The name 名
Gǔ 蠱 shows worms above a vessel: a dish left unused until things breed in it. The Zuo Zhuan says, “worms in a vessel make 蠱.” It names the corruption that builds up over time, and the Sequence glosses it simply as “affairs,” things needing attention. Old characters often hold both a condition and its cure: 蠱 is disorder and also the setting right of disorder, as 亂 in the Analects’ “I have ten ministers who 亂” means ministers who bring order.
The image 象
Gèn above is the mountain; Xùn below is wind. Wind trapped beneath the mountain eddies and stagnates into miasma: that is decay. Yet wind can also sweep the foulness away: that is the repair. By line change the gua comes from Tài 泰, in which the lower Qián, the father, and the upper Kūn, the mother, both dissolve; hence the lines speak of “the father’s decay” and “the mother’s decay,” a situation left by one generation for the next to set right.
Layers of images 層
A gua can be read on several levels at once: the trigrams as members of a family (father, mother, eldest to youngest sons and daughters), the six lines as ranks in an organisation (from newcomer to ruler), and as forces of nature and animals. Each extra level adds meaning to the line texts.
Read as a family
Below is Xùn, the eldest daughter; above is Gèn, the youngest son. The hexagram comes from Tài by a change of lines: Tài’s lower Qián (father) and upper Kūn (mother) both disappear, leaving the eldest daughter and the youngest son to face what their parents left behind, which is why the lines keep speaking of “the father’s corruption” and “the mother’s corruption.” The eldest daughter works her way gently into the problem (Xùn means entering); the youngest son above must halt it and hold steady (Gèn means stopping). The older generation’s failings are cleaned up by the next, gently but firmly.
Line 1, “setting right the father’s corruption; there is a son, so the late father is without blame; danger, but in the end good fortune”: Tài’s top yin comes down to the bottom, the lower Qián vanishes and the father is gone; the upper trigram becomes Gèn, the youngest son, so there is a son to take over. “Having a son” means having one capable of putting things right. Correcting a father’s legacy offends those who benefited from it, hence the danger, but it ends well.
Line 2, “setting right the mother’s corruption; one must not be rigid”: Line 2 corresponds with Line 5, which was the ruling line of Tài’s upper Kūn, the mother. Facing what a mother has left wrong, one must not be harsh or stubborn. Line 2 is central and knows proportion: an elder’s mistakes must be corrected, but with regard for the bond.
Top line, “he does not serve kings and lords; he holds his own affairs high”: the line was once Tài’s bottom yang, ruled from within Qián, the king. Now it has risen to the very top, above the nuclear Zhèn of lines 3–5, the heir and feudal lord. The top place is beyond office: no longer serving princes, it values its own integrity. The clean-up done, it withdraws and keeps its standards.
Lines 2–5 of Gǔ form the nuclear hexagram Guī Mèi, the Marrying Maiden: inside the decay lies a marriage, the founding of a new household. An older generation’s problems were often planted at the moment the family was formed; to set the decay right, one has to look back at whether that first union was sound.
Gǔ inverted is Suí. Suí comes from Pǐ, its top yang dropping to the bottom; Gǔ comes from Tài, its bottom yang rising to the top. In one the person above comes down to walk with others; in the other the parents leave the stage and the children take over. Suí’s easy harmony, left unchecked, turns into Gǔ; once Gǔ is set right, people can follow together again.
In sequence 序
以喜隨人者，必有事，故受之以蠱；蠱者事也。
The Sequence says: “Whoever follows others for pleasure is sure to meet with affairs; hence Decay follows. Decay means affairs.” Following because it feels good, rather than because one has thought it through, means adopting what suits others but not necessarily oneself; drift long enough and problems quietly accumulate. Following had “no occasion”; now there is something to deal with.
The judgment 辭
蠱：元亨。利涉大川。先甲三日，後甲三日。
“Decay: supreme success; favourable to cross the great river. Three days before jia, three days after jia.” Jia 甲 is the first of the ten heavenly stems and stands for a fresh start. In the three days before it, clear away the old and prepare; in the three days after, establish the new and follow through. No reform begins simply by announcing it: the past must be dealt with first, and the start must not fizzle out.
Commentary on the judgment 彖
彖曰：蠱，剛上而柔下，巽而止，蠱。蠱，元亨，而天下治也。利涉大川，往有事也。先甲三日，後甲三日，終則有始，天行也。
“The firm rises and the soft descends; gentle and stopping: Decay.” Tài’s first line has climbed to the top and its top line has come down to the bottom; deviation is checked by a gentle hand. “Supreme success, and the world is put in order”; “favourable to cross the great river, for there are affairs to go and attend to.” This gua has strength; there is no need to shrink back. “When there is an end, there is a beginning: this is the movement of heaven.”
The great image 象
象曰：山下有風，蠱；君子以振民育德。
“Below the mountain there is wind: Decay. The noble person rouses the people and nurtures virtue.” Seeing stale corruption, the exemplary person stops making do and resolves to stir people up, cultivate virtue and begin again. The practice applies to oneself as much as to a state: an empty house gets termites, and every group and every person that settles in long enough gathers its own decay. The power of renewal has to be kept alive.
The six lines 爻
Ruling line The top line rules: the Commentary’s “the firm rises” refers to Tài’s first line ascending to the top. Gua ruled by their top line are uncommon.
The path of the six lines, bottom to top
Line 1 is the one who has just taken over: the father’s problems lie in plain view, and fixing them will offend people, but a son who takes responsibility spares his father blame. Line 2 faces the mother’s side of the legacy and must be gentle and mindful of the bond, not forceful. Line 3 is too hard and moves too fast: small regrets, no great fault. Line 4 swings the other way, indulging the problem and looking away, and going on from there only makes things worse. Line 5, in the place of honour, carries on the father’s work with virtue and a gentle hand and earns praise. The top line, its work done, steps back, serves no prince and keeps its integrity.
初六幹父之蠱，有子考，无咎，厲終吉。
In plain words
Setting right the father’s decay: with such a son, the late father is without blame. Danger, but in the end good fortune.
Close reading
幹 is to take hold and set right; 有子 means not merely having a son but having a worthy one; 考 is the deceased father. The line descends from Tài’s top line: the lower Qián, the father, is gone, and the upper trigram becomes Gèn, the young son. Yin in a yang place, out of position, unanswered by the fourth line, it nonetheless blends soft and firm and works gently. Reform unsettles vested interests and meets resistance, hence “danger”; but it must be done, and ends well. The Small Image: “its intention is to carry on the father’s will.”
One level deeper
Line 1, “setting right the father’s corruption; there is a son, so the late father is without blame; danger, but in the end good fortune”: Tài’s top yin comes down to the bottom, the lower Qián vanishes and the father is gone; the upper trigram becomes Gèn, the youngest son, so there is a son to take over. “Having a son” means having one capable of putting things right. Correcting a father’s legacy offends those who benefited from it, hence the danger, but it ends well.
If you drew this line
Taking on problems left by predecessors will meet resistance. Be gentle in method and clear in purpose: you are not repudiating them but finishing what they should have finished.
Yu completes Gun’s work
In Yao’s time the floods rose to the sky. Gun was charged with controlling them, laboured nine years without success, and was banished to Mount Yu and put to death under Shun. Shun then appointed Gun’s son Yu to carry on his father’s task. Grieving that his father had been executed for failing, Yu wore himself out in body and mind; for thirteen years he worked away from home, passing his own gate without daring to enter. He tamed the waters at last and became a sage king. That is “setting right the father’s decay”: not hiding the father’s failure, but redeeming it through one’s own achievement.
九二幹母之蠱，不可貞。
In plain words
Setting right the mother’s decay: one must not be rigid.
Close reading
Yang in a yin place, out of position, but its firmness is cushioned, and it is central in the lower trigram, corresponding with the fifth line, once the ruling line of Tài’s upper Kūn and so the mother. In antiquity the father’s decay usually concerned public and political matters, the mother’s the circle of family and kin; with the gentler party, force will not work. The Small Image: “it attains the middle way.”
One level deeper
Line 2, “setting right the mother’s corruption; one must not be rigid”: Line 2 corresponds with Line 5, which was the ruling line of Tài’s upper Kūn, the mother. Facing what a mother has left wrong, one must not be harsh or stubborn. Line 2 is central and knows proportion: an elder’s mistakes must be corrected, but with regard for the bond.
If you drew this line
When the problem was left by someone close to you or in a weaker position, be gentle and measured. Beyond who was right, consider the relationship.
九三幹父之蠱，小有悔，无大咎。
In plain words
Setting right the father’s decay: a little regret, no great blame.
Close reading
Yang in a yang place: correctly placed but too hard, and unanswered by the top line. Its methods are forceful and prone to overcorrection, hence “a little regret.” Compare the first line, yin in a yang place, where soft and firm balance and the end is good; the third line is all force and draws more criticism. Yet the decay does need correcting, and at the end of the lower trigram it faces Gèn, stopping, and knows when to halt. The Small Image: “in the end, no blame.”
If you drew this line
The direction is right, but excessive force will cause minor trouble. Keep to the essentials and know where to stop.
六四裕父之蠱，往見吝。
In plain words
Indulging the father’s decay: going on this way, one meets humiliation.
Close reading
Every other line says 幹, set right; here it is 裕, to indulge or let slide. Yin in a yin place, correctly positioned but soft upon soft, unanswered by the first line and riding the hard third line: ample tolerance, too little resolve. Gentleness is not appeasement; leaving decay untouched amounts to saying that those who suffered from it suffered for nothing. The Small Image: “going, it attains nothing.”
If you drew this line
Papering over the problem or wiping the slate clean will only hit a wall. You may be gentle in method, but what must be faced cannot be dodged.
六五幹父之蠱，用譽。
In plain words
Setting right the father’s decay, and winning praise.
Close reading
Yin in a yang place, out of position but central; like the first line, it balances soft and firm and works gently. On the ruler’s seat and answered by the second line, it acts with balance and has support. The Small Image: “it carries on through virtue.” Whether the inheritance is political or a family enterprise, only virtue truly honours one’s forebears. What an heir to wealth should be known for is the good done with it.
If you drew this line
Repair and continue what you inherited through good conduct, and a good name will follow. Focus on doing right, not on preserving outward glory.
上九不事王侯，高尚其事。
In plain words
Not serving kings and lords, one holds one’s own conduct to a higher standard.
Close reading
Yang in a yin place, out of position and unanswered by the third line, yet the ruler of the gua. It has risen from Tài’s first line: once governed within the lower Qián, it now stands above everything, including the inner Zhèn of lines three to five, which signifies feudal lords, hence “not serving kings and lords.” With the decay largely repaired and outside pressure gone, everything depends on oneself. Confucius spoke of “living in retirement to seek one’s aims, practising what is right to realise one’s way”: withdraw to clarify purpose and cultivate virtue, or step forward to do what ought to be done. The Small Image: “its aim may serve as a model.”
One level deeper
Top line, “he does not serve kings and lords; he holds his own affairs high”: the line was once Tài’s bottom yang, ruled from within Qián, the king. Now it has risen to the very top, above the nuclear Zhèn of lines 3–5, the heir and feudal lord. The top place is beyond office: no longer serving princes, it values its own integrity. The clean-up done, it withdraws and keeps its standards.
If you drew this line
You need not lean on power or watch anyone’s face. With outside constraints loosening, work out where your life is going and arrange it by a higher standard.
Yan Ziling fishing on the Fuchun
Yan Guang, styled Ziling, had studied alongside Liu Xiu in their youth. When Liu Xiu took the throne as Emperor Guangwu, Yan changed his name and disappeared. The emperor had him sought far and wide, and a man in a sheepskin coat was found fishing in a marsh in Qi; only after repeated invitations did he come to the capital. The two old friends talked and shared a bed, and Yan rested his foot on the emperor’s belly; Guangwu merely laughed that he had been sleeping beside an old friend. Offered the post of Grand Remonstrant, Yan declined and went back to farm and fish at Mount Fuchun. Fan Zhongyan of the Song, in his record for Yan’s memorial shrine, praised him precisely with this line: “not serving kings and lords, holding his conduct high.”
Stories 典
Physician He explains 蠱
When Duke Ping of Jin fell ill and sought a physician from Qin, the Earl of Qin sent the renowned Physician He. After examining him, He declared the illness beyond cure: excess in the women’s quarters had made it like 蠱, caused neither by spirits nor by food, but by infatuation that had cost him his will. The chief minister Zhao Meng asked what 蠱 meant. He replied that it arises from indulgence and confusion; in the script, “worms in a vessel make 蠱”; grain that breeds flying insects is also 蠱; and in the Zhou Changes, a woman beguiling a man, and wind brought down by a mountain, are called 蠱. A conversation over two thousand years old links the character, daily experience and the gua’s image, and locates the root of decay in prolonged indulgence and stagnation.
Not asking who would win
Before a national election, a class of some three hundred people was restless, and they asked whether a reading could show who would win. Following the principle of not divining for improper ends, the teacher would not place bets for anyone. He asked instead: “After the vote, how will this group of us feel?” The reading gave Gǔ with the top line changing: “not serving kings and lords, holding one’s conduct high.” His interpretation: society’s accumulated problems needed reform, and the decay had reached its final stage before a new phase; more important, from then on no one need watch a politician’s face, and each could choose to live by a higher standard. A rightly framed question is what gives an answer meaning.
Insight 悟
Long ease breeds decay, in states, companies, families and individuals alike, and Gǔ asks us to check regularly what old thing should be cleared and what new one set up. Repairing a predecessor’s faults takes courage and measure: those who balance firm and soft fare well, the over-forceful have minor regrets, the over-soft who indulge meet humiliation, and those who carry on through virtue win praise. Reform is not a repudiation of those before us but a completion, by virtue, of what they left undone. Once the decay is cleared and one stands free of outside pressure, the question becomes what one’s own aims are. “When there is an end, there is a beginning”: every ending is a fresh start.