Hexagram 18: Work on What Has Been Spoiled

Structure of the sign

The Chinese character Gu depicts a bowl within whose contents worms are breeding. This signifies that which is spoiled. This state has come about because the gentle indifference of the lower trigram has combined with the rigid inertia of the upper trigram, causing affairs to fall into stagnation. Since a fault is thus present, these conditions contain a summons to their removal. Therefore, the meaning of the hexagram is not merely 'the spoiled,' but 'the spoiled as a task'—'work on what has been spoiled.'

The Judgment

Work on what has been spoiled has supreme success. It furthers one to cross the great water. Before the starting point, three days; after the starting point, three days. What has been spoiled through the fault of man can be made good again through the work of man. It is not unalterable destiny, as in the time of Standstill, but a consequence of the misuse of human freedom that has brought about the condition of decay. Therefore, work directed toward improvement is promising, because it is in harmony with the possibilities of the time. One must only not shrink from toil and danger—symbolized by the crossing of the great water—but must take hold with vigor. Success, however, has as its prerequisite right deliberation. This is expressed in the addendum: 'Before the starting point, three days; after the starting point, three days.' One must first know the causes that led to corruption before one can remedy them: hence heedfulness during the time before the starting point. And then one must see to it that the new course is securely established, so that a relapse is avoided: hence heedfulness toward the time after the starting point. In place of the indifference and inertia that brought about decay, resolve and energy must enter in, so that upon the end a new beginning may follow.

The Image

Below the mountain blows the wind: the image of Decay. Thus the superior man stirs up the people and strengthens their spirit. When the wind blows below the mountain, it is thrown back and blights the vegetation. This contains the demand for amendment. So it is likewise with base moods and fashions: they bring corruption into human society. To remove this, the superior man must regenerate society. The methods for doing so are likewise derived from the two trigrams, save that their effects unfold in orderly succession. He must remove stagnation by stirring up public opinion (as the wind exerts a rousing influence) and then strengthen and tranquilize the character of the people (as the mountain gives repose and nourishment to all growth within its realm).

The lines