Hexagram 18
Repairing the Spoiled
蠱 · 고
Mountain over Wind
The Judgment
What has been spoiled can be repaired, and the work may open a broad passage to success. Decay is not a command to despair; it is a summons to responsibility. A difficult crossing is worthwhile when undertaken to restore sound order. Study how the disorder arose before making a beginning, and watch carefully after the change is made. Renewal requires more than a bold first act: causes must be understood, habits altered, and fresh growth patiently protected.
The Image
Wind moves beneath the mountain, where checked circulation allows what is neglected to grow stale. The noble one does not merely condemn the resulting disorder. People are stirred from indifference, and character is nourished, so that renewal reaches the living roots rather than decorating a damaged surface.
In the light of the Dao
Spoilage begins where life is prevented from renewing itself. Repair therefore needs both attention and release: clear the obstruction, but do not force every branch into a rigid pattern. Return toward the simple source. What is sound can recover when the conditions of decay are removed.
The two trigrams
Upper · outer
☶Mountain
Keeping still · Youngest son
Lower · inner
☴Wind
Gentle, penetrating · Eldest daughter
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. A line speaks only when it moves — when the cast gives it as 6 or 9.
First line · the beginning · yin, six
You undertake to repair damage inherited from the father. A capable successor can free the predecessor from lasting blame by setting the work right. The task contains danger and deserves vigilance, yet an attentive beginning can lead to a fortunate end.
Second line · the inner centre · yang, nine
You address what has been spoiled through the mother. Correction here calls for delicacy, not an inflexible assertion of authority. Preserve affection while changing the harmful pattern. A rigid insistence on being right may injure the very relationship through which healing must proceed.
Third line · the threshold · yang, nine
You repair the father's disorder with vigorous determination. Your manner may be somewhat excessive, leaving a little cause for regret, but the essential undertaking is right. Do not abandon necessary correction merely because its execution cannot be perfectly gentle.
Fourth line · the minister · yin, six
You tolerate the father's spoiled work and allow it to continue. What looks like loyalty is becoming neglect of your own responsibility. If you proceed in this indulgent manner, humiliation follows, because inherited disorder grows worse when no one will confront it.
Fifth line · the ruler · yin, six
You repair the father's spoiled work in a manner that earns praise. Restoration here is not a private display of superiority over the past. Through worthy assistance and responsible leadership, the inherited undertaking becomes sound enough to command renewed confidence.
Top line · the end · yang, nine
You do not enter the service of king or lord, but cultivate a purpose held higher than office. Withdrawal is worthy when it preserves integrity and serves a genuine calling. It must be freedom from ambition, not indifference disguised as purity.