Hexagram 12: Pǐ (Standstill)

The Judgment

In Pi there is the want of good understanding between the (different classes of) men, and its indication is unfavourable to the firm and correct course of the superior man. We see in it the great gone and the little come.

否：否之匪人，不利君子贞，大往小来。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

'The want of good understanding between the (different classes of) men in Pi, and its indication as unfavourable to the firm and correct course of the superior man; with the intimation that the great are gone and the little come:' - all this springs from the fact that in it heaven and earth are not in communication with each other, and all things in consequence do not have free course; and that the high and the low (superiors and inferiors) are not in communication with one another, and there are no (well-regulated) states under the sky. The inner (trigram) is made up of the weak and divided lines, and the outer of the strong and undivided: the inner is (the symbol of) weakness, and the outer of strength; the inner (represents) the small man, and the outer the superior man. Thus the way of the small man appears increasing, and that of the superior man decreasing.

彖曰：否之匪人，不利君子贞，大往小来。则是天地不交而万物不通也，上下不交而天下无邦也。内阴而外阳，内柔而外刚，内小人而外君子，小人道长，君子道消也。

The Great Image

(The trigrams of) heaven and earth, not in intercommunication, form Pi. The superior man, in accordance with this, restrains (the manifestation) of) his virtue, and avoids the calamities (that threaten him). There is no opportunity of conferring on him the glory of emolument.

象曰：天地不交，否；君子以俭德辟难，不可荣以禄。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first SIX, divided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. With firm correctness (on the part of its subject), there will be good fortune and progress.

   'The good fortune through firm goodness, (suggested by) the pulling up of the grass,' arises from the will (of the parties intended) being bent on (serving) the ruler.

   In plain words: Pulling up couch grass, its roots come up together with others of its kind; steadfastness brings good fortune and success. The words almost repeat the first line of Tai, but this is a time of blockage: here the noble person and their kind hold to what is right and withdraw together, not going with the current. The Small Image says their aim is still with the ruler, not forgetting the world.

   初六：拔茅茹，以其汇，贞吉亨。 象曰：拔茅贞吉，志在君也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second SIX, divided, shows its subject patient and obedient. To the small man (comporting himself so) there will be good fortune. If the great man (comport himself) as the distress and obstruction require, he will have success.

   'The great man, comporting himself as the distress and obstruction require, will have success: - 'he does not allow himself to be disordered by the herd (of small men).

   In plain words: Bearing and going along: good fortune for petty people; for the great person, holding firm through the blockage brings success. "Going along" means deferring to and flattering those above. The Small Image says the great person succeeds in the blockage by not mixing with the crowd of petty people.

   六二：包承。小人吉，大人否亨。 象曰：大人否亨，不乱群也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third SIX, divided, shows its subject ashamed of the purpose folded (in his breast).

   That 'his shame is folded in his breast' is owing to the inappropriateness of his position.

   In plain words: Bearing shame. The third line is weak, neither central nor correct, at the top of the lower trigram of blockage: what it does is shameful, and it does not know it. The Small Image says its position is not proper.

   六三：包羞。 象曰：包羞，位不当也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject acting in accordance with the ordination (of Heaven), and committing no error. His companions will come and share in his happiness.

   'He acts in accordance with the ordination (of Heaven), and commits no error:' - the purpose of his mind can be carried into effect.

   In plain words: Acting on the mandate, there is no fault; companions share in the blessings. The fourth line is the first of the upper trigram: the blockage is half over and about to change. Acting in step with the times, its companions all share in the good. The Small Image says its aims are carried out.

   九四：有命无咎，畴离祉。 象曰：有命无咎，志行也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): In the fifth NINE, undivided, we see him who brings the distress and obstruction to a close,--the great man and fortunate. (But let him say), 'We may perish! We may perish!' (so shall the state of things become firm, as if) bound to a clump of bushy mulberry trees.

   The good fortune of the great man' arises from the correctness of his position.

   In plain words: Bringing the blockage to rest: good fortune for the great person. "It may perish, it may perish!": keep this in mind, and one is as firm as if tied to a clump of mulberry, whose deep roots are hard to pull up. The fifth line is strong, central and correct in the place of honour and can end the blockage; the better things get, the more one should keep danger in mind. The Small Image says this is because its position is right.

   九五：休否，大人吉。其亡其亡，系于苞桑。 象曰：大人之吉，位正当也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The sixth NINE, undivided, shows the overthrow (and removal of) the condition of distress and obstruction. Before this there was that condition. Hereafter there will be joy.

   'The distress and obstruction having reached its end, it is overthrown and removed:' - how could it be prolonged?

   In plain words: The blockage is overturned: first blockage, then joy. The top line is the end of the hexagram; the saying that when blockage reaches its limit, peace returns, comes from this. The Small Image says that at its end the blockage topples: how could it last?

   上九：倾否，先否后喜。 象曰：否终则倾，何可长也。

Line positions

2 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).

The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; being one strong and one weak, they correspond, and both are also in their proper places.

Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 3 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.

Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.

These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.

Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces

Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Qian palace runs: Qián (head), Gòu (1st change), Dùn (2nd change), Pǐ (3rd change), Guān (4th change), Bō (5th change), Jìn (wandering soul), Dà Yǒu (returning soul).

The twelve waxing and waning hexagrams

This is one of the twelve "waxing and waning" hexagrams, matched to the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The series starts from Fu, with one strong line returning at the bottom, grows to Qian, then gives way to weak lines until Kun, tracing the rise and fall of yang through the year; it belongs to the Han-dynasty gua qi system of Meng Xi and Jing Fang.

A recorded case from Takashima

Pi to Cui: talking business with an estranged friend in Tokyo: A Yokohama merchant had a major matter to put to a friend in Tokyo. The top line of Pi, "the blockage is overturned; first obstruction, then joy", led Takashima to say the two had drifted apart, but this time old grudges would clear and the talks would succeed.

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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction.

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