Hexagram 23 · Line 6
Splitting Apart — 上六
Bo · Shang Liu
The Line
A great fruit still uneaten is there. The noble one receives a wagon. The petty one's house is split apart.
Interpretation
Here the end of Splitting Apart is reached. When the misfortune has spent itself, better times come again. The seed of the good still remains. Precisely when the fruit falls to the earth, from its seed the good grows up anew. The noble one comes once more to influence and effectiveness. They are borne by public opinion as on a wagon. Upon the petty one, however, their wickedness avenges itself. Their house is split apart. Herein lies a natural law. Evil is not only destructive to the good; it destroys itself in its ultimate consequences, for evil, which lives only on negation, cannot exist of itself. The petty one also fares best when they are held in discipline by a noble one.