Hexagram 18 of 64 · King Wen order
蠱Work on what has been spoiled
Gǔ · ䷑ · above: Mountain ☶ 艮 Gèn · below: Wind ☴ 巽 Xùn
Identifying areas of stagnation or corruption and taking active steps to restore health and order.A one-line gloss written for this site (AI-assisted). Everything below it is the classical text.
The Judgment 卦辭
元亨，利涉大川。先甲三日，後甲三日。
Kû indicates great progress and success (to him who deals properly with the condition represented by it). There will be advantage in (efforts like that of) crossing the great stream. (He should weigh well, however, the events of) three days before the turning point, and those (to be done) three days after it.
James Legge, The Yî King (1882), the Text. Words in (parentheses) are Legge's own additions.
Commentary on the Judgment 彖傳 (Tuan, the first Wing)
1. In Ku we have the strong (trigram) above, and the weak one below; we have (below) pliancy, and (above) stopping:—these give the idea of Ku (a Troublous Condition of affairs verging to ruin).
2. 'Ku indicates great progress and success:'—(through the course shown in it), all under heaven, there will be good order. 'There will be advantage in crossing the great stream:'—he who advances will encounter the business to be done. '(He should weigh well, however, the events of) three days before (the turning-point), and those (to be done) three days after it:'—the end (of confusion) is the beginning (of order); such is the procedure of Heaven.
The Image 象
山下有風，蠱；君子以振民育德。
(The trigram for) a mountain, and below it that for wind, form Kû. The superior man, in accordance with this, (addresses himself to) help the people and nourish his own virtue.
Legge's Great Image (Appendix II). The Chinese above also carries the Small Images of the six lines.
The six lines 爻辭
Read from the bottom (line 1) to the top (line 6). Each line: the Chinese, Legge's translation, and the Small Image commentary on it.
Line 1 初六
The first line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
幹父之蠱，有子，考無咎，厲終吉。
The first SIX, divided, shows (a son) dealing with the troubles caused by his father. If he be an (able) son, the father will escape the blame of having erred. The position is perilous, but there will be good fortune in the end.
Small Image: 'He deals with the troubles caused by his father:'—he feels that he has entered into the work of his father.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 26, The Taming Power of the Great.
Line 2 九二
The second line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
幹母之蠱，不可貞。
The second NINE, undivided, shows (a son) dealing with the troubles caused by his mother. He should not (carry) his firm correctness (to the utmost).
Small Image: 'He deals with the troubles caused by his mother:'—he holds to the course of the due mean.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 52, Keeping Still, Mountain.
Line 3 九三
The third line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
幹父小有晦，無大咎。
The third NINE, undivided, shows (a son) dealing with the troubles caused by his father. There may be some small occasion for repentance, but there will not be any great error.
Small Image: 'He deals with the troubles caused by his father:'—in the end there will be no error.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 4, Youthful Folly.
Line 4 六四
The fourth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
裕父之蠱，往見吝。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows (a son) viewing indulgently the troubles caused by his father. If he go forward, he will find cause to regret it.
Small Image: 'He views indulgently the troubles caused by his father:'—if he go forward, he will not succeed.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 50, The Caldron.
Line 5 六五
The fifth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
幹父之蠱，用譽。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows (a son) dealing with the troubles caused by his father. He obtains the praise of using (the fit instrument for his work).
Small Image: 'He deals with the troubles caused by his father, and obtains praise:'—he is responded to (by the subject of line two) with all his virtue.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 57, The Gentle.
Line 6 上九
The sixth line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
不事王侯，高尚其事。
The sixth NINE, undivided, shows us one who does not serve either king or feudal lord, but in a lofty spirit prefers (to attend to) his own affairs.
Small Image: 'He does not serve either king or feudal lord:'—but his aim may be a model (to others).
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward.
Related hexagrams
lines 2-4 below, 3-5 aboveOpposite 錯卦17. Following 隨
every line changedInverse 綜卦17. Following 隨
turned upside down
A hexagram is a mirror, not a command: read it to reflect, never to obey. Sources: James Legge (tr.), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (Oxford, 1882; 2nd ed. 1899), public domain; the Chinese text from Project Gutenberg ebook #25501 (易經), public domain. The trigram facts and the related hexagrams are computed from the line pattern. The gloss, selection and arrangement are CC-BY-SA-4.0 (PlayfulProcess). Data: github.com/PlayfulProcess/recursive-iching.