#12 否 Stagnation – Don’t Give Up
地天否 乾上坤下
The hexagram has the Heaven Trigram on top of the Earth Trigram. Heaven goes up and Earth goes down. With each going its own way, there is no cooperation. Every is stagnated and the situation continues to decline. This Hexagram is the opposite of the earlier 11 Great Vibrant Flow. We move from vibrant productivity to stagnation of no progress. Not that there is no activity. It is that there are no shared objectives. Each one is pursuing its own interests and the activities are interfering with and jamming one another resulting in no progress. This is like a tuck of war. Lots of resources expended but no progress. If this trend is not reversed, it will lead to a continued decline in death. A cause raised here is that ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ practices are taking center stage pushing away those who want to do the right things. Playing the right politics is more important than doing real productive work. Energy is wasted in in-fighting.
Description:
- 否之匪人， The evil men gather and cause stagnation (some translation says misunderstanding)
- 不利君子贞， It is tough for virtuous men to live their righteous ways.
- 大往小来。 The great goes and the little comes.
The textual commentary
彖曰：否之匪人，不利君子贞。大往小来，则是天地不交，而万物不通也；上下不交， 而天下无邦也。内阴而外阳，内柔而外刚，内小人而外君子。小人道长，君子道消也。
The textual commentary further explains that this is due to Heaven and Earth not interacting resulting in everything being stagnated. There is no flow and no growth. Top and bottom do not interact and there is no nation on earth. The interior is yin(dark, evil) and gentle. The exterior is yang and harsh. The Interior contains ‘little’ men whereas the gentlemen are on the outside. Evil practices spread whereas righteous practices contract.
Pictorial Description:
象曰：天地不交，否；君子以俭德辟难，不可荣以禄。
No interaction between Heaven and Earth results in Stagnation. Wise men, keeping to their integrity, resist the temptation to compromise their values to come out to serve for rewards and a high position.
Moral Teaching: Keep Your Integrity and Don’t Give up Hope.
Corruption creeps in easily and unnoticed in successful times to cause stagnation and downfall. Nevertheless, one should not give up hope. We must maintain our integrity and wait for opportunities to support changes for the good. We should not sell out in times of darkness.
Stage 1 Begin Six: Pull out the thatch grass and the entangled roots also pull out the rest of the grass and roots of the same kind. Staying in integrity is good flowing. 初六：拔茅茹，以其夤，贞吉 亨。
The pictorial description (象曰：拔茅贞吉，志在君也。) adds that pulling out the grass, representing bad (bad should include outdated practices or processes), is good because pursuing the benefits of the Corporation (literal: King). This is the interpretation by translating the word 君 as King. 君 can also be translated as wise men. In this case, the wise man will keep his integrity by going into retirement or leaving the company not willing to participate in the evil practices.
The multiplying effect of a team works both ways- for good or bad. In the previous hexagram, it gives much productivity. This Stagnation hexagram works in reverse, producing much damage. If a wise man is unable to fight the trend, then he resigns.
To make progress, one needs to pull out the bad or wrong practices or people.
Stage 2 Second Six: Flatteries are widely adopted. Little people benefit. Virtuous people are stagnated. Good. 六二：包承。小人吉，大人否亨。
The pictorial commentary 象曰：大人否亨，不乱群也。 says that virtuous men’s stagnation is good because they maintain their integrity and preserve the right standards not causing confusion.
In a time when ‘little’ people gain positions and are influenced by their flatteries, having virtuous people around sets the standards for others. There is still hope for the company. They are the ones doing real work and being a good influence, though their impact is small and could not prevent the decline.
Stage 3 Third Six: Shameless. (Shame is accepted as if is it ok.) 六三：包羞。
The pictorial commentary 包羞，位不当也。 added that shame is accepted as ok because the position is wrong.
Shame comes from not keeping to promises. It comes from holding a position and not being able to perform the responsibilities of the position. This happens because people are promoted and assigned not according to their capabilities but according to their ‘flattery’ or good “public/boss relations”. This may be seen in the behavior that keeping the bosses happy is more important than keeping customers happy. Those in power, the bosses, can get away with shameful deeds because of their power. The standards of right or wrong become people and power-dependent. The bosses must be right no matter what!
A turning point can come when those people awaken to their shamefulness and make corrections. Otherwise, the decline continues.
Stage 4 Fourth Nine: Following higher orders to clear the mess has no blame. Those who follow get rewards. 九四：有命无咎，畴离祉。
The pictorial commentary adds there is no blame because the mission gets accomplished. 象曰：有命无咎，志行也。
The turning from stagnation into growth begins to happen as the CEO issues new instructions to his managers to put the house in order. Those wise men that are put aside in the early stages are now restored. They succeed in turning the company around.
Stage 5 Fifth Nine: Stagnation is stopped. Great men are fortunate. Just in case it is gone, tied it to a cluster of the Mulberry tree. 休否，大人吉。其亡其亡，系于苞桑。
The pictorial commentary 象曰：大人之吉，位正当也。 adds that it is good fortune because the position is right. You are given the right authority to execute the tasks.
The transformation process is going well. But there is always danger lurking. It is important to proceed with care and get good support. Don’t be too harsh and too quick in handling things.
Stage 6 Top Nine: Stagnation has fallen flat. First, stagnate but later joy. 倾否，先否后喜。
The pictorial commentary 象曰：否终则倾，何可长也。 says that stagnation ends and falls. It could not be long-lasting.
The final stage for the change is initiated in stage 4 where the order is given by the top to put things straight. It takes the right authority and careful implementation to turn things around. The bad practices and the wrong people are replaced. The corporation returns to a healthy state for growth.
The beginning of transformation is hard and painful but continuing to the end will bring the great joy of success. We can recall the proverb that he that sows in tears will reap the joy of harvest.
The key is, let to itself, things will go from good to bad. The change from bad to good is not automatic. It takes the right person and the right people to restore health. This shows that men have the responsibility of being watchful and must constantly take action to maintain good health, peace, and prosperity. This is the Law of Entropy working in human organization. The Law of Entropy says that in any closed system, the orderliness decreases and the randomness increases with time.
Summary:
Success brings creeping corruption to cause stagnation and decline. The reverse, to revile stagnation needs initiative orders from the top and support from the righteous people. There is hope but there must be great effort put into changing stagnation.
The six stages of teaching are summarized as:
- Pull out the bad and/or outdated practices or people.
- Watch out for flattery rather than real performance
- Don’t be shameless. Reveal the bad practices as such – bad practices.
- The Top must awaken and take action and gather good people to clear the mess.
- Be careful in executing transformation and get cascaded and aligned support.
- The beginning is hard, but pursuing to the end brings joy. Watch out for the law of degradation.
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