P'i / Standstill [Stagnation]
above: Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
below: K'un The Receptive, Earth
Six at the beginning means:
When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it.
Each according to his kind.
Perseverance brings good fortune and success.
The text is almost the same as that of the first line of the preceding
hexagram, but with a contrary meaning. In the latter a man is drawing
another along with him on the road to an official career; here a man is
drawing another with him into retirement form public life. This is why
the text says here, "Perseverance brings good fortune and success," and
not "Undertakings bring good fortune." If it becomes impossible to make
our influence count, it is only by retirement that we spare ourselves
humiliation. Success in a higher sense can be ours, because we know how
to safeguard the value of our personalities.