山地剥
Hexagram 23 describes a time of erosion and decline — when yin forces have accumulated to the point where only a single yang line remains at the top. The counsel is not to fight this process but to understand it, conserve what can be conserved, and wait for the natural reversal that always follows such extremes.
剥：不利有攸往。
阴盛剥阳、根基剥落之时：不宜有所往，宜静守待时。
Interpretive translationSplitting Apart. It does not further one to have somewhere to go.
彖曰：剥，剥也，柔变刚也。不利有攸往，小人长也。顺而止之，观象也。君子尚消息盈虚，天行也。
象曰：山附于地，剥；上以厚下安宅。
山附着于地，下剥则上危；在上者效法它，厚待下民以安其位。
剥床以足，蔑贞凶。
象曰：剥床以足，以灭下也。
The leg of the bed is split. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
剥床以辨，蔑贞凶。
象曰：剥床以辨，未有与也。
The bed is split at the edge. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
剥之，无咎。
象曰：剥之无咎，失上下也。
He splits with them. No blame.
剥床以肤，凶。
象曰：剥床以肤，切近灾也。
The bed is split up to the skin. Misfortune.
贯鱼，以宫人宠，无不利。
象曰：以宫人宠，终无尤也。
A shoal of fishes. Favor comes through the court ladies. Everything acts to further.
硕果不食，君子得舆，小人剥庐。
象曰：君子得舆，民所载也。小人剥庐，终不可用也。
There is a large fruit still uneaten. The superior man receives a carriage; the inferior man's house is split apart.
Structure
Bo is formed by Mountain (Gen ☶) above Earth (Kun ☷). Five yin lines rise from below, leaving only one yang line at the very top — the mountain barely standing above the plain, its foundation almost entirely eroded. The upper trigram Gen represents stillness and the last remnant of solidity; the lower Kun represents the vast, receptive earth that has absorbed almost everything. The image is of a house whose supports have been eaten away from below.
Core meaning
Bo is one of the most challenging hexagrams in the sequence, but it is not a hexagram of catastrophe — it is a hexagram of natural process. Just as winter follows autumn, just as the moon wanes after it is full, there are times when what has been built must diminish before it can be renewed. Recognizing this as a natural cycle rather than a personal failure is the first step toward navigating it wisely.
The traditional counsel for Bo is to not act — specifically, to not attempt to advance or force outcomes during this period. The inferior forces (represented by the rising yin lines) are in the ascendant, and direct confrontation with them is unlikely to succeed. The wise response is to withdraw, conserve energy, and maintain what integrity remains.
The single yang line at the top is precious. It represents the seed of the next cycle — the kernel of genuine quality that will survive the current decline and eventually generate renewal. Protecting that seed, not squandering it in futile resistance, is the primary task.
In Liuyao readings, Bo often appears when a situation is genuinely deteriorating and the querent needs to accept this rather than deny it. It can signal the end of a relationship, the decline of a project, the erosion of a position. The hexagram asks for honest assessment and graceful withdrawal rather than desperate clinging to what is already lost.
In divination
When Bo appears in a reading, the primary question is: what needs to be released? The hexagram counsels against forcing outcomes and against investing further in what is already declining. It asks the querent to identify what is genuinely worth preserving and focus their energy there.
Bo is challenging for questions about advancement, new ventures, or situations requiring active effort. It is more relevant for questions about endings, transitions, and how to navigate a period of loss or decline with dignity.
Move from research into a real reading
If this page helped you frame the question, the next step is to run a reading with that same clarity.