否
“Obstruction” — King Wen #12
Stagnation: communication fails and the great fall away. Stand firm and wait the hour out.
The Judgment 卦辞
否之匪人，不利君子貞，大往小來。
In Pi there is the want of good understanding between the (different classes of) men, and its indication is unfavourable to the firm and correct course of the superior man. We see in it the great gone and the little come.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
拔茅茹，以其匯，貞吉，亨。
The first SIX, divided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. With firm correctness (on the part of its subject), there will be good fortune and progress.
包承，小人吉。大人否，亨。
The second SIX, divided, shows its subject patient and obedient. To the small man (comporting himself so) there will be good fortune. If the great man (comport himself) as the distress and obstruction require, he will have success.
包羞。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject ashamed of the purpose folded (in his breast).
有命無咎，疇離祉。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject acting in accordance with the ordination (of Heaven), and committing no error. His companions will come and share in his happiness.
休否，大人吉；其亡其亡，繫于苞桑。
In the fifth NINE, undivided, we see him who brings the distress and obstruction to a close,--the great man and fortunate. (But let him say), 'We may perish! We may perish!' (so shall the state of things become firm, as if) bound to a clump of bushy mulberry trees.
傾否，先否後喜。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows the overthrow (and removal of) the condition of distress and obstruction. Before this there was that condition. Hereafter there will be joy.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 12 places earth (坤) beneath heaven (乾) —receptive ground holding all things below, creative force pressing upward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Obstruction”:stagnation: communication fails and the great fall away. Stand firm and wait the hour out Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 12
What does 否 (pǐ) mean?
Hexagram 12 of the I Ching is named 否 (pǐ), usually rendered "Obstruction" in English editions. Its figure pairs earth (坤) below with heaven (乾) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 12?
乾 (Heaven) sits above and 坤 (Earth) sits below — the classical picture is receptive ground holding all things beneath creative force pressing upward.
How is hexagram 12 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 12 gives hexagram 11 — 泰 (Pervading). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 11 — 泰 (Pervading). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 53 — 漸 (Infiltrating).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.