Following vs. Decay Hexagrams: Pick Wrong, Waste Life; Fix Late, Ruin All

Following and Work on the Decayed are the 17th and 18th hexagrams.

These two hexagrams share an easily overlooked common point: both their Hexagram Judgments contain "yuan heng" (Originating and Penetrating).

Hexagram Judgment of Following: Sui (Following), Originating, Penetrating, Advantageous, Correct. No blame.

Hexagram Judgment of Work on the Decayed: Gu (Work on the Decayed), Originating and Penetrating. It furthers one to cross the great water. Before the starting point, three days. After the starting point, three days.

Gu means decay, a mess left to rot—how can it possibly be "originating and penetrating"?

This is one of the most misunderstood points in the I Ching (Book of Changes). Gu is not a bad thing in itself; it describes a state where things have deteriorated so badly that they must be addressed. Once you reach this state, great breakthrough becomes possible, because inaction is no longer an option.

So Following and Work on the Decayed describe two completely opposite courses of action.

Following is 泽雷随 (Dui/Zhen Following). Dui (The Joyous) is above, Zhen (The Arousing) is below—lake rests above thunder. When thunder moves, the lake follows suit; movement brings joy, hence the name Following.

Work on the Decayed is 山风蛊 (Gen/Xun Work on the Decayed). Gen (Keeping Still) is above, Xun (The Gentle) is below—mountain stands above wind. The wind is blocked by the mountain and cannot circulate; over time, decay sets in and insects breed, hence the name Gu (Decay).

One is moving along with the current; the other is unclogging a blockage.

The six lines of the Following hexagram all revolve around who you choose to follow.

Nine at the Beginning: The official has a change of position. Perseverance brings good fortune. Going out the door to associate with others brings merit. Your position shifts; staying upright brings good fortune. Networking and connecting with others outside will bear fruit.

Six in the Second Place: Tied to the little fellow, loses the great man. You cling to the small, trivial option and miss out on the major, significant one.

Six in the Third Place: Tied to the great man, loses the little fellow. Following, you will get what you seek. It furthers to abide in correctness. You cling to the major option and let go of the small one. Following this path brings gains, and it is suitable to uphold integrity.

Nine in the Fourth Place: Following brings gain. Perseverance brings misfortune. Sincerity and trust in the way, with clarity—what blame is there? Following brings rewards, yet staying the course leads to misfortune. But if you hold sincerity in your heart, walk the right path, and understand the way things work, there is no fault.

Nine in the Fifth Place: Sincerity toward what is good. Good fortune. Treating others with sincerity brings good fortune.

Six at the Top: Restrain and bind him, then follow and tie him fast. The king offers sacrifice on the western mountain. You tie someone up tightly, then secure them further. The king conducts a ritual sacrifice on the western mountain.

The second and third lines form a paired set.

The second line says "tied to the little fellow, loses the great man"; the third line says "tied to the great man, loses the little fellow".

Both involve "tying" or clinging—one clings to the small and loses the big, the other clings to the big and loses the small.

The third line represents the better choice, but it is not without cost. When you pick the bigger option, you have to let go of the smaller one.

This is the truth of Following: whoever you choose to follow is a choice, and every choice always comes with some loss.

The line at the fourth position is even harsher: "Following brings gain. Perseverance brings misfortune."

You follow along, you even get something out of it—and yet the outcome is inauspicious.

Why? Because those gains are not truly yours; they came along for the ride by riding someone else's coattails. Wealth earned by leaning on others' momentum vanishes the moment the wind dies down.

But right after that comes three key words: "sincerity and trust in the way".

When you hold sincerity in your heart and walk the right path, things are different.

Now let's look at Work on the Decayed.

Of the six lines of the Gu hexagram, five of them talk about "dealing with decay" (gan gu).

Six at the Beginning: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. If there is a son, the father is free from blame. Danger, but in the end good fortune. Cleaning up the mess left by one's father. With such a son, the late father bears no fault. Though there is danger, the final outcome is good.

Nine in the Second Place: Setting right what has been spoiled by the mother. One must not be too persistent. Cleaning up the mess left by one's mother. You cannot be too rigid or unyielding about it.

Nine in the Third Place: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. There is a little remorse. No great blame. Cleaning up the father's mess. You may feel a twinge of regret, but there is no major fault.

Six in the Fourth Place: Tolerating what has been spoiled by the father. Going on brings humiliation. Letting the father's mess slide, putting off dealing with it. If you keep going this way, things will turn out badly.

Six in the Fifth Place: Setting right what has been spoiled by the father. One meets with praise. Cleaning up the father's mess earns you acclaim.

Nine at the Top: He does not serve kings and princes. He holds his own affairs in high esteem. He refuses to serve royalty or nobles, valuing his own personal path above worldly position.

Pay attention to the fourth line: "tolerating what has been spoiled by the father"—meaning indulging the mess, dragging your feet and not dealing with it.

This is the only line in the entire Gu hexagram that explicitly says "going on brings humiliation". When you leave a mess untended, things usually get uglier the longer you wait.

The top line, though, is quite special: "He does not serve kings and princes. He holds his own affairs in high esteem."

After you finish cleaning up the mess, you step back and stay out of it.

This line is the exit ramp for the entire Gu hexagram. Once the mess is fixed, it is time to leave.

Now let's put the two hexagrams side by side.

Following moves forward; Work on the Decayed moves back to fix what is broken.

Following is about catching up to a momentum that is just taking shape.

Work on the Decayed is about cleaning up a situation that has already gone rotten.

The most common mistake people make is mixing these two things up.

When you should be following, you try to change things. A new opportunity comes along, but you insist on reshaping it to fit your own ideas—until by the end, the opportunity is gone. The Following hexagram makes it very clear: following brings gain, but the prerequisite is "sincerity and trust in the way", not "I'm going to change this into something I like".

When you should be fixing things, you just keep following along. A team, project, or relationship that is clearly already falling apart—you keep going on autopilot, hoping it will get better on its own. The fourth line of Work on the Decayed spells it out: tolerating what has been spoiled by the father, going on brings humiliation.

How do you tell which one you're dealing with?

Ask one question: Can this thing still be fixed?

If it can be fixed, it is Gu. What you should do is tackle the decay, roll up your sleeves, and work through it bit by bit. While you're fixing it, keep in mind the second line's warning: "one must not be too persistent"—some things can't be forced; you have to approach them gently.

If it can't be fixed, it is Following. Stop trying to repair it. Just go along for the ride and see where it takes you. While you're following, remember the third line's advice: pick the bigger option, and accept that you'll lose the smaller one.

There's another more practical way to judge: see whether time is on your side or against you.

With Gu, the longer you wait, the worse it rots—so the sooner you act, the better. "Before the starting point, three days; after the starting point, three days"—you need to set aside time for preparation before you start, and for wrapping up after you finish.

With Following, the longer it goes, the smoother it gets—so don't rush. Once the momentum builds, just keep up with it; you don't have to be the first one out the gate.

The top line of Following says "restrain and bind him, then follow and tie him fast"—this is about clinging too tightly.

If you're following someone so closely that you're practically tying them down, that's not following anymore—that's controlling.

The top line of Work on the Decayed says "he does not serve kings and princes, he holds his own affairs in high esteem"—this is about leaving once the work is done.

If you hang around and refuse to leave after you've cleaned up the mess, that's not fixing things anymore—that's taking over.

One lesson is: don't cling too tight. The other is: don't overstay your welcome.

At the end of the day, both Following and Work on the Decayed are about "relationships": your relationship with momentum, and your relationship with messes.

When momentum comes, keep up with it—don't try to reshape it.

When something goes rotten, take action—don't drag your feet.

The worst thing you can do is: try to change things when momentum is building, and wait around when things are already falling apart.