I Ching · Hexagram 12 of 64
Hexagram 12: Pi （否） — Standstill
Earth below heaven: heaven rises and earth sinks, so they never meet, and the gentleman departs while the small man sinks. Its marks are the wrong men everywhere and much given with little gained. Yet the worst of times is also the best, for the hexagram shows how, step by step, to turn small men into gentlemen and obstruction back into peace.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 12 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Pi 否 · Standstill |
| Upper trigram | Qian （乾）· Heaven |
| Lower trigram | Kun （坤）· Earth |
| Structure | Heaven over Earth |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Pi: the wrong men. It is not favorable for the gentleman to be steadfast. The great departs, the small arrives.
ExplainedPi is not poverty but the company of the wrong: the men one meets are false, and even the holy ones keep away, so that the world is filled with a violent and demonic air. To stay upright in such a time is hard, and one is mocked and pushed aside. Much given and little gained is the opposite of peace: hard work with no fulfillment, deep love for one's children with scant return, and a life of resentment. Such a time is precisely the season for saving others.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
Pi: the wrong men. It is not favorable for the gentleman to be steadfast; the great departs and the small arrives. It means heaven and earth do not unite and all things fail to pass through; above and below do not unite and the world has no true state. Within, yin; without, yang; within, yielding; without, firm; within, the small man; without, the gentleman. The way of the small man grows, the way of the gentleman wanes.
ExplainedWhen heaven and earth do not unite, nothing passes through, as in a desert where rain never reaches the ground. In human affairs the worthy and the holy have no meeting with the crowd, so the people have no home to turn to. Inner yin and outer yang, soft within and hard without, mean the hypocrite, virtue on the surface and corruption beneath; and when such men lead, the small man's way grows and the gentleman's wanes.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
Heaven and earth do not unite: Pi. Thus the gentleman is sparing in his virtue and avoids hardship; he does not let himself be honored with revenue.
ExplainedWhen heaven and earth do not meet and the gentleman must withdraw, he lives sparingly to avoid disaster and refuses honors and salaries. In a bad age wealth and rank are a share in the general corruption; a cultivator lives on little and spends his leisure growing in the hall of practice.
The Six Lines （六爻）
The lines are read from the bottom upward. Each carries its own text, a Small Image commentary, and a plain-English reading.
Line 1 · YinLine 1
Pulling up the couch grass with its roots joined: steadfastness brings good fortune. Success.
Small ImagePulling up the grass, steadfast and fortunate: his will is toward the prince.
ExplainedThis is the same image as in Peace, but used for the hardened. Not one by one, but by turning the most notorious and influential of them, whose change brings a whole company of his kind along; and let him be raised not by bribery but by a true resolve to be a gentleman.
Line 2 · YinLine 2
Bearing and accepting: the small man is fortunate; the great man, in obstruction, finds success.
Small ImageThe great man, obstructed yet successful: he does not throw the group into disorder.
ExplainedThe small man, though resolved, is still heavy with old habit, and must be borne with and given room to change. The great man takes on the filth and troubles of such company and finds his own peace inside the burden, without letting the crowd disorder his center.
Line 3 · YinLine 3
He bears the shame.
Small ImageBearing the shame: his place is not fitting.
ExplainedThe small man, touched by teaching, begins to feel shame: he holds back the spite, the gossip and the craving, and begins to keep the precepts. The struggle still hurts, but he is on the way.
Line 4 · YangLine 4
There is a command: no blame. His fellows share the blessing.
Small ImageThere is a command, no blame: his will is carried out.
ExplainedIf one holds out in patience, heaven's mandate descends and he is given a task by which old debt is cleared. Then a divine light shines over some part of his life, over home or work or health, and his will is carried out.
Line 5 · YangLine 5
He restrains the obstruction: the great man is fortunate. It is perishing, it is perishing, thus he binds himself to the mulberry tree.
Small ImageThe great man's good fortune: his place is right and fitting.
ExplainedThe small man's heart is checked and put away, and the great man is fortunate, for his breadth of heart fills the air with the Way. Yet keep the danger in view: the new resolve is a young mulberry shoot that caterpillars will devour, and there is no relaxing at the end.
Line 6 · YangLine 6
He overturns the obstruction. First obstruction, then joy.
Small ImageWhen obstruction ends it is overturned; how could it last long?
ExplainedWhen the test is fully passed and the beings are tended, the obstruction topples and turns over. Life is heavy in every role until practice turns it to joy; once the shoot grows into a great tree, the joy is real. That is the true turning of obstruction into peace.
Key takeaway
In the worst of times, live sparingly and turn from honors: the work is to turn small men into gentlemen, one by one.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 12 (Pi) mean in the I Ching?
Earth below heaven: heaven rises and earth sinks, so they never meet, and the gentleman departs while the small man sinks. Its marks are the wrong men everywhere and much given with little gained. Yet the worst of times is also the best, for the hexagram shows how, step by step, to turn small men into gentlemen and obstruction back into peace.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 12?
Pi: the wrong men. It is not favorable for the gentleman to be steadfast. The great departs, the small arrives. Pi is not poverty but the company of the wrong: the men one meets are false, and even the holy ones keep away, so that the world is filled with a violent and demonic air. To stay upright in such a time is hard, and one is mocked and pushed aside. Much given and little gained is the opposite of peace: hard work with no…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 12 say?
Line 1: Pulling up the couch grass with its roots joined: steadfastness brings good fortune. Success. Line 2: Bearing and accepting: the small man is fortunate; the great man, in obstruction, finds success. Line 3: He bears the shame. Line 4: There is a command: no blame. His fellows share the blessing. Line 5: He restrains the obstruction: the great man is fortunate. It is perishing, it is perishing, thus he binds himself to the mulberry tree. Line 6: He overturns the obstruction. First obstruction, then joy.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 12 (Standstill)?
In the worst of times, live sparingly and turn from honors: the work is to turn small men into gentlemen, one by one.
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