11/12/2025
I CHING
This hexagram is the opposite of the preceding one. Heaven is above, drawing farther and farther away, while the earth below sinks farther into the depths. The creative powers are not in relation. It is a time of standstill and decline. This hexagram is linked with the seventh month (August–September), when the year has passed its zenith and autumnal decay is setting in.
THE JUDGEMENT
STANDSTILL. Evil people do not further
The perseverance of the superior man.
The great departs; the small approaches.
Heaven and earth are out of communion and all things are benumbed. What is above has no relation to what is below, and on earth confusion and disorder prevail. The dark power is within, the light power is without. Weakness is within, harshness without. Within are the inferior, and without are the superior. The way of inferior people is in ascent; the way of superior people is on the decline. But the superior people do not allow themselves to be turned from their principles. If the possibility of exerting influence is closed to them, they nevertheless remain faithful to their principles and withdraw into seclusion.
THE IMAGE
Heaven and earth do not unite:
The image of STANDSTILL.
Thus the superior man falls back upon
his inner worth
In order to escape the difficulties.
He does not permit himself to be
honored with revenue.
When, owing to the influence of inferior men, mutual mistrust prevails in public life, fruitful activity is rendered impossible, because the fundaments are wrong. Therefore the superior man knows what he must do under such circumstances; he does not allow himself to be tempted by dazzling offers to take part in public activities. This would only expose him to danger, since he cannot assent to the meanness of the others. He therefore hides his worth and withdraws into seclusion.
THE COMMENTARIES
The rulers of the hexagram are the six in the second place and the nine in the fifth. During standstill, those above are out of union with those below. The saying associated with the six in the second place is: “Standstill brings success.” The line refers to a person who takes refuge in his virtue in order to avoid difficulties. The saying associated with the nine in the fifth place is: “Standstill is giving way.” This line refers to someone who transforms standstill into peace. However, the six in the second place is the ruler having the constituting function in the hexagram, while the nine in the fifth place is the ruler that governs it.
The Sequence of the Hexagrams.
Things cannot remain forever united; hence there follows the hexagram of STANDSTILL.
This hexagram is the inverse of the preceding one. Therefore the movements of the trigrams diverge. The trigram Ch’ien above withdraws always farther upward, and K’un below sinks farther and farther down. The two nuclear trigrams, Sun, gentleness, and Kên, Keeping Still, also characterize the hexagram. These trigrams form the hexagram Ku, WORK ON WHAT HAS BEEN SPOILED (18), and in the latter too have the meaning of standstill. The hexagram P’i is linked with the seventh month (August–September).
Miscellaneous Notes.
The hexagrams of STANDSTILL and PEACE are opposed in their natures.
THE JUDGEMENT.
STANDSTILL. Evil people do not further
The perseverance of the superior man.
The great departs; the small approaches.
Commentary on the Decision.
“Evil people of the time of STANDSTILL do not further the perseverance of the superior man. The great departs; the small approaches.”
Thus heaven and earth do not unite, and all beings fail to achieve union.
Upper and lower do not unite, and in the world, states go down to ruin.
The shadowy is within, the light without; weakness is within, firmness without; the inferior is within, the superior without. The way of the inferior is waxing, the way of the superior is waning.
Point for point, these conditions are the opposite of those in the preceding hexagram. Although we are dealing with cosmic conditions, the cause is nevertheless to be sought in the wrong course taken by man. It is man who spoils conditions—aside, naturally, from the regular phenomena of decline occurring in the normal course of life as well as of the year. When heaven and earth are disunited, life in nature stagnates. When those above and those below are disunited, political and social life stagnate. Within, at the center, there should be light; instead, the dark is there, and light is pushed to the outside. Man is inwardly weak and outwardly hard; inferior men are at the center of government, and the superior men are forced to the periphery. All this indicates that the way of the inferior man is on the increase, while that of the superior man is in decrease—just as the dark lines enter the hexagram from below and press upward, and the strong lines withdraw upward.
THE IMAGE.
Heaven and earth do not unite:
The image of STANDSTILL.
Thus the superior man falls back upon
his inner worth
In order to escape the difficulties.
He does not permit himself to be
honored with revenue.
The way to overcome the difficulties of the time of STANDSTILL is indicated in the attributes of the two primary trigrams. K’un means frugality, retrenchment. The three strong lines of the outer trigram Ch’ien, which withdraw, symbolize escape from all the difficulties that arise from the pressing forward of the inferior men. This withdrawal also implies rejection of material rewards. While in the preceding hexagram the gifts of heaven and earth are administered by the superior man, here he stands completely aloof.
