Hexagram 29: 坎 (kǎn)

坎

kǎn · Legge: Khân

Lower trigram ☵ 坎 (Water), upper trigram ☵ 坎 (Water)

Judgment

習坎：有孚，維心亨。行有尚。

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

Commentary on the judgment (彖傳)

習坎，重險也。水流而不盈，行險而不失其信。維心亨，乃以剛中也。行有尚，往有功也。天險不可升也，地險山川丘陵也，王公設險以守其國，坎之時用大矣哉！

The image (大象)

水洊至，習坎；君子以常德行，習教事。

The six lines

Line	Chinese	Legge	Changes to
6 – –	係用徽纆，寘于叢棘，三歲不得，凶。	The topmost line, 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.	59
5 —	坎不盈，禔既平，无咎。	The fifth line, 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.	7
4 – –	尊酒簋，貳用缶。内約自牖，終无咎。	The fourth line, 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.	47
3 – –	來之坎坎，險且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。	The third line, 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).	48
2 —	坎有險，求小得。	The second line, undivided, shows its subject in all the peril of the defile. He will, however, get a little (of the deliverance) that he seeks.	8
1 – –	習坎，入于坎窞，凶。	The first line, divided, shows its subject in the double defile, and (yet) entering a cavern within it. There will be evil.	60

Lines are numbered from the bottom. Each line page shows the line text with its small image commentary; each “changes to” link opens the reading for that changing line.

Related hexagrams

Opposite (every line changed): hexagram 30 · reading
Nuclear (lines 2–4 and 3–5): hexagram 27

Legge's notes

XXIX. The trigram Khan, which is doubled to form this hexagram, is the lineal symbol of water. Its meaning, as a character, is 'a pit,' 'a perilous cavity, or defile;' and here and elsewhere in the Yî it leads the reader to think of a dangerous defile, with water flowing through it. It becomes symbolic of danger, and what the authors of the Text had in mind was to show how danger should be encountered, its effect on the mind, and how to get out of it.

The trigram exhibits a strong central line, between two divided lines. The central represented to king Wăn the sincere honesty and goodness of the subject of the hexagram, whose mind was sharpened and made penetrating by contact with danger, and who acted in a manner worthy of his character. It is implied, though the Thwan does not say it, that he would get out of the danger.

Line 1 is weak, at the bottom of the figure, and has no correlate above, no helper, that is, beyond itself. All these things render the case of its subject hopeless. He will by his efforts only involve himself more deeply in danger.

Line 2 is strong, and in the centre. Its subject is unable, indeed, to escape altogether from the danger, but he does not involve himself more deeply in it like the subject of 1, and obtains some ease.

Line 3 is weak, and occupies the place of a strong line. Its subject is in an evil case.

Line 4 is weak, and will get no help from its correlate in 1. Its subject is not one who can avert the danger threatening himself and others. But his position is close to that of the ruler in 5, whose intimacy he cultivates with an unostentatious sincerity, symbolled by the appointments of the simple feast, and whose intelligence he cautiously enlightens. In consequence, there will be no error.

The subject of line 5 is on the eve of extrication and deliverance. The waters of the defile will ere long have free vent and disappear, and the ground will be levelled and made smooth. The line is strong, in a proper place, and in the place of honour.

The case of the subject of line 6 is hopeless. When danger has reached its highest point, there he is, represented by a weak line, and with no proper correlate below. The 'thicket of thorns' is taken as a metaphor for a prison; but if the expression has a history, I have been unable to find it.

English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882) — public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi from Chinese Wikisource.

Character glossary

Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.