Hexagram 23 Bo - Complete Guide Part 4: Philosophy — Splitting Apart in Confucian, Taoist, and Cyclical Thought
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BY NICOLE LAU
Hexagram 23 Bo - Complete Guide Part 4: Philosophy — Splitting Apart in Confucian, Taoist, and Cyclical Thought
Bo raises one of the most fundamental questions of moral and philosophical life: how does the person of genuine inner virtue preserve the seed of genuine strength through the time of maximum dissolution? The Confucian tradition, the Taoist tradition, and classical Chinese cyclical philosophy each offer a distinct and complementary answer.
The Confucian Reading: Preserving Virtue Through Adversity
Jun Zi (君子): The Superior Person in the Time of Dissolution
The Confucian concept of the jun zi — the superior person, the person of genuine inner virtue — is the philosophical foundation of Bo's most important teaching: the superior person receives a carriage (Line 6). The Confucian tradition's most important teaching on the time of adversity is the distinction between the superior person who preserves genuine inner virtue through the time of dissolution and the inferior person whose house is split apart. The Analects: “The superior man is catholic and no partisan. The mean man is partisan and not catholic.” (Analects 2.14) The superior person of Bo is the person who preserves the seed of genuine inner virtue through the time of dissolution — who remains catholic and not partisan even when the forces of dissolution have risen to their maximum.
Ren (仁): Humaneness as the Seed That Survives Dissolution
The Confucian concept of ren — humaneness, the genuine inner virtue that is the foundation of all genuine moral life — is the philosophical foundation of Bo's large fruit uneaten: the seed of genuine inner virtue that the time of splitting apart has not consumed. The Analects: “The man of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged himself, he seeks also to enlarge others.” (Analects 6.28) The large fruit uneaten of Bo is the Confucian ren: the genuine humaneness that survives the time of dissolution, the seed of genuine inner virtue that germinates in the return of Fu.
The Paradox of Confucian Dissolution: Generosity as Preservation
The deepest Confucian insight of Bo is the paradox of genuine generosity as genuine preservation: the person above who gives generously to those below — who yields to the forces of dissolution with genuine generosity rather than resisting them with genuine force — finds that the genuine generosity of genuine yielding preserves the seed of genuine inner virtue for the renewal that follows. This is the Confucian paradox of Bo: genuine generosity in the time of dissolution is the most powerful form of genuine self-preservation available to the person of genuine inner virtue.
The Taoist Reading: Natural Cycles of Dissolution and Renewal
Fan (反): Reversal as the Movement of the Tao
The Taoist concept of fan — reversal, the natural movement of the Tao that always returns to its source — is the philosophical foundation of Bo's most important teaching: the dissolution of Bo naturally leads to the return of Fu. The Tao Te Ching: “Reversal is the movement of the Tao.” (Chapter 40) The splitting apart of Bo is the Taoist fan: the natural reversal that precedes the natural return. The person who understands the Taoist fan — who knows that the dissolution of Bo naturally leads to the return of Fu — finds the genuine wisdom to yield, endure, and preserve the seed of genuine inner virtue for the renewal that follows.
Rou (柔): Yielding as the Strength of the Tao
The Taoist concept of rou — yielding, the genuine strength of the Tao that overcomes all things through genuine yielding rather than genuine force — is the philosophical foundation of Bo's most important practical wisdom: it does not further one to go anywhere. The Tao Te Ching: “The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid.” (Chapter 78) The genuine yielding of Bo is the Taoist rou: the genuine strength that overcomes the forces of dissolution through genuine yielding rather than genuine force. The person who yields with genuine strength — who does not go anywhere in the time of splitting apart — finds that the genuine yielding of rou preserves the seed of genuine inner virtue for the renewal that follows.
Classical Chinese Cyclical Philosophy: The Relationship Between Splitting Apart and Return
Bo and Fu: The Natural Cycle of Dissolution and Return
The classical Chinese cyclical philosophy of Bo and Fu — the natural cycle of splitting apart and return that is the foundation of the I Ching's understanding of time — is the philosophical foundation of Bo's most important teaching: the dissolution of Bo naturally leads to the return of Fu. The I Ching's understanding of time is not linear but cyclical: the splitting apart of Bo is not the end but the turning point, the moment of maximum dissolution that naturally precedes the moment of genuine return. The person who understands the cyclical philosophy of Bo and Fu — who knows that the dissolution of Bo naturally leads to the return of Fu — finds the genuine wisdom to preserve the seed of genuine inner virtue through the time of dissolution.
Bo and the Philosophy of Invariant Constants
Bo and Fu (Return, Hexagram 24) together express one of the I Ching's most important invariant constants: the natural cycle of dissolution and return. The dissolution of Bo naturally leads to the return of Fu; the return of Fu naturally leads to the next cycle of genuine growth that eventually leads to the next dissolution of Bo. The invariant constant is not the dissolution itself but the natural cycle that makes genuine dissolution and genuine return possible. The philosophical insight of Bo is that genuine dissolution is not the opposite of genuine renewal but its natural precondition: the person who preserves the seed of genuine inner virtue through the time of dissolution — who keeps the large fruit uneaten through the time of splitting apart — finds that the genuine renewal of Fu follows naturally.
What Is Next in This Series
- Part 1: The Symbol and Structure
- Part 2: The Six Lines — Complete Line-by-Line Commentary
- Part 3: Divination Guide — How to Read Bo in Practice
- Part 4 (This Article): Philosophy — Splitting Apart in Confucian, Taoist, and Cyclical Thought
- Part 5: Practical Applications — Knowing When to Yield, Enduring Dissolution, Preserving the Seed
- Part 6: Modern Interpretations — Creative Destruction, Resilience Science, Cycles of Renewal
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