23
Hexagram 23, Bo — “Splitting Apart,” “Disintegration.” Five yin lines undermine the single yang line at the top.
The image of the hexagram
Below is the trigram Kun (earth), above is Gen (mountain). The mountain resting on the earth: the mountain crumbles and is leveled with the ground — the collapse comes from below.
General meaning
The answer is unfavorable: what is falling apart can't be stopped. Bo describes a slow undermining of the foundation — not a catastrophe but a gradual loss of support. The classical advice is not to resist the process but to pull out of it whatever is still intact: live through it and save what remains. The single yang line at the top means there is still a reserve.
In love and at work
In relationships — gradual exhaustion, a relationship without substance, a departure in stages. At work — a project falling apart, people leaving, a lost position. For a new venture or major investments, the answer is a definite no.
What to do
Don't invest in what is collapsing. Save what you can carry into the next situation.