剝 → 既濟
Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart → Hexagram 63: After Completion
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
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 3
六三 剝之无咎。
Six in the third place means: He splits with them. No blame.
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
心多畏惡，時愁自懼。雖有小咎，終無大悔。
The heart is full of dread and misgiving; often anxious and self-afraid. Though there be small blame, in the end there is no great regret.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain upon earth decays into water above fire — After Completion, the hexagram of order achieved but already beginning to unravel. The heart is full of dread and loathing, perpetually anxious and self-frightened. Though there are small faults, in the end there is no great regret. The verse captures After Completion's essential mood: everything is in place, yet the awareness of impending decline generates constant unease. The person is not suffering from external catastrophe but from internal apprehension — the knowledge that what is completed must eventually come undone. From Splitting Apart to After Completion, the mountain's erosion paradoxically yields a temporary equilibrium where fire and water are properly aligned. But this alignment is fragile, and the person knows it. Small faults accumulate but do not yet overwhelm. The wisdom lies in 'thinking of calamity and preparing for it in advance.'
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