I Ching · Hexagram 23 of 64
Hexagram 23: Bo （剥） — Splitting Apart
Bo is Mountain over Earth: the mountain rests on the earth and its soil and stone slide away, the image of dissolution. Five yielding lines strip one firm line, the yin strong and the yang weak, the sign of splendor spent and fortune in decline. When small men strip the noble and morality sinks, poverty and sickness follow; the time calls for rest and concealment rather than advance, and the hexagram moves from a single person's sleep and health to the stripping of a whole society, ending in the recovery that comes through sharing.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 23 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Bo 剥 · Splitting Apart |
| Upper trigram | Gen （艮）· Mountain |
| Lower trigram | Kun （坤）· Earth |
| Structure | Mountain over Earth |
| Lines | 6 lines |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Splitting Apart. It is not favorable to go anywhere.
ExplainedTo be stripped is to be peeled away like the last leaves of autumn, and when yin flourishes the yang declines, so the text warns against advancing, contending or seeking. The time calls instead for rest, for keeping one's light hidden and cultivating the self; where morality has sunk Heaven does not aid, poverty and sickness come together, and every manner of debt and demon draws near. Hold and do not attack; keep life and work simple, and best of all take this hour to cultivate the Way, for when the yang grows the difficulty passes.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
Splitting Apart means stripping away; the yielding changes the firm. It is not favorable to go anywhere: the small man grows. Be compliant and rest: this is contemplating the image. The noble one honors the waning and the waxing, the full and the empty: this is the course of Heaven.
ExplainedThe good is stripped away as the yielding rises to change the firm: the small man displaces the noble one, good fortune turns to bad and health to sickness. The small man's power grows in three forms, the greedy and selfish, the violent and resentful, and the foolish who follow blindly, and when the many are of this kind the road cannot be forced and one must stop. Follow the yielding and rest upon the mountain, watching the rise and fall of yin and yang, for when the yang wanes it only rests and when the yin is full it must empty; Heaven governs the turn and no human strength reverses it, so the noble one keeps his vitality and waits for the dawn.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
The mountain rests upon the earth: Splitting Apart. Thus those above make the foundation thick and the dwelling secure.
ExplainedWhen the mountain crumbles into the earth, those in high places should learn to make the base thick and the home secure, so that even if they cannot make the people rich they can at least give them a roof and a root and a place to rest. Mencius taught that only a scholar can keep a constant heart without constant means, and where the young have no ground to stand on, resentment and revolt are born; so the ancient kings built dwellings on state land and let the people live in them, giving them rest enough to cultivate the heart.
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
He strips the bed at its feet. Contempt for steadfastness. Misfortune.
Small ImageHe strips the bed at its feet: thus he destroys what is below.
ExplainedThe feet of the bed are eaten and sleep is disturbed: a mind lively at night and dull by day shows that the yin is strong and splitting has begun. To make light of holding one's right thought, the single center, is misfortune, for vitality, blessing and health are already leaking away beneath notice.
Line 2 · YinLine 2
He strips the bed at its frame. Contempt for steadfastness. Misfortune.
Small ImageHe strips the bed at its frame: he has nothing to lean on.
ExplainedThe frame of the bed is rotten and the couch about to fall: restlessness has become sleeplessness, and the yin has climbed from the feet upward. To seek outside brings nothing back, for fortune has decayed and the search returns empty; if one relies only on medicine and daytime sleep and does not mend the heart, the stripping deepens.
Line 3 · YinLine 3
He strips it away. No blame.
Small ImageHe strips it away without blame: he loses both above and below.
ExplainedTo strip away is to resolve once and for all to tear out bad habits, harmful friends and the three poisons of greed, anger and delusion. So doing, one can repair the past and begin again. To lose both above and below means that elders may not understand and old companions no longer fit, yet precisely this cutting away is the birth of a new life.
Line 4 · YinLine 4
He strips the bed down to the skin. Misfortune.
Small ImageHe strips the bed down to the skin: disaster is close at hand.
ExplainedIf one still will not tear out the wrong thought and habit, the yin enters the body and reaches the skin: no longer sleeplessness alone but sickness and calamity, low resistance and illness after illness. Disaster is now a neighbor, and debts and grievances come seeking; where the yin is strong the protecting spirits withdraw and the demons press in, and the inner disease spreads into outer harm.
Line 5 · YinLine 5
A string of fish. He is favored with the palace women. Nothing that is not favorable.
Small ImageHe is favored with the palace women: in the end there is no blame.
ExplainedFish move in ordered ranks, and the cold and resentful women of the palace become a string of fish when a wise queen leads them in one direction and reconciles them. To be favored with them is to pass from mutual injury to mutual cherishing, and so from loss to gain. The pivot of this reversal is the absence of blame in the heart, for where husband and wife, relatives and companions bear with one another, the stripping turns back to return.
Line 6 · YangLine 6
A great fruit is not eaten. The noble one obtains a carriage; the small man's hut is stripped.
Small ImageThe noble one obtains a carriage: the people carry him.
ExplainedOne great fruit remains on the autumn tree, the last yang amid the yin, and it is not eaten so long as one who has blessing, cleverness or wealth shares it with others. The noble one is carried by the people whom he serves, while the small man who takes all and shares nothing loses in the end even the roof of his hut, the very root of his life.
Key takeaway
Splitting Apart calls for rest and concealment while the small strip the noble, and shows that recovery comes at last through sharing.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 23 (Bo) mean in the I Ching?
Bo is Mountain over Earth: the mountain rests on the earth and its soil and stone slide away, the image of dissolution. Five yielding lines strip one firm line, the yin strong and the yang weak, the sign of splendor spent and fortune in decline. When small men strip the noble and morality sinks, poverty and sickness follow; the time calls for rest and concealment rather than advance, and the hexagram moves from a single person's sleep and health to the stripping of a whole society, ending in the recovery that comes through sharing.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 23?
Splitting Apart. It is not favorable to go anywhere. To be stripped is to be peeled away like the last leaves of autumn, and when yin flourishes the yang declines, so the text warns against advancing, contending or seeking. The time calls instead for rest, for keeping one's light hidden and cultivating the self; where morality has sunk Heaven does not aid, poverty and…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 23 say?
Line 1: He strips the bed at its feet. Contempt for steadfastness. Misfortune. Line 2: He strips the bed at its frame. Contempt for steadfastness. Misfortune. Line 3: He strips it away. No blame. Line 4: He strips the bed down to the skin. Misfortune. Line 5: A string of fish. He is favored with the palace women. Nothing that is not favorable. Line 6: A great fruit is not eaten. The noble one obtains a carriage; the small man's hut is stripped.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 23 (Splitting Apart)?
Splitting Apart calls for rest and concealment while the small strip the noble, and shows that recovery comes at last through sharing.
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