Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
Outer trigram (upper)
Cấn
Mountain · Earth
Inner trigram (lower)
Khôn
Earth · Earth
Judgment
剝：不利有攸往.
Translation
Splitting Apart (stripping away): unfavorable to go anywhere.
Commentary
Kun above, Gen below. Five yin lines strip away from below, leaving only a single yang line at the top. Yin (the small-minded) grows strong while yang (the noble person) weakens. This is not a time to act. The noble person recognizes the moment and settles into their circumstances, waiting it out.
Line Readings
Line 1 (yin)
初六：剝床以足，蔑貞，凶.
Translation
Line 1, yin: stripping the legs of the bed, scorning what is right — misfortune.
Commentary
The small-minded begin stripping from the bottom up, undermining the foundation (the bed's legs) and treating what is right with contempt. Misfortune.
Line 2 (yin)
六二：剝床以辨，蔑貞，凶.
Translation
Line 2, yin: stripping the frame of the bed, scorning what is right — misfortune.
Commentary
The stripping continues, reaching the frame of the bed itself; the destruction grows more serious.
Line 3 (yin)
六三：剝之，无咎.
Translation
Line 3, yin: stripped away, yet without fault.
Commentary
Though yin, line 3 corresponds with the yang line at the top and takes no part in the destructive work of the other yin lines — so it is without fault.
Line 4 (yin)
六四：剝床以膚，凶.
Translation
Line 4, yin: stripping down to the skin (of the one lying on the bed) — misfortune.
Commentary
The small-minded now strip right down to the person themselves. The danger is extreme — this is the worst of it.
Line 5 (yin)
六五：貫魚，以宮人寵，无不利.
Translation
Line 5, yin: fish strung together, like palace women winning favor — nothing is unfavorable.
Commentary
Centered and yin, line 5 leads the other yin lines (strung together like fish) to follow the single yang line above. Like a palace attendant who wins the ruler's favor through skill, she leads others toward a good outcome.
Line 6 (yang)
上九：碩果不食，君子得輿，小人剝廬.
Translation
Top line, yang: a large fruit left uneaten, its seed kept for planting; the noble person is carried off in a cart, the small-minded lose their own house.
Commentary
The single remaining yang line is like a large fruit whose seed survives to sprout again. Those who follow the noble person are carried to safety; the small-minded, having stripped everything bare, lose the very shelter over their heads.