Hexagram of the Day Saturday, August 29, 2026: #23 Splitting Apart (剥)

Bo (剝) means falling away. Five yin lines below are growing while a single yang above is on the verge of exhaustion; yin flourishes and grows while yang wanes and falls away. This is the hexagram of the ninth month.

Yin is rampant and yang declines; the petty person prospers and the noble person is distressed. Furthermore, with The Receptive (Earth) inside and Keeping Still (Mountain) outside, there is the image of following the time and keeping still.

Therefore, whoever obtains it in divination should have nowhere to go.

Using the hexagram's structure to explain the name and meaning of the Gua: it means the yielding advances upon the yang, transforming the firm into the yielding. 'Grows' (zhang) is pronounced zhang in the falling-rising tone.

Using the hexagram's structure and virtue to explain the hexagram statement. Splitting Apart begins from below; wiping out rectitude brings misfortune, hence its divination is such. Mie (蔑) means to extinguish or wipe out.

The Sequence of the Hexagrams says: Adornment means decorating; only after carrying embellishment to the utmost does smooth progress reach its end, hence it is received by Splitting Apart.

When heaven and creatures reach cultural embellishment, smooth progress is at its culmination; when a thing reaches its limit it must reverse, hence the end of Adornment is Splitting Apart.

The hexagram has five yin lines and one yang line; yin first arises from below, gradually growing until it reaches its height, and the host of yin lines strips away and splits apart the yang—hence it is called Splitting Apart.

In terms of the two trigrams, a mountain rests upon the earth; a mountain rises high above the earth yet collapses back upon it, an image of decay and splitting apart.

Splitting Apart is the time when the host of yin lines flourishes, eroding and stripping away the yang; the multitude of petty men strip away and ruin the noble person.

Thus it does not further the noble person to have anywhere to go; he should only speak with gentle compliance, obscure his traces, and ebb and flow with the time to avoid the malice of petty men.

Splitting Apart means to strip away, referring to falling away and peeling off. 'The yielding changes the firm' means that the yielding grows while the firm is transformed.

At the summer solstice a single yin arises and gradually grows; as one yin grows, one yang wanes, until the month of Xu when it reaches the peak and forms Splitting Apart—this is the yielding yin transforming the firm yang.

The way of yin and petty men is currently flourishing, peeling away and eroding the yang; thus it does not further the noble person to have anywhere to go.

'Submissive and keeping still, one contemplates the image; the noble person honors ebbing and flowing, filling and emptying, for such is the movement of heaven.'

When encountering the time of Splitting Apart, the noble person knows that he must not have anywhere to go; yielding to the time and stopping, he is able to contemplate the image of Splitting Apart.

The hexagram possesses the image of submissive stopping, which is the Way of dwelling in Splitting Apart; the noble person must contemplate and embody it. 'The noble person honors ebbing and flowing, filling and emptying, for such is the movement of heaven.'

The noble person keeps in his heart the principles of ebbing and flowing, filling and emptying, and being able to accord with them, he accords with the movement of heaven.

In the order of things there is waning decay and waxing growth, fullness and deficiency; following them brings good fortune, opposing them brings misfortune. The noble person accords with the time and values this, and this is how he serves Heaven.

'The Image says: The mountain rests upon the earth: Splitting Apart. The one above, by enriching those below, secures his house.' Mountain resting on Earth: the mountain rests upon the earth.

The mountain rises high above the earth yet collapses back upon it, an image of ruin and splitting apart.

'The one above' refers to the sovereign and those who dwell above others; observing the image of Splitting Apart, they enrich and solidify those below to make their dwelling secure.

Those below are the foundation of those above; never has a foundation been solid while the structure above split apart. Thus, the splitting apart of what is above always begins from below; if what is below is stripped away, what is above becomes endangered.

Those who are above people, knowing this principle, nourish and pacify the populace to enrich their foundation—this is how they secure their dwelling.

The Book of Documents says: 'The people alone are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is tranquil.'

The Receptive is yielding and Keeping Still is stopping. The reason one 'is yielding and stops,' not daring to use firmness to halt things, is that one contemplates the signs and forms of the time.

If one acts with stubborn rigidity and offensive friction, clashing and colliding only to ruin oneself, once the self is destroyed and no achievement is reached, this is not what the noble person honors.

The Proper Meaning states: 'Splitting Apart' (Bo) means peeling off and falling away. Now yin grows and transforms the firm, so the firm yang peels away and falls; hence it is called Splitting Apart.

Since the petty men have grown dominant, 'it does not further one to have anywhere to go.'

From 'The Commentary on the Judgment says' to 'such is the movement of heaven.'

The Proper Meaning states: 'Splitting Apart means stripping away' explains the name of the hexagram as 'Splitting Apart'; not knowing why it is called 'Splitting Apart,' it explains its meaning as yin growing and stripping away yang.

'The yielding transforms the firm' explains why this hexagram is called Splitting Apart.

'It does not further one to have anywhere to go, for the way of petty men is growing' explains the judgment: when the way of petty men grows and the age is dark and disorderly, how could one advance?

Advancing would only invite disaster, hence 'it does not further one to have anywhere to go.'

'Submissive and keeping still, one contemplates the image' makes clear that in the time of Splitting Apart, when the world lacks the Way, the noble person in his conduct does not dare openly display his firm rectitude, but merely uses yielding compliance to restrain those above, looking only to the sovereign's expressions and demeanor and checking himself accordingly.

'The noble person honors ebbing and flowing, filling and emptying, for such is the movement of heaven' explains why one yields and stops in Splitting Apart.

Contemplating expressions and forms means one must measure the time and adapt to changes, moving in accordance with circumstances.

The noble person penetrates the principles of things and prizes the ebbing and flowing, filling and emptying: when the Way ebbs, he practices the way of ebbing; when the Way waxes, he practices the way of waxing; in times of fullness, he practices the way of fullness; in times of void, he practices the way of void.

If encountering times of waning and emptiness, he preserves his person and avoids harm, 'acting uprightly while speaking meekly.' If encountering times of fullness and growth, he speaks out fully in righteous remonstrance and establishes merits and achievements.

'The movement of heaven' means ebbing and flowing, filling and emptying according to the seasons—this is how the Heavenly Way operates.

In spring and summer, when life begins, the heavenly Qi is magnificent; in autumn and winter, in the harsh culling season, the heavenly Qi wanes and vanishes; hence it is called 'the movement of heaven.'

On the commentary: 'The Receptive is yielding and Keeping Still is stopping' to 'this is not what the noble person honors.'

The Proper Meaning states: 'Not what the noble person honors'—not following the seasonal ebbing and flowing, filling and emptying, but in a disordered age acting with stubborn rigidity and provocative friction, clashing and losing one's life; when the self is ruined and no merit accomplished, 'this is not what the noble person honors.'

The Proper Meaning states: 'The mountain rests upon the earth: Splitting Apart'—a mountain is originally lofty and steep, but now it collapses upon the earth, which is the image of peeling off and falling away, hence 'the mountain rests upon the earth: Splitting Apart.'

'The one above, by enriching those below, secures his house'—the meaning of Splitting Apart arises from below; therefore, those dwelling above must enrich those below and secure the dwelling of creatures to guard against splitting apart.