Hexagram 12
Occlusion, blockage, disharmony between yin and yang
Although the Pi hexagram is full of hardships, it is not terrible. It teaches us that there will always be adversity in life. We must learn to retreat, be patient, accumulate strength, and look for opportunities in the darkness. We will eventually usher in the day when the clouds clear and the fog clears.
Trigram Structure
䷋, Qian above, Kun below
Palace：乾
Key Themes
Occlusion, blockage, disharmony between yin and yang
Although the Pi hexagram is full of hardships, it is not terrible. It teaches us that there will always be adversity in life. We must learn to retreat, be patient, accumulate strength, and look for opportunities in the darkness. We will eventually usher in the day when the clouds clear and the fog clears.
Otherwise, banditry will be detrimental to a gentleman's integrity.
Autumn and winter, when heaven and earth are blocked, all things wither.
Blocked pipelines, impassable dead ends, a wall.
Although the Pi hexagram is full of hardships, it is not terrible. It teaches us that there will always be adversity in life. We must learn to retreat, be patient, accumulate strength, and look for opportunities in the darkness. We will eventually usher in the day when the clouds clear and the fog clears.
Pull out Mao Ru and use it as a sink to make it prosperous and auspicious.
Guidance
Pulling out thatch grass, roots connected, symbolizing villains in power; gentlemen should remain firm.
Modern Insight
When bad times come, gentlemen should retreat together. Do not fight alone. Together with your team and friends, preserve strength and stay away from the center of trouble. This collective, principled retreat is itself a form of success.
If you accept it, it will be lucky for the villain, but if you don't, it will be prosperous.
Guidance
Tolerating villains, though not honorable, can bring profit; gentlemen should maintain the right path.
Modern Insight
This is the core wisdom of gentlemen in adversity—tolerance and patience. You need to temporarily tolerate villains in power, even superficially submit to them. This is not joining them, but to survive and wait for the opportunity. Being able to endure this blockage itself breeds future prosperity.
Shameful.
Guidance
Concealing humiliation, enduring and waiting for the opportunity.
Modern Insight
This is the most difficult moment in the Pi hexagram. You may encounter many embarrassing and humiliating things. The wisdom of this line lies in the word "conceal"—internalizing the humiliation and enduring without showing it. Any emotional outburst will only make the situation worse.
There is destiny, no blame, and good luck.
Guidance
Follow the mandate of heaven, wait for the opportunity; there will be no disaster.
Modern Insight
The first ray of light appears in the darkness. As a capable gentleman, you sense the timing for change (there is destiny). At this time, you can begin to act, unite with your allies, and initiate change. Your action follows heaven and responds to the times; it will not be wrong.
If you don't, it's good luck, sir. Its death and its death are tied to the buds and mulberry trees.
Guidance
Crisis is opportunity; gentlemen should always be vigilant.
Modern Insight
You are already in a leadership position and are ending this chaos. But the closer you are to success, the more you must think of danger in times of peace. Always maintain a strong sense of crisis and build the foundation extremely solidly, so that you can ensure the fruits of victory will not be gained and then lost.
Whether to pour or not, first deny and then be happy.
Guidance
The blocked situation will eventually pass; bitterness first, sweetness later.
Modern Insight
Dawn has finally arrived! The entire bad era has passed, and a new order has been established. This is the best reward for all those who persevered in difficulties. Bitterness ends and sweetness begins; after extreme adversity comes prosperity—this is the most beautiful annotation of this line.
