Hexagram 12

day 10 of a yang moon

Hexagram 12

Pǐ

To say no

Say no to wrong people
No harvest for a noble one's determination
The great proceeds, the small comes up

The great image says:
Heaven and Earth do not interact: obstruction
The noble one holds back his virtue and avoids disaster
He does not allow honor by an official salary

Heaven
Earth

day 10 of a yang moon

Saying no seems a negative thing, but without the art of saying no one is a victim of everything that one passes on one’s road. But receiving a ‘no’, being denied something – even those are necessary things in life. They make strong, one learns there are borders and best of all: one learns to cope with them or to overcome them.
The right reaction to a ‘no’ or the power to overcome obstacles are the base of a strong character. Saying no is the prerequisite for individuality, for inner peace and for a rich and creative existence.
Sometimes you need a time of no. After a hectic time with worldy pursuits, you have to come back, and then 12 feels like a clear glass of water after a hot dusty day.

6 at 3: Holding a sheep offering in expiation for a wrong. Sometimes things stop through simple dumbness. No interest, no care, no love, no understanding. No way to get through that thick fog. The only solution is that the ones who make the fog also make it clear up. Don’t waste your time on them if they don’t. (Changes to hex.33)		Above 9: The obstruction is temporary. First obstruction, later rejoicing. When an obstruction lasts for a while, one gets to know it, one realizes what it is, its why and how, and that announces its end. What one knows, one can handle and overcome. That also goes for interests which do not last: obviously they were not life giving, but obstructing. Even without being aware of it one lets them fade away. (Changes to hex.45)
6 at 2: To work under contract. Small people: auspicious. Great people: obstruction for expansion. When your situation among people is frustrating and you cannot use your wings and neither change it, then don't fret. Sometimes one simply has to adapt, so do it wholeheartedly. Happiness has more value than freedom. In this case those who have no ambitions are blessed. (Changes to hex.6)		9 at 5: Relaxed obstruction. Great people auspicious. One's extinction, one's extinction, fasten it to bushy mulberry-trees. If you are obstructed and you feel frustrated or angry or sorry for yourself, your chances to get out pass by unnoticed. But if you are not tied to the difficulties but to grasping life the moment you can, to seize opportunities and hold them tight, then obstructions will never last long. (Changes to hex.35)
Initial 6 : Uproot Mao-grass, interlaced roots. Gather them together. Determination: auspicious. Expansion. When life-energy stagnates and nothing interests you anymore, then start digging. The 10.000 things of the world may be outworn, but they have their roots in universal images. Search for the roots, they will inspire you again. Life needs weeding, then new things find room to grow. (Changes to hex.25)		9 at 4: Having the mandate, no fault. Cultivate brilliance, happiness. Giving orders is not a question of commanding people, it is in the first place inspiring them. A real leader is not the one in power, it is the one who brings safety, happiness and prosperity, the one who exerts a good influence all around, the one who is supported by the gods. To be that is a life-long duty. (Changes to hex.20)
The Sabian Symbols for the hexagram-lines
6 at 3 corresponds to b 10: Early morning dew A new day after the tears of the night		Above 9 corresponds to h 10: A popularity that proves ephemeral
6 at 2 corresponds to ` 10: An aeroplane falling		9 at 5 corresponds to f 10: A golden-haired goddess of opportunity
Initial 6 corresponds to ^ 10: A man teaching new forms for old symbols		9 at 4 corresponds to d 10: A canoe approaching safely through dangerous waters The boat brings in the man, but the man brings in the boat

For the meaning of Eminent - expansion. Harvest - determination click HERE
Say no to wrong etc. might be: stagnation's bad people make it an unfit time for a noble man's determination. Or: Obstruction (for) bad people.
Line 1. 'Gather them together' can also be translated: due to their kind. 'Auspicious. Expansion' or: 'Auspicious for expansion' or 'an auspicious expansion' might mean: auspicious (for a) summer sacrifice or sacrifice feast.
Line 2. To work under contract is wrap (include, guarantee) and receive. Wilhelm translates: they bear and endure. Obstruction for expansion: obstructions for a summer sacrifice or sacrifice feast.
Line 3. Xiu now means embarrass or shame, but it is the original form of delicacy , offer (as tribute), to eat (the ideogram is hand + sheep). I found the 'offering in expiation for a wrong' in Wu. It explains the change in meaning from offer to shame.
Line 4. 'Cultivate': chou is plowed field, companion, who. So it should maybe be translated as 'In the fields of brightness and contentment', maybe meaning something like finding your Buddha-soul? "Brightness" is Li, name of hex.30.
Line 5. I guess it means one should tie things to something alive, growing, productive, as soon as one gets a fear of failure. Wilhelm says 'Standstill is giving way', but the character for giving way is rather something like 'relaxed' (a person and/under a tree). In a time of obstruction the best attitude is to be relaxed, and if one panics, not to try frantically to hold on to things, but to connect them (or oneself) to something which is rooted in the earth, and growing - fast, like Mulberry. Other meanings of Mulberry: Mulberry and Catalpa (Lindera) is 'home', native place or people. Mulberry and Elm is old age. Sang-Chung and Sang-Chien are two places known for their profligacy (Sang is Mulberry).
Line 6. 'Rejoicing': the character is to beat the drum and sing.