剝 → 泰
Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart → Hexagram 11: Peace
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 2).
Line 1
初六 剝牀以足。蔑貞凶。
Six at the beginning means: The leg of the bed is split. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
Line 2
六二 剝牀以辨。蔑貞凶。
Six in the second place means: The bed is split at the edge. Those who persevere are destroyed. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
日出阜東，山蔽其明。章甫薦屨，箕子佯狂。
The sun rises east of the hill, but the mountain blocks its brightness. A ceremonial cap offered in place of sandals; Jizi feigns madness.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain upon earth erodes, but earth and heaven exchange places to form Peace. The sun rises east of the hill, yet the mountain blocks its light — brilliance present but obstructed. Then comes the devastating image: a ceremonial cap used as shoe-padding, and the Viscount of Ji feigning madness. The cap-as-insole reverses the proper order of high and low, while Ji Zi — uncle of the tyrant Zhou of Shang — pretended insanity to survive the collapsing dynasty. Both images describe a world turned upside down, where wisdom must disguise itself as folly. From Splitting Apart to Peace, the paradox deepens: true peace requires passing through the inversion. Heaven descends, earth rises, and only by enduring the humiliation of a cap ground underfoot can the sage preserve what matters until the cosmic order rights itself.
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