Hexagram 12: Pi

Heaven over Earth · 天地否 · Tendency: Inauspicious

Structure

• Number: 12 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷋
• Upper trigram: Qian (Heaven)
• Lower trigram: Kun (Earth)
• Lines: yin yin yin yang yang yang (bottom to top)

The statement

否之匪人，不利君子贞，大往小来。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

This hexagram indicates a blockage between upper and lower, hindered communication, and things likely to stall. Now is not the time to forcefully push major plans; it's suitable to reduce consumption, conserve strength, and wait for a turning point. When encountering misunderstanding or non-cooperation, first avoid direct conflict; don't make the situation more rigid.

A Buddhist reading

Pi is blockage, and Ouyi Zhixu names the blockage in practice that is hardest to notice. Having endured hard and easy conditions alike, a person tastes something that resembles the goal, grows fond of that taste, and stops there. People fear hardship, he observes, so the commentary on Tai speaks in reassuring tones; people cling to this pleasant likeness, so the commentary on Pi is one long note of warning. Frugal virtue that avoids trouble, refusing honor and salary, means treating that flavor as a pit rather than sampling it.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous / Inverted / Opposite: Hexagram 11: Taithe whole figure turned upside down; every line changed to its opposite
• Next: Hexagram 13: Tong Ren
• Nuclear: Hexagram 53: Jianlines two to four below, three to five above

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.