Explanation of the hexagrams of Pei Gua
Xiang said: The magpie met the sky and stayed in the forest at night. I didn't know that there was an eagle in the forest first. This hexagram is a superposition of different hexagrams (Xia Kun and Shang Gen). Five yins are below and one yang is above. The yin is strong and the yang is lonely; the mountains are attached to the earth. Both are peeling signs, so they are called "peeling hexagrams". This hexagram has a strong yin and a weak yang, which means that a villain will gain power, a gentleman will be in trouble, and his career will be ruined.
The "Pi" hexagram is the successor to the previous "Ben" hexagram, which symbolizes great grandeur. This hexagram talks about the prosperity and decline of things. This is basically the meaning from the first to the fourth line. The fifth line talks about some remedies for the decline, and the last line talks about the effects of those remedies.
Peel ①: Unfavorable and promising ②.
On the sixth day of the lunar month, peeling off the bed with feet ③, contempt ④, chastity and evil. Sixty-two, peel off the bed to identify ⑤, contempt, chastity and fierceness.
Six three, peel off, no fault ⑥.
June 4th, stripping the bed with skin ⑦, fierce.
Sixty-five, Guan Yu ⑧, favored by palace people ⑨, no disadvantage.
On the ninth day, if you don’t eat the fruit, the gentleman will be popular, and the villain will peel off the hut.
Notes:
①Peel: one of the sixty-four hexagrams. It is the hexagram of peeling off and declining.
② Unfavorable and dangerous: It is not suitable to go to work.
③ Peel off the bed enough: "Bed" is a general object, here it has the meaning of political power.
④Contempt: In "Guoyu·Zhouyu", there is a phrase "contempt to kill its people", which means to destroy.
⑤ Peel off the bed to distinguish: "Bian", which is known as "Bian" in ancient times. This sentence refers to the bed being stripped off all over.
⑥ Peeling off, no blame: This sentence means that "peeling off" is a normal phenomenon. As long as the "peeling off" is not a fatal place, there will not be much disaster.
⑦Strip the bed to skin: "skin", skin. This sentence refers to peeling off the skin on which one lives.
⑧Guanyu: "Guan", the original rope that passes through things, here refers to "lead". "Yu", in ancient times, a horse with two white eyes and fur was called "Yu". This "Yu" has the meaning of "White Horse Hanru" which is connected to the next hexagram "Ben". "Guanyu" refers to the auspicious white-eyed horse leading the horse.
⑨ To favor people in the palace: "Palace", like "Lu", originally meant "house" in ancient times; but "Palace" was also used as a "barrier" in ancient times. "Palace man" is not the concubine as generally understood, but refers to the ministers who guard the barriers of political power. "Chong" here does not refer to favor, but to respect, as it is used in "Chu Yu Xia" in "Zhou Yu·Chu Yu Xia" "Pasting gods and their ancestors". To be "favored by palace people" means to recruit a group of Pingfan ministers and respect them.
⑩The fruit cannot be eaten: "The fruit" is a political term, referring to the huge national power. "Food" is the ancient word for "eclipse". This sentence means that the huge national power will not rot.
⑾The gentleman gets a public opinion, and the villain strips his house: The gentleman gets a good carriage ride, and the villain has his barrier stripped away (see note 9 for "house").