Lesson 4: 4 Hexagram 23 – Splitting Apart

Ah yes — Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart (剥, Bō). This is one of the I Ching’s warning lights 🚨, but also a wisdom keeper if you listen closely.

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☷ Hexagram 23 — Splitting Apart

Upper trigram: Mountain (☶)
Lower trigram: Earth (☷)

Image:

The mountain rests on the earth:
The image of Splitting Apart.

This is the picture of something heavy resting on something that can no longer support it. The structure looks solid… but inside, it’s already breaking down.

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🧠 Core Meaning

Splitting Apart = decay of the foundation.
Not collapse yet — but erosion, weakening, and loss of integrity.

It describes a time when:

• Support systems are failing

• Authority is losing moral ground

• Old structures can no longer hold

• Truth is being exposed by pressure

It’s not about dramatic destruction — it’s about slow disintegration.

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⚖️ The Judgment (in plain language)

It does not further one to go anywhere.

This is crucial:
Do not advance. Do not push. Do not force growth.

Instead:

• Preserve what is essential

• Protect what still has value

• Withdraw from what is rotting

• Strengthen your inner position

This is a defensive hexagram, not an offensive one.

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🏗️ Personal & Leadership Insight

In life or business, Hexagram 23 shows up when:

• A system has grown top-heavy

• Leadership has lost alignment with purpose

• Ethics are being traded for convenience

• The “base” (people, values, health, capital) is weakened

It warns:

If the foundation goes, the tower must follow.

So the superior person:

• Does not try to save appearances

• Does not cling to failing forms

• Steps back to rebuild integrity

• Prepares quietly for renewal

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🌱 Spiritual Layer

Spiritually, this hexagram is about stripping away false supports:

• Ego roles

• Old identities

• Illusions of control

• External security

It’s uncomfortable… but cleansing.

Think of it as:
Winter before Return (Hexagram 24).
You can’t renew until the rot is removed.

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📉 Business & Society Reading (very modern 👀)

Hexagram 23 often shows up when:

• Markets are distorted

• Institutions lose trust

• Systems depend on image instead of substance

• Short-term gain overrides long-term stability

Its advice:
✔️ Downsize
✔️ Fortify the base
✔️ Cut dead weight
✔️ Preserve capital and credibility
✔️ Avoid risky expansion

This is not the time for bold launches —
It’s the time for quiet consolidation.

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🧭 Practical Guidance

If you receive Hexagram 23:

Do:

• Simplify

• Stabilize

• Withdraw from conflict

• Repair your base

• Protect your energy

Don’t:

• Start big new ventures

• Confront power directly

• Force outcomes

• Ignore warning signs

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🔁 Hidden Hope

Hexagram 23 looks dark…
But its paired hexagram is 24 – Return 🌱

Meaning:

When splitting reaches the bottom,
renewal begins at the root.

Destruction is not the goal —
purification is.

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