Hexagram 47, Kùn (Exhaustion): Line 1

困卦初六 · 泽水困 · 中文版

初六:臀困于株木,入于幽谷,三岁不觌。

The line (Legge)

The first SIX, divided, shows its subject with bare buttocks straitened under the stump of a tree. He enters a dark valley, and for three years has no prospect (of deliverance).

Small Image commentary

'He enters a dark valley:' - so benighted is he, and without clear vision.

象曰:入于幽谷,幽不明也。

In plain words

Sitting trapped on a bare stump, one goes into a dark valley and for three years sees no one. The first line is weak at the very bottom of the hexagram of oppression, sitting stuck and sinking deeper. The Small Image says it is dark and without light.

Applying it to your situation

If you are stuck and sinking lower, this line suggests finding a way out of the "valley" and seeing people. Who could you go and see now?

Position

A broken (yin) line in the first place, which is a yang (odd) place, so it is not in its proper place. Its partner is line 4; one is yin and the other yang, so they respond to each other.

If this line moves

With this line moving alone, Kùn changes into Hexagram 58 Duì (The Joyous Lake). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·困之兑.

The hexagram

Hexagram 47 Kùn (Exhaustion). The Judgment: In (the condition denoted by) Kun there may (yet be) progress and success. For the firm and correct, the (really) great man, there will be good fortune. He will fall into no error. If he make speeches, his words cannot be made good.

Next: Line 2

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. Plain-English readings and position notes by this site.

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