Hexagram 23 (Bo / Splitting Apart) - Meaning and Application in the I Ching

What number is the Shan Di Bo hexagram, and which trigram is above which?

The Shan Di Bo hexagram (剝) is the 23rd of the 64 hexagrams in the Zhou Yi ordering, composed of the Gen (Mountain) trigram above and the Kun (Earth) trigram below. The six lines of the hexagram have five yin lines below and one yang line at the top. The name 剝 is read Bo, meaning to peel, to strip, to cause to fall.

The hexagram text records: 剝：不利。有攸往。 Read as: Bo: not favorable. There is somewhere to go. Close meaning: Bo: not favorable. There is a place to go toward.

The Tuan Zhuan writes: 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。 Close meaning: Bo is peeling, the soft changes the firm. Not favorable to have somewhere to go, because the petty person grows. To comply and then stop, is to observe the image. The noble person values the principle of waning and waxing, fullness and emptiness, which is the way of heaven.

The Da Xiang writes: 山附地上，剝；上以厚下，安宅。 Close meaning: Mountain rests upon the earth, this is Bo; the one above thereby makes the below thick, and settles the dwelling.

Tradition attributes the Tuan Zhuan and Xiang Zhuan to Confucius, placing them among the Ten Wings; modern scholarship generally dates these commentaries to roughly the 5th to 2nd century BCE and does not treat that attribution as proven.

What do the six lines of the Shan Di Bo hexagram record?

Below are the line texts according to the classic, together with the Xiao Xiang of each line.

• First line (Sơ luc): 初六：剝牀以足，蔑貞凶。 Read: Sơ luc: Bo sang di tuc, miet trinh hung. Close meaning: Peeling the bed by its foot, destroying correctness brings misfortune. Xiao Xiang: 剝牀以足，以滅下也 (peeling the bed by its foot, is to destroy the lower part).
• Second line (Luc nhi): 六二：剝牀以辨，蔑貞凶。 Read: Luc nhi: Bo sang di bien, miet trinh hung. Close meaning: Peeling the bed up to the frame, destroying correctness brings misfortune. Xiao Xiang: 剝牀以辨，未有與也 (peeling the bed up to the frame, is because there is not yet any ally).
• Third line (Luc tam): 六三：剝之，无咎。 Read: Luc tam: Bo chi, vo cuu. Close meaning: Peeling it, no fault. Xiao Xiang: 剝之无咎，失上下也 (peeling it without fault, is to separate from above and below).
• Fourth line (Luc tu): 六四：剝牀以膚，凶。 Read: Luc tu: Bo sang di phu, hung. Close meaning: Peeling the bed up to the skin, misfortune. Xiao Xiang: 剝牀以膚，切近災也 (peeling the bed up to the skin, is disaster pressing near).
• Fifth line (Luc ngu): 六五：貫魚，以宮人寵，无不利。 Read: Luc ngu: Quan ngu, di cung nhan sung, vo bat loi. Close meaning: Stringing fish, giving favor through palace women, nothing unfavorable. Xiao Xiang: 以宮人寵，終无尤也 (giving favor through palace women, in the end no blame).
• Top line (Thuong cuu): 上九：碩果不食，君子德車，小人剝廬。 Read: Thuong cuu: Thac qua bat thuc, quan tu duc xa, tieu nhan bac lu. Close meaning: The great fruit is not eaten, the noble person gains a carriage, the petty person peels the house. Xiao Xiang: 君子得輿，民所載也。小人剝廬，終不可用也 (the noble person gains a carriage, is what the people carry; the petty person peels the house, in the end cannot be used).

How did Wang Bi and Zhu Xi comment on the Bo hexagram?

Wang Bi's commentary on the first line: "The bed is where a person relies on to be at rest. 'Peeling the bed by its foot' is still speaking of peeling the foot of the bed. 'Miet' also carries the meaning of causing damage. Peeling the foot of the bed is the way of destroying the lower part. When the lower way is first destroyed, the firm falls and the soft grows, then correctness is damaged and misfortune arrives."

Wang Bi's commentary on the second line: "'Miet' is also a phrase of the highest degree. Bien is the part above the foot. The way of peeling seeps and grows, and so it peels its frame. Nearing the bed, it further wants to destroy where the thing rests, making the soft great and damaging correctness. To take that as one's virtue, then things abandon oneself."

Wang Bi's commentary on the third line: "It corresponds with the line above, the yin group peels the yang, only I am in harmony, and though in the time of Bo, one can be without fault."

Wang Bi's commentary on the fourth line: "The first and second lines peel the bed, which is what the people rely on to be at rest, not yet peeling as far as one's own person. By the fourth line the way of peeling seeps and grows, the bed is fully peeled, reaching the person's body, the petty person then flourishes, the thing is about to lose its body, how could it be only damage to correctness, with no place that is not misfortune."

Wang Bi's commentary on the fifth line: "To be in the time of Bo yet in a noble position, is to be the host of Bo. The harm of Bo is that the petty person receives favor and thereby destroys the noble person. If one can grant favor to the petty person, limiting it only to palace women, without harm to correctness, then though those who receive favor are many, in the end there is no fault. 'Stringing fish' speaks of that yin group, lined up head to tail in order, just like a string of fish."

Wang Bi's commentary on the top line: "At the end of the hexagram, alone whole and not fallen, and so the fruit reaches greatness without being eaten. If a noble person is there, they shelter the people; if a petty person uses it, they peel away the shelter below."

Zhu Xi's commentary (Zhou Yi Ben Yi) on the hexagram text: "Bo is falling away. Five yin lines below are growing, one yang line above is about to end, yin flourishes and grows while yang wanes and falls, this is the hexagram of the ninth month. Yin flourishes and yang declines, the petty person is strong and the noble person is afflicted, and moreover the inner is Kun and the outer is Gen, having the image of complying with the time and then stopping, and so one who divines and obtains this hexagram should not have somewhere to go."

Zhu Xi's commentary on the first line: "Peeling rises from below, destroying correctness brings misfortune, and so the divination text is like this. Miet is to destroy."

Zhu Xi's commentary on the second line: "Bien is read as bien. Bien is the bed frame. Advancing, it has gone up."

Zhu Xi's commentary on the third line: "The yin group is in the process of peeling the yang, yet this one alone corresponds with it, leaving the faction and following correctness, this is the way of no fault. One who divines like this obtains no fault."

Zhu Xi's commentary on the fourth line: "The calamity of yin cuts into the body, and so it no longer says 'miet trinh' but says plainly that it is misfortune."

Zhu Xi's commentary on the fifth line: "Fish are yin creatures, palace women are the beauty of the yin rank yet subject to the control of yang. The fifth line is the leader of the yin group, in the process of leading its kind to be controlled by yang, and so it has this image, and one who divines like this has nothing unfavorable."

Zhu Xi's commentary on the top line: "One yang line above, the peeling is not yet complete and it can be reborn. If a noble person is above, they are carried by the yin group; if a petty person is there, they peel everything above, losing their own shelter, and there is no longer the image of the great fruit gaining a carriage. From the image already made clear, and from the noble person and petty person having different divination texts, the feelings of the sage are all the more visible."

According to Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, what does the Bo hexagram speak of?

According to Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, the Bo hexagram describes a phase of decline that unfolds from the root: five yin lines below are gradually growing, one yang line at the top is about to end. The image of a mountain resting on the earth, its base gradually eroded, is a way of speaking about a foundation being worn away before what is above loses its footing. The classic text promises nothing about the outcome; the Tuan Zhuan only speaks of the principle of waning and waxing, fullness and emptiness, as the way of heaven, and the Da Xiang draws out the matter of making the lower part thick so as to settle the dwelling.

According to Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, the line texts from the First to the Fourth draw a sequence of gradual peeling from the foot of the bed to the frame of the bed and then to a person's skin, each step closer. The third line is the different point: a yin line that leaves its faction and corresponds with the yang line at the top. The fifth line places the matter of favoring palace women within the social framework of ancient times, when the relations between ruler and minister and between men and women had their own standards; reading it today, one should regard that as historical context, not turn it into advice for present-day life. The top line speaks of the great fruit not being eaten, that is, the essence that remains, and of two different ways of acting on the part of the noble person and the petty person before the same circumstance.

According to Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, the Bo hexagram is not a promise of collapse, nor is it a guarantee of revival. It is a way of naming a period of gradual wearing away, so that the reader can recognize which segment of the cycle they are in. The Fu hexagram (hexagram 24) stands after it in the ordering of the 64 hexagrams, but the fact that one hexagram follows another in the book does not mean that a person's fortune will automatically reverse.

When encountering the Shan Di Bo hexagram in asking about work, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: first look at where the foundation is being eroded, rather than only looking at the top that is still standing. If the work shows signs of erosion from small details, recording those signs and dealing with them from the root is usually more useful than trying to keep the outer form intact. Major decisions such as changing jobs, investing or expanding should be weighed according to your actual situation, not based on a single hexagram alone.

When encountering the Shan Di Bo hexagram in asking about love, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: if the relationship shows signs of quiet cracking, seek the root of the crack rather than only dealing with the outward manifestation. The hexagram does not decide your union or separation; it is only a way of looking at the structure of the situation. In cases of prolonged hurt, finding a counselor or a professional is usually more useful than speculating on your own from the hexagram.

When encountering the Shan Di Bo hexagram in asking about money, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: the hexagram text records "not favorable, there is somewhere to go," so when reading this hexagram in the context of money, it can be seen as a reminder to consider carefully before expanding a new commitment. Nhật Nguyệt does not give specific investment advice, and no hexagram can replace examining your own numbers, cash flow and risk tolerance.

When encountering the Shan Di Bo hexagram in asking about health, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: the fourth line contains the word "misfortune" and the Xiao Xiang says "disaster pressing near," but that is the wording of the classic in its own context, not a medical diagnosis. If you have health concerns, what needs to be done is to go for an examination and ask a professional, not rely on the hexagram to decide.

When encountering the Shan Di Bo hexagram in asking about a leadership role, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: the Da Xiang writes "the one above thereby makes the below thick, and settles the dwelling," suggesting a direction of paying attention to the foundation and to those below before worrying about one's own position. The fifth line speaks of favor with limits, the top line speaks of two different ways of using power; read in today's context, that can be seen as a suggestion about allocating resources and shelter. This is a suggestion for reflection, not a certain formula for results.

Quick reference table: the Shan Di Bo hexagram

The figures in the table match the results of the lookup tools on Nhật Nguyệt.

Overview article on the topic: What the I Ching is and how to look up the 64 hexagrams