Hexagram 29: Kǎn (The Abysmal Water)

The Judgment

Kan, here repeated, shows the possession of sincerity, through which the mind is. penetrating. Action (in accordance with this) will be of high value.

坎：习坎，有孚，维心亨，行有尚。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

Kan repeated shows us one defile succeeding another. This is the nature of water; - it flows on, without accumulating its volume (so as to overflow); it pursues its way through a dangerous defile, without losing its true (nature). That 'the mind is penetrating' is indicated by the strong (line) in the centre. That 'action (in accordance with this) will be of high value' tells us that advance will be followed by achievement. The dangerous (height) of heaven cannot be ascended; the difficult places of the earth are mountains, rivers, hills, and mounds. Kings and princes arrange by means of such strengths, to maintain their territories. Great indeed is the use of (what is here) taught about seasons of peril.

彖曰：习坎，重险也。水流而不盈，行险而不失其信。维心亨，乃以刚中也。行有尚，往有功也。天险不可升也，地险山川丘陵也，王公设险以守其国，坎之时用大矣哉！

The Great Image

(The representation of) water flowing on continuously forms the repeated Kan. The superior man, in accordance with this, maintains constantly the virtue (of his heart) and (the integrity of) his conduct, and practises the business of instruction.

象曰：水洊至，习坎；君子以常德行，习教事。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first SIX, divided, shows its subject in the double defile, and (yet) entering a cavern within it. There will be evil.

   'In the double defile, he enters a cavern within it:' - he has missed his (proper) way, and there will be evil.

   In plain words: Pit upon pit: falling into the deepest hollow of the pit: misfortune. "Pit upon pit" means danger doubled. The first line is weak at the bottom of danger and sinks deeper. The Small Image says it has lost the way, hence misfortune.

   初六：习坎，入于坎窞，凶。 象曰：习坎入坎，失道凶也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject in all the peril of the defile. He will, however, get a little (of the deliverance) that he seeks.

   'He will get a little (of the deliverance) that he seeks:' - he will not yet escape from his environed position.

   In plain words: In the pit there is danger; seek small gains. The second line is strong and central; it cannot yet escape, but it can do a little within the danger. The Small Image says it has not yet come out of the middle of it.

   九二：坎有险，求小得。 象曰：求小得，未出中也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third SIX, divided, shows its subject, whether he comes or goes ( =descends or ascends), confronted by a defile. All is peril to him and unrest. (His endeavours) will lead him into the cavern of the pit. There should be no action (in such a case).

   'Whether he comes or goes, he is confronted by a defile:' - he will never (in such circumstances) achieve any success.

   In plain words: Coming or going, pit upon pit; danger ahead and nothing secure to lean on behind; falling into the deep hollow: do not act. The third line is weak, neither central nor correct, caught between two pits. The Small Image says in the end there is no achievement.

   六三：来之坎坎，险且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。 象曰：来之坎坎，终无功也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject (at a feast), with (simply) a bottle of spirits, and a subsidiary basket of rice, while (the cups and bowls) are (only) of earthenware. He introduces his important lessons (as his ruler's) intelligence admits. There will in the end be no error.

   '(Nothing but) a bottle of spirits and a subsidiary basket of rice:' - (these describe) the meeting at this point of (those who are represented by) the strong and weak lines.

   In plain words: A jug of wine and two bowls of grain in plain earthenware, passed in through the window: in the end no fault. The fourth line is right next to the ruler in the fifth place; in a time of danger it approaches the ruler simply and sincerely, without ceremony. The Small Image says firm and yielding meet.

   六四：樽酒簋贰，用缶，纳约自牖，终无咎。 象曰：樽酒簋贰，刚柔济也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth NINE, undivided, shows the water of the defile not yet full, (so that it might flow away); but order will (soon) be brought about. There will be no error.

   'The water in the defile is not full (so as to flow away):' - (the virtue indicated by) the central situation is not yet (sufficiently) great.

   In plain words: The pit is not yet full; once the water is level with the bank, there is no fault. Some read the key word as a small mound, others as "only when". The fifth line is strong and central in the place of honour; the danger is about to subside but is not entirely over. The Small Image says the middle way is not yet fully shining.

   九五：坎不盈，祗既平，无咎。 象曰：坎不盈，中未大也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject bound with cords of three strands or two strands, and placed in the thicket of thorns. But in three years he does not learn the course for him to pursue. There will be evil.

   'The sixth line, divided, shows its subject missing his (proper) course:' - 'there will be evil for three years.'

   In plain words: Bound with cords and ropes, placed among thorns; for three years no release: misfortune. The thorns stand for the place where prisoners were held in ancient times. The top line is at the height of danger, has lost the way and is trapped. The Small Image says the top line has lost the way, and the misfortune lasts three years.

   上六：系用徽纆，寘于丛棘，三岁不得，凶。 象曰：上六失道，凶三岁也。

Line positions

3 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).

The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; both are strong, so they do not correspond.

Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 0 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.

Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.

These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.

Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces

Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Kan palace runs: Kǎn (head), Jié (1st change), Zhūn (2nd change), Jì Jì (3rd change), Gé (4th change), Fēng (5th change), Míng Yí (wandering soul), Shī (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Kan to Bi: a head clerk asks about his employer's shop: The head clerk of a wealthy Tokyo merchant asked about the shop's fortunes and received the second line of Kan, "danger in the pit; seek small gains". Takashima read the fifth line as the main shop and the second as the branch: both would hit hard times not of their making, but with honest effort there would be small gains if not large ones.

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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction.

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