Underestimating the problem is, in fact, the problem and believing conditions are stable will bring collapse even closer. Better to set the bed on the floor and hit bottom while still up above. Much cannot hide below the legless bed: no ghosts or assassins, no monsters or thieves.
22nd • YangDepriving the bed of distinction
To dismiss (such)* persistence is unfortunate▼
2
2nd • YangDepriving the bed of distinction
To dismiss (such)* persistence is unfortunate
23.2x Depriving the bed of (its) frame:
Still not finding support
His bed with its elegant frame sets him apart from the others. He is comforted by his thoughts of how very special he is. But now he climbs home for some rest at the end of the day and discovers his bed overturned, all of his loose change gone, and maybe some of his secrets as well. The warning is implied: he has carried too much weight to these heights and wrapped himself up in himself. This frame of reference, that gives him his sense of security, is less than reliable now. Now his boundaries and his identity are problems instead of solutions. This attitude upon which he rests comes under attack from below. To possess a good resting place, a comfort zone, or a cushion in the center of who you are, is a fine and peaceful thing. But defining this in terms of the envy of others is begging for sleepless nights and bad dreams.
33rd • YangCurtailing itself is not a mistake▼
3
3rd • YangCurtailing itself is not a mistake
23.3x Curtailing itself is not a mistake:
Let go of high (and) low
There is a place in this world for that which would topple all towers, or overthrow sleepers and tyrants, destroying their plush, purple couches. Deep in the untouched forest, life is in balance with death, but not locked in combat: the new will grow out of the old, the quick will grow out of the rotten. Pruning, restraint and self-limitation all will serve healthy growth. But we still want to move with the time, as gravity will show patience with mountains, taking one stone a year, with only occasional drama. Nor should one try to pop a pimple too soon. When the process is hurried, lessons of value may not be learned well enough. But bet in the end on decay, of everything not acting like seed. Then the trick with letting things go is simply to shed the stuff that gets in the way of tomorrow, letting gravity do the work of hauling this all away.
44th • YangStripping the bed for its flesh
Ominous▼
4
4th • YangStripping the bed for its flesh
Ominous
23.4x Stripping the bed for (its) flesh:
Cutting close to disaster
The natural consequence of unsustainable behavior is in extinction of that behavior. The sleeper awakens to very bad news. Many do not wish him well here and carry the weapons to prove it. There are even a few he thought were his friends, including his chief of security. They say he was given fair warning about being a greedy rat, but somehow he needed their envy. If reasons and pleas cannot pierce his covers, then maybe the knives and swords will. Even as too late as yesterday, his fortunes might have turned. To have given it all away back then was a bargain. Gravity has the force of a law: you can do many things inside its structure and even find ways to fly. But gravity now describes this one’s plight, and soon there might be a grave to sleep in. This is cutting things far too closely: just hope this is merely prediction.
55th • YangA stringline of fishes
By way of the palace inhabitants’ sponsorship*
Nothing cannot be turned to advantage▼
5
5th • YangA stringline of fishes
By way of the palace inhabitants’ sponsorship*
Nothing cannot be turned to advantage
23.5x By way of the palace inhabitants’ sponsorship:
An outcome with no complaints
With an ugly breakdown of order in progress, the rebels march up to the wealthier parts of the town. Because our subject lives in a tower, and his tower sits high up on the hill, the rebels might think to take this one down too. So they march up the hill with their stones. But this one’s servants have been treated well, and greet the rebels at the front door and invite them in for hot baths and refreshments, and wise stories told by His Lordship. Witnesses here attest to his character. The rebels straighten and dust off their clothes, and prepare for rational talk. An astronomer, philosopher and a noble: who’d have guessed it? He has done his best when he could have done only his most. The past catches up and it isn’t so bad. They make him an honorary rebel. It is great to have friends in low places too. Someone went fishing with chum.
6Top • YangThe ripest fruit is not eaten*
The noble young one gains ground
As the common people tear down their own shacks*▼
6
Top • YangThe ripest fruit is not eaten*
The noble young one gains ground
As the common people tear down their own shacks*
23.6x The noble young one gains ground:
The people (are) those who uphold (one)
* (As) the common people tear down (their own) shacks:
In the end not fit to be used
The tree has been thoroughly shaken and picked, and gravity did its duty as well. The only fruit remaining is spared for its ripe old age, the fittest and best example, the one that none will begrudge. The one thought too green, too high or not worth the effort will find its way down to the soil. It’s just how things will shake out, the most natural selection. The hasty are consumed. When decomposition goes this far things will soon work themselves out. The angry mob runs riot, and burns its own slum to the ground. The lord of the land gets his land back oddly unspoiled, made fertile again by the ashes. The rebellion burns itself out. This does not need to call itself justice. It is merely appropriate for unsustainable things to self-destruct now. The rot will only attack the weak, the worms get at the dead fruit, the seed is set free.
Reference in Original Text & Resources
This content is derived from Bradford Hatcher's THE BOOK OF CHANGES: Yijing, Word By Word.
Original text for Hexagram 23 begins on Page 198-206.
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