شش خطی 23
فروپاشی، پوست انداختن (Bo)

NOTES
1. Kong Yingda glosses bo as boluo: “to peel off,” as skin from fruit or vegetables, bark from a tree, etc. As such things so peel (and split), this indicates their “deterioration” or “decay,” which is what boluo means by extension.
2. This and all subsequent text set off in this manner is commentary by Wang Bi. “Restrain things” translates zhi zhi. The second zhi is an indefinite object pronoun, and its referent here is uncertain, thus it is rendered “things.” Kong Yingda thinks that it refers specifically to the noble man’s sovereign and that “the image” mentioned in the Commentary on the Judgments and in Wang’s remarks refers as much to the image—i.e., appearance—of that sovereign as to that of the Bo hexagram itself: “As one can but use softness and compliancy to restrain one’s sovereign, all he can do is look to the image that his sovereign on high presents, take into account what his facial expression means, and so try to bring about restraint that way.” See Zhouyi zhengyi, 3:16b. Neither Cheng Yi nor Zhu Xi bring “the sovereign” into their discussions, and Cheng Yi seems to interpret zhi (restrain) as an intransitive verb “refrain from,” so instead of “one should try to restrain things in such a way that one remains compliant with circumstances,” Cheng’s interpretation would suggest “being compliant, one should refrain from [doing] things.” See Zhouyi zhezhong, 6: 38b.
3. Kun (Pure Yin), the lower trigram, signifies the Earth, and Gen (Restraint), the upper trigram, signifies “Mountain.”
4. The significance of the bedstead is the subject of the following line statements and commentaries.
5. Kong Yingda here identifies zhen (constancy) with zheng (rectitude, righteousness). See Zhouyi zhengyi, 3: 17a.
6. Lou Yulie points out that the text here may be corrupt and, following the remarks of the Tang era commentator Guo Jing, suggests that it should read something like: “Little by little, Peeling has drawn close to where people are, so soon the bed itself will be destroyed. In this thing in which people stay, Peeling makes weakness grow and uprightness deteriorate, and as these now constitute its character, it is something that those people will discard.” See Wang Bi ji jiaoshi, 1: 334–335 nn. 7 and 8.
7. Kong Yingda links this statement with Wang’s last remark, “Peeling makes its weakness grow and its uprightness deteriorate, and as these now constitute its character, it is something that people will discard.” That is, since people discard the bedstead, they will not help to stem its further deterioration. See Zhouyi zhengyi, 3: 17b.
8. Cheng Yi points out that fish and women are both yin creatures; see Zhouyi zhezhong, 4: 3a.
9. Zhu Xi interprets the Commentary to the Images differently: “It is only the noble man who can shelter the petty man. The petty man must rely on the noble man for the protection of his own person. Now here the petty man would inflict Peeling on the noble man [i.e., bring about his downfall], but then if the noble man perishes, the petty man also would lack all means to shelter his own person, and this would be just as if he let Peeling happen to his own humble hut.” See Zhouyi zhezhong, 11: 55b. Zhu’s interpretation suggests a different translation: “If it be a petty man, he shall allow peeling to happen to his own humble hut, which then never can be used.” However, Kong Yingda reinforces Wang Bi’s interpretation: “If a petty man were to occupy this position as sovereign, he would allow Peeling to devastate the humble huts of the common folk. So this means that a petty man could never fulfill the role of sovereign.” See Zhouyi zhengyi, 3:18b.