Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
Work on Decay
Hexagram 18 of the Yi Jing · 蛊 Gǔ
The figure
The Mountain above Wind: stillness set over what had seeped in, stale air beneath the immovable. The image of the work of repair.
What this figure illuminates
Work on What is Corrupted lights up what has decayed through neglect, and must now be taken in hand. Decay is not fate: it calls for patient care, not demolition.
For a decision, the figure invites you to look at what has been let go: “what asks to be repaired at the root, rather than patched on the surface?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
Repairing what has decayed brings great progress; it furthers to cross the great stream. Weigh well the days before you begin, and the days after.
The Image
Wind stirs at the foot of the mountain, unsettling what had gone stale. Seeing this, the noble person rouses the people and nourishes their virtue.
The Six Lines
- First line
Setting right what a father let decay. An able heir clears the elder's fault; the task is uneasy, but the end is good fortune.
- Second line
Setting right what a mother let decay. Here do not push firmness to its edge — be gentle.
- Third line
Setting right a father's neglect, perhaps too vigorously. Some small regret, but no real fault.
- Fourth line
Tolerating the decay a father left, letting it slide. Go on this way and you will regret it.
- Fifth line
Setting right a father's neglect, and doing it well. You earn honor for the work.
- Sixth line
You serve neither prince nor power, but tend, in a high spirit, to your own work. There is a nobler task than office.
Daoa's wording, written after the classical reference translations, now in the public domain: James Legge (1882) and Charles de Harlez (1889).
A question to keep
What asks to be repaired at the root rather than patched over?
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