Hexagram 23 for work
Hexagram 23 Peeling Away for work and career
At work Bo is the organisation, project or position hollowed out from below: resources, allies and standards stripped a layer at a time while the top still looks intact. The judgment says not to advance, and the Tuan explains why — 'the small people are growing', and the time belongs to decline. The Great Image gives the only constructive move: 'those above make those below thick', securing their position by strengthening the foundation rather than holding on at the summit.
The lines locate the stage. Early (lines one and two) it is unfelt and the correct person stands alone; at line three the right choice is to withdraw from the stripping even at the cost of colleagues; at line four the harm is personal and must be endured; at line five the leader of the many turns them toward order; at line six the last sound thing is the seed of what comes next. A changing line in the lower trigram says watch and do not act; in the upper trigram, hold what is left and prepare for the turn.
The hexagram in brief
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.
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.
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.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 剝 Peeling Away has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginningthe bed's legs · stripping the base · quiet ruin
- 六二Six in the second placethe bed's frame · no allies · decay spreads
- 六三Six in the third placeamong the strippers · yet no blame · loyal to the top
- 六四Six in the fourth placestripping the skin · disaster near · evil
- 六五Six in the fifth placea string of fish · leading the court · favour without fault
- 上九Nine at the topthe great fruit · the carriage · the small man's hut
The same hexagram for
Questions
- What does hexagram 23, Peeling Away, mean for a career question?
- At work Bo is the organisation, project or position hollowed out from below: resources, allies and standards stripped a layer at a time while the top still looks intact. The judgment says not to advance, and the Tuan explains why — 'the small people are growing', and the time belongs to decline. The Great Image gives the only constructive move: 'those above make those below thick', securing their position by strengthening the foundation rather than holding on at the summit.
- What does Hexagram 23, 剝 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).