Standstill
否Pi
No. 12 · Heaven over Earth
Pi (Standstill)
Heaven and earth don't meet and nothing passes between top and bottom. A blocked season: how to pull in, protect yourself and wait for the situation to turn.
Cast your own hexagramIn Pi (Standstill) communication is blocked, levels are cut off, and principled people come out behind. Don't force it. Pull in, hold to your principles and conserve your strength until things turn. The old saying goes that when Pi peaks, Tai (Peace) returns, but not just yet.
Favorable
- Pull in and keep a low profile
- Hold to your principles
- Cut back spending
- Wait for things to loosen
Avoid
- Forcing your way through
- Cozying up to those in power
- Trading principles for a title
- Pressing for answers in a cold spell
Work and money
- Job search
- As the Tuan puts it, high and low don't meet, so applications vanish without a reply and internal promotions stall. Don't rush to jump while chances are slim; build your skills. The Image says not to take pride in rank, so don't flatter the wrong people for a title.
- Business
- The Judgment says the great departs and the small arrives: a lot goes in, little comes back. Not a good time to open a new location, expand or sign a big contract. Trim down, protect your cash, and talk partnerships once the channels reopen.
- Money
- This is no time to expand, and income may stall. Cut spending, manage money conservatively, and don't follow the crowd into anything because someone is hyping it.
Love and people
- Single
- In Pi (Standstill) heaven rises and earth sinks, drifting apart, and meeting someone rarely goes anywhere right now. Don't force matches. Live your own life well and let your mood and your chances come around.
- In a relationship
- You aren't getting through and each of you is in your own head, so things cool. Don't push for a commitment or a breakup talk. Turn the temperature down and wait until you are both calm.
- Getting back together
- The odds of getting back together are low; reaching out now mostly means hitting a wall. Stop contacting them and sort yourself out. Watch for the kind of loosening the fifth line describes before trying again.
- People and partnerships
- The petty hold the inside track, so partnerships can drag you down, and being pulled into a clique is riskier still. Look out for each other with principled friends of your own kind, and keep your distance from those in power.
Daily life
- Exams and study
- Effort may not show up in your results right away, whether from timing or a slightly wrong direction. It is risky to switch tracks now. Stick to the plan and firm up the basics; that gives you something to rebuild on later.
- Moving and travel
- Travel tends to hit snags: paperwork delays, plans that change. Put off any move you don't need to make. If you must go, leave slack in the schedule and have a backup plan.
- Body and mind
- Feeling stifled and unable to say it, stress builds up inside. Talk to one or two people you trust instead of grinding through alone. If your body starts to feel off, have a doctor take a look.
Traditional questions
- Something you are waiting for
- Slow; unlikely to come soon. Pi (Standstill) turns only at the top line, when the blockage is overturned. News tends to wait on the environment changing or the person blocking it moving on.
- Disputes and lawsuits
- As the Tuan says, high and low don't meet: the other side won't listen and your case doesn't reach the people who decide. Cases tend to drag and settlements are hard. Gather evidence and protect yourself; don't escalate out of anger.
- Lost things and people
- The chances of finding it are low. With Qian (Heaven) above and Kun (Earth) below, check high places and round boxes or cabinets, or low down among cloth and clothes. If someone else picked it up, getting it back is hard.
Making a decision
Hold off on big decisions and delay what you can. If you must decide, pick the most conservative option, the one easiest to walk back.
If you are…
The boss listens only to a few people close by, and your input never makes it up the chain: that is Pi (Standstill). Don't blow up and don't start flattering. Do your job well, keep records, and quietly prepare your next move.
Anything you say right now is heard as an attack, and everyone is still angry. Stop arguing and each give a little ground. When a family gathering comes up or they soften, ask someone to sit in the middle and help you talk it through.
This is the reading when no line is changing. With changing lines, Zhu Xi’s method says which line to read, and the result page after a casting tells you directly.
否之匪人，不利君子貞，大往小來。
Blocked and closed off: this is not the way people ought to live. It does not favor the steadfastness of the noble person. The great departs, the small arrives.
Heaven over Earth: Qian (Heaven) above, Kun (Earth) below. Heaven moves up and earth sinks down, so the two drift further apart and never meet, and nothing flows. That blockage is Pi (Standstill). Yin is inside and yang outside: the petty hold sway within.
Six at the beginning
拔茅茹以其彙，貞吉。亨。
Pulling up couch grass, the roots come up together, each with its kind. Steadfastness brings good fortune. Success.
Conditions are poor, but you and the people around you haven't been dragged down yet. Hold to your principles together, don't join in the mess, and keep your mind on doing things right. That is what gets you through.
Small Image: 拔茅貞吉，志在君也。
Six in the second place
包承，小人吉，大人否亨。
Enduring and complying with those above: good fortune for the petty person. For the great person, staying blocked brings success.
Going along with the people in charge does make life easier right now, but that is the petty person's road. If you don't want to be part of it, accept a slow stretch, hold your ground and don't dance to their tune.
Small Image: 大人否亨，不亂羣也。
Six in the third place
包羞。
Concealing shame.
You may be in a position you shouldn't hold, or have done something you feel uneasy about. It looks fine on the surface, but you know it isn't right. Stop and correct it yourself before it comes out.
Small Image: 包羞，位不當也。
Nine in the fourth place
有命，无咎，疇離祉。
Acting on a mandate, no blame. Companions cling to you and share in the blessing.
The blockage is starting to loosen, and you have legitimate backing or an opening to act. Act on proper terms, and you tend to stay in the clear, with the people around you sharing the benefit.
Small Image: 有命无咎，志行也。
Nine in the fifth place
休否，大人吉。其亡其亡，繫于苞桑。
The blockage comes to rest. Good fortune for the great person. Keep saying "it may be lost, it may be lost", and it holds as firm as if tied to a clump of mulberry roots.
You can turn things around, and they are already improving. The closer you get to a turnaround, the more you need a sense of danger. Thinking every risk through is what keeps the gains in place.
Small Image: 大人之吉，位正當也。
Nine at the top
傾否，先否後喜。
The blockage is overturned. First blocked, then joy.
The hardest part is almost over. Whatever is stuck, you can give it a push yourself. Hard first, sweet after: now is the time to break the deadlock.
Small Image: 否終則傾，何可長也。
否之匪人，不利君子貞，大往小來，則是天地不交而萬物不通也，上下不交而天下无邦也。內陰而外陽，內柔而外剛，內小人而外君子，小人道長，君子道消也。
Pi (Standstill): blocked and closed off, this is not the way people ought to live; it does not favor the steadfastness of the noble person; the great departs, the small arrives. This is heaven and earth not in union, so things do not flow; high and low are not in union, so it is as if the land had no state at all. Yin is within and yang without; weak within, hard without. The petty person is within and the noble person without. The way of the petty person grows, and the way of the noble person fades.
The Image天地不交，否；君子以儉德辟難，不可榮以祿。
Heaven and earth not in union: this is Pi (Standstill). The noble person, seeing this, holds back their abilities and virtue to avoid trouble, and must not take pride in rank and salary.
The Sequence: why it comes here物不可以終通，故受之以否。
Things cannot stay open and flowing forever. When Tai (Peace) reaches its limit, it closes up, so Tai is followed by Pi (Standstill).
Miscellaneous Notes否、泰，反其類也。
Pi (Standstill) and Tai (Peace) are opposite kinds. In Pi, heaven and earth do not meet and high and low are cut off; in Tai they meet and connect. The two hexagrams are each other flipped upside down, and their situations are reversed too.
Related hexagramsFAQ
What does Pi mean for love?
In Pi (Standstill) heaven rises and earth sinks, drifting apart, and meeting someone rarely goes anywhere right now. Don't force matches. Live your own life well and let your mood and your chances come around. You aren't getting through and each of you is in your own head, so things cool. Don't push for a commitment or a breakup talk. Turn the temperature down and wait until you are both calm.
What does Pi mean for work?
As the Tuan puts it, high and low don't meet, so applications vanish without a reply and internal promotions stall. Don't rush to jump while chances are slim; build your skills. The Image says not to take pride in rank, so don't flatter the wrong people for a title. Communication up and down is stuck, proposals struggle to get approved, and the wrong people may have the upper hand. Keep a low profile, don't cozy up to anyone, do your own job well, and don't trade your principles for a promotion.
With Pi, will what I am waiting for come?
Slow; unlikely to come soon. Pi (Standstill) turns only at the top line, when the blockage is overturned. News tends to wait on the environment changing or the person blocking it moving on.
With Pi, will I find what I lost?
The chances of finding it are low. With Qian (Heaven) above and Kun (Earth) below, check high places and round boxes or cabinets, or low down among cloth and clothes. If someone else picked it up, getting it back is hard.
A hexagram answers one question; your chart shows the whole of you and your year.
The classical text follows the standard edition of the Zhouyi. The plain readings are Xingge’s own, offered as a reference, not as the final word.