I Ching / Hexagrams / Splitting Apart

23. Splitting Apart

Splitting Apart / Decay

DeclineErosionLetting goPatienceAcceptance of loss

Trigrams

Upper: Mountain
Keeping StillMountainEarth
Lower: Earth
ReceptiveGroundEarth

The Judgment

Splitting Apart. It does not further one to go anywhere.

The Image

Mountain above earth — the mountain's base erodes. Five yin lines eat away at the single remaining yang. Autumn strips the tree bare.

Interpretation

Things are falling apart, and there is little you can do to stop it. This is not the time for action but for acceptance. Like leaves falling from a tree in autumn, what is being lost must be lost so that renewal can eventually come. The inferior forces are in ascendance and the superior person can only wait. Do not act rashly or try to hold together what is naturally dissolving.

Advice

Accept the current decline. Don't fight it or try to force things to hold together. Withdraw, rest, and wait. Autumn always gives way to spring, but trying to keep the leaves on the tree only exhausts you.

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