Hexagram 23, line 3
六三Line 3 of Peeling Away
Six in the third place · 剝 bō
爻辭 The line text
剝之，无咎。The third line, divided, shows its subject among the overthrowers; but there will be no error.
剝之无咎，失上下也。That 'there will be no error on the part of this one among the overthrowers' arises from the difference between him and the others above and below.
In plain words
Line three is 'among the strippers, yet without blame.' It is the one yin line that corresponds to the strong top line, and so, though it sits in the midst of the yielding lines, it belongs with the yang. The small Image puts it as a loss: it 'loses those above and below' (失上下也) — it gives up the company of its yin neighbours at two and four to keep faith with the one at six. 程頤 praises the line for choosing rightness over its own kind; it cannot stop the stripping, but it refuses to take part in it.
If this line is changing
If everyone around you is pulling something down, step out of it even at the cost of their company; keeping faith with what is right is enough here, though it will not win you friends.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 坤 Kun (the Receptive) (earth).
- It corresponds (應) with line 6: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
剝 Peeling Away becomes ䷳ 52 艮 Stillness (Mountain)
Mountain upon mountain: keeping still. Still the back so the self is not felt, walk in the courtyard without seeing the people — rest at the right time, move at the right time.
What it becomes52 · 艮 Stillness (Mountain)gènThe six lines of 剝 Peeling Away
- 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
Read 剝 Peeling Away for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the third place of hexagram 23, Peeling Away, mean?
- Line three is 'among the strippers, yet without blame.' It is the one yin line that corresponds to the strong top line, and so, though it sits in the midst of the yielding lines, it belongs with the yang. The small Image puts it as a loss: it 'loses those above and below' (失上下也) — it gives up the company of its yin neighbours at two and four to keep faith with the one at six. 程頤 praises the line for choosing rightness over its own kind; it cannot stop the stripping, but it refuses to take part in it.
- What does hexagram 23 become when line 3 changes?
- Peeling Away becomes hexagram 52, 艮 Stillness (Mountain): Mountain upon mountain: keeping still. Still the back so the self is not felt, walk in the courtyard without seeing the people — rest at the right time, move at the right time.
- Is line 3 of Peeling Away in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).