Stripping Away
- Upper Trigram
- Mountain
- Lower Trigram
- Earth
The Judgment
Five yielding lines grow upward from below, leaving only the topmost firm line still holding, like a mountain worn away by rain until the topsoil loosens grain by grain — Stripping Away is about waning, stripping away, and how to carry yourself on the downslope. This hexagram does not gloss over hardship: something is being lost, and to prop it up or fight for it by force often only makes it fall faster. Yet it is not a dead end. Stripping away is a natural stretch of the cycle, like autumn and winter shedding leaves so the sap can be drawn back into the roots. The tone now is to draw in with the current and hold the core: rather than bearing up a crumbling edge, put your strength into keeping the one thing that matters most. This hexagram leaves at the end a single great fruit uneaten — a reminder that even the worst situation hides the seed of new growth. Can you tell what is truly worth holding on to right now?
The Six Lines
First line
The wearing away begins at the legs of the bed; the foundation loosens first. This line is about the earliest sign of decline: change often stirs quietly at the least noticeable base. It reminds you not to overlook those small tremors — pushing on as usual now is unwise. Sense it early and steady your footing first, so the loosening that follows does not carry you off with it.
Second line
The wearing away climbs to the frame of the bed; the loosened ground is spreading. This line is about a decline that creeps: when the tremor at the base is not checked, it eats upward layer by layer. Now, more than ever, keep your composure and hold your stance rather than dancing to the shifting scene. See clearly where you can still stand firm, and do not spend your strength on quicksand.
Third line
Amid all the stripping away, this line manages to stay uninvolved, keeping to itself without fault. It is about clear-sightedness against the current: when everything around is coming loose, if you can refuse to drift and hold your own heart, you can rest secure. It reminds you that a waning around you need not mean your own undoing — what matters is which side you stand on.
Fourth line
The wearing away has reached the skin; danger is close at hand. This line is where the whole hexagram calls for the most care: the decline has come to a point that touches you, and there is no more room to delay. It does not ask you to resign yourself; it urges you to face it — what should be saved and what should be let go must both be decided at once, cutting the loss where it can still be cut.
Fifth line
Like a string of fish drawn up in order, the many below are brought along under a steady care from above, and nothing works against you. This line is the turn within Stripping Away: when those below stop scattering each their own way and instead join in order and good faith, the waning slide begins to be gathered in. It reminds you that once hearts draw together again, the situation can be saved.
Top line
The one great fruit at the very top is never eaten; it remains. The decent thereby gain the means to carry on, while those bent only on stripping will in the end tear down even their own shelter. This line is about the turn from ruin toward renewal: the fruit left at the worst point is the very seed of growth to come. Will you be the one who keeps the seed, or the one who pulls it all down?
Reading the Change
Stripping Away is about waning and stripping away; from the first line to the top, it runs through a loosening foundation, a spreading decline, holding to what is right against the current, danger drawing close, hearts gathering again, and the one great fruit that survives. It speaks of the downslope, yet at every step your agency remains. When a line changes, the choice of what to hold and what to let go turns at one particular stage. A change low down usually asks you to sense the tremor early and steady the ground; a change up top foretells the slide being gathered in and life kept in reserve. Read where the changing line falls, then the resulting hexagram, and you know which way this stripping is settling. Stripping at its end is return — while the seed remains, there is a tomorrow.