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Hexagram 38 — Gu, Work on What Has Been Spoiled
Chronological no. 38 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 18 · 蠱
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the youngest son
the eldest daughter
Beneath the mountain, Wind: the image of work on what has been spoiled. Wind rushes into the mountain's fissures, revealing what, over time, has grown corrupt and awaits redress. This is the figure of necessary repair, one that can no longer be postponed. Thus the noble one rouses the people and nourishes their virtue: faced with what is spoiled, the task is not to condemn the past, but to roll up one's sleeves and restore what can still be restored.
Setting right the corruption of a worn inheritance. What has been neglected too long ends up demanding demanding work, but this work is not a curse — it is the chance to rebuild on healthier foundations. This line says that a damaged inheritance is lost only if one refuses to attend to it.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.
The steadied earth reaches its limit: the solidity that upheld the structure is about to change its nature.
At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.
In the listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert itself.
At the sage's seat, emptiness fills: the suppleness that governed with discretion gathers a new force.
At the summit, fullness completes its course and breaks: what had culminated cannot go further without turning back.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
This hexagram is the binary complement of hexagram 25 — Sui, Following (63 − 38 = 25): its patterns have exactly the same shape, only their colours are permuted. Here are the eight patterns of hexagram 25, one for each admissible family.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
37 — Bi, Grace · 39 — Da Chu, The Taming Power of the Great
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☶ Gen): 32 — Bo, Splitting Apart · 33 — Yi, Nourishment · 34 — Meng, Youthful Folly · 35 — Sun, Decrease · 36 — Gen, Keeping Still · 37 — Bi, Grace · 39 — Da Chu, The Taming Power of the Great
Same lower trigram (☴ Xun): 6 — Sheng, Pushing Upward · 14 — Heng, Duration · 22 — Jing, The Well · 30 — Da Guo, Preponderance of the Great · 46 — Ding, The Cauldron · 54 — Xun, The Gentle, Wind · 62 — Gou, Coming to Meet
