剝Peeling Away
bōAlso known as “Splitting Apart” (Wilhelm/Baynes) and “Po” (Legge)
In plain words
The mountain worn down by the earth beneath: yin has grown until one yang line remains at the top. Not a time to go anywhere; the structure is peeling away.
The attitude it asks for
Hold still, give generously to those below, and preserve the last seed — the big fruit at the top is not eaten and will sprout again.
Structure
卦辭 The Judgment
剝：不利有攸往。Po indicates that (in the state which it symbolises) it will not be advantageous to make a movement in any direction whatever.
剝，剝也，柔變剛也。不利有攸往，小人長也。順而止之，觀象也。君子尚消息盈虛，天行也。Po denotes overthrowing or being overthrown. We see (in the figure) the weak lines (threatening to) change the (last) strong line (into one of themselves). That 'it will not be advantageous to make a movement in any direction whatever' appears from the fact that the small men are (now) growing and increasing. The superior man acts according to (the exigency of the time), and stops all forward movement, looking at the (significance of the) symbolic figures (in the hexagram). He values the processes of decrease and increase, of fulness and decadence, (as seen) in the movements of the heavenly bodies.
山附地上，剝；上以厚下，安宅。(The trigrams representing) the earth, and (above it) that for a mountain, which adheres to the earth, form Po. Superiors, in accordance with this, seek to strengthen those below them, to secure the peace and stability of their own position.
爻辭 The six lines
When one line moves, the hexagram becomes another:
- 上九Nine at the top
碩果不食，君子得輿，小人剝廬。
The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject (as) a great fruit which has not been eaten. The superior man finds (the people again) as a chariot carrying him. The small men (by their course) overthrow their own dwellings.
Its symbolism 君子得輿，民所載也。小人剝廬，終不可用也。
'The superior man finds himself in a carriage:'—he is carried along by the people. 'The small men (by their course) overthrow their own dwellings:'—they can never again be of use to them.
- 六五Six in the fifth place
貫魚，以宮人寵，无不利。
The fifth line, divided, shows (its subject leading on the others like) a string of fishes, and (obtaining for them) the favour that lights on the inmates of the palace. There will be advantage in every way.
Its symbolism 以宮人寵，終无尤也。
'He obtains for them the favour that lights on the inmates of the palace:'—in the end there will be no grudge against him.
- 六四Six in the fourth place
剝床以膚，凶。
The fourth line, divided, shows its subject having overthrown the couch, and (going to injure) the skin (of him who lies on it). There will be evil.
Its symbolism 剝床以膚，切近災也。
'He has overthrown the couch, and (proceeds to injure) the skin (of him who lies on it):'—calamity is very near at hand.
- 六三Six in the third place
剝之，无咎。
The third line, divided, shows its subject among the overthrowers; but there will be no error.
Its symbolism 剝之无咎，失上下也。
That 'there will be no error on the part of this one among the overthrowers' arises from the difference between him and the others above and below.
- 六二Six in the second place
剝床以辨，蔑貞凶。
The second line, divided, shows one overthrowing the couch by injuring its frame. (The injury will go on to) the destruction of (all) firm correctness, and there will be evil.
Its symbolism 剝床以辨，未有與也。
'He destroys the couch by injuring its frame:'—(the superior man) has as yet no associates.
- 初六Six at the beginning
剝床以足，蔑貞凶。
The first line, divided, shows one overturning the couch by injuring its legs. (The injury will go on to) the destruction of (all) firm correctness, and there will be evil.
Its symbolism 剝床以足，以滅下也。
'He overthrows the couch by injuring its legs:'—thus (he commences) his work of ruin with what is lowest (in the superior man).
Shown in the classical Chinese with James Legge's English (1882).
Read 剝 Peeling Away for a question about
古籍
From the classics
Two of the Ten Wings speak of every hexagram: the Sequence (Xù Guà) says why it follows the one before, the Miscellany (Zá Guà) sums it up in a phrase. Here is what they say of 剝 bō · Peeling Away.
致飾然後亨，則盡矣，故受之以剝；剝者剝也。Adornment carried to the full brings success, and then it is spent; therefore Bō follows. Bō means stripping away.
iching.tools translation (from the Chinese)
剝爛也，復反也。Bō is decay; Fù is return.
iching.tools translation (from the Chinese)
The classical Chinese is the authoritative text. Translations are iching.tools' own from the Chinese unless another translator is named; several attributions are traditional rather than historical (託名).
Questions about this hexagram
- What does Hexagram 23, Peeling Away, mean?
- The mountain worn down by the earth beneath: yin has grown until one yang line remains at the top. Not a time to go anywhere; the structure is peeling away.
- Which trigrams form Peeling Away?
- 艮 above 坤 — mountain over earth. Its nuclear hexagram (lines 2–5) is 坤 Earth.
- What happens when a line of Peeling Away changes?
- A moving line turns the hexagram into another one; the list above shows all six. With several moving lines, the guide to changing lines explains which text to read.
- How do I get Peeling Away in a reading?
- Build six lines from the bottom up with three coins or yarrow stalks; the pattern - - - - - - - - - - — is Peeling Away. You can also cast a reading here — the lines are decided by code, the text is this page's.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).