Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart (剝) & Tzolkin
Hexagram 23 Splitting Apart (剝 Bō) in I Ching and Tzolkin: Mountain over Earth, decline and yielding. It maps to kins 89–92 of the Tzolkin calendar.
剝 bō · Splitting Apart
Splitting Apart (剝, Bō) is the hexagram of decline — a Mountain crumbling into the Earth, a single yang line at the top undermined by five yielding yin lines below. It speaks of a time when the old structure erodes, and wisdom lies in yielding gracefully and awaiting the turning point rather than forcing motion.
In the Argüelles Codon system, hexagram 23 corresponds to kins 89–92 of the Tzolkin calendar — a quartet of signatures that carry a kindred motif of dissolution and passage within the 260-day spiral. Where the I Ching counsels retreat and patience, the Tzolkin reads this stretch of the cycle as a moment of clearing before new growth.
Set side by side, both traditions describe the same truth: disintegration is often not an ending but the precondition of renewal.
The Judgment
Splitting Apart. It does not further one to go anywhere. The time of decline and dissolution — yield gracefully and await the turning point.
The Image
The mountain rests on the earth. Those above secure their position by giving generously to those below.