I-Ching Hexagram 12
否 Standstill
Also known as Stagnation
The opposite of Peace: heaven drifts upward, earth sinks — no exchange. Communication fails, public life coarsens, honours are offered for the wrong reasons.
standstill · stagnation · withdrawal
The Story
A scholar served a court that had begun to honor the wrong things. Flattery won promotions; integrity was called stubbornness. He wrote a careful memorial; the emperor ignored it. He wrote a second; he was demoted. A friend whispered that a third would be fatal. The scholar went home, tended his garden, and taught ten students to read. Twenty years later, when the dynasty fell, the new emperor sought him out. "Why did you not keep pressing?" he was asked. "You cannot plant in frozen ground," he said. "You can only keep the seeds alive."
The Judgment
Evil people do not further the perseverance of the superior person. The great departs; the small approaches.
The Image
Heaven and earth do not unite: the image of standstill. Thus the superior person falls back upon their inner worth in order to escape the difficulties. They do not permit themselves to be honored with revenue.
Interpretation
The opposite of Peace: heaven drifts upward, earth sinks — no exchange. Communication fails, public life coarsens, honours are offered for the wrong reasons. The counsel is to withdraw quietly, keep your integrity, decline rewards you cannot accept cleanly, and wait for the turning.
Trigrams
The Six Lines
- First (Bottom) When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it. Each according to his kind. Perseverance brings good fortune and success. Retreat together with your kind; the right move for the many.
- Second They bear and endure; this means good fortune for inferior people. The standstill serves to help the great person to attain success. The small prosper in bad times; the great use the pause.
- Third They bear shame. A shallow commitment to the wrong thing; the shame is appropriate, and might correct.
- Fourth He who acts at the command of the highest remains without blame. Those of like mind partake of the blessing. A mandate from a real source breaks the standstill.
- Fifth Standstill is giving way. Good fortune for the great person. "What if it should fail, what if it should fail?" In this way they tie it to a cluster of mulberry shoots. The turning is beginning; bind precautions to what is still taking root.
- Sixth (Top) The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune. The long winter breaks.