剝 → 遯
Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart → Hexagram 33: Retreat
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
Line 4
六四 剝牀以膚。凶。
Six in the fourth place means: The bed is split up to the skin. Misfortune.
Line 5
六五 貫魚。以宮人寵。无不利。
Six in the fifth place means: A shoal of fishes. Favor comes through the court ladies. Everything acts to further.
Line 6
上九 碩果不食。君子得輿。小人剝廬。
Nine at the top means: There is a large fruit still uneaten. The superior man receives a carriage. The house of the inferior man is split apart.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
新田宜粟，上農得穀。君子惟好，以紆百福。
New fields suit millet well; the skilled farmer reaps grain. The noble man delights in virtue and so gathers a hundred blessings.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain upon earth strips away, and heaven rises above the mountain — Retreat, the wise withdrawal before overwhelming yin. Freshly cleared fields are perfect for millet; the skilled farmer reaps his grain. The gentleman cherishes what is good and thereby gathers a hundred blessings. The verse is surprisingly auspicious for a pairing that begins with decay: the new field succeeds precisely because old growth was stripped away. The 'upper farmer' — one who reads the land correctly — knows which ground has been properly cleared and plants accordingly. From Splitting Apart to Retreat, the mountain's erosion creates the very conditions for strategic withdrawal into productive solitude. Retreat is not defeat but the selection of better ground. The gentleman who retreats at the right moment harvests what the reckless will never find.
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