否 → 萃

Commentary

Heaven and earth refuse to communicate as broken baskets and worn-out hampers are cast aside upon the road. Crumbling, pierced, and ruined, they are no longer considered treasures. From Standstill to Gathering, Pi's sealed world meets the lake resting upon the earth — Cui's image of people naturally congregating. Yet the verse presents the antithesis of gathering: not assembly but abandonment, not collection but discarding. What was once a container for valuable things is itself discarded when it can no longer hold. Gathering demands readiness — 'preparing arms against the unexpected' — and these broken vessels have failed that test. The verse warns that stagnation does not merely halt progress; it degrades the very instruments of preservation until they are fit only for the roadside.