King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Hexagram 29 坎 changing to hexagram 20 觀

kǎn
→
guān

Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 6.

What to read

Two changing lines: read both line texts of the original hexagram; the upper one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)

Hexagram 29 坎, line 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.

Hexagram 29 坎, line 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.

The two hexagrams

Hexagram 29 坎 — 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.

Hexagram 20 觀 — judgment

盥而不薦,有孚顒若。

Kwân shows (how he whom it represents should be like) the worshipper who has washed his hands, but not (yet) presented his offerings;—with sincerity and an appearance of dignity (commanding reverent regard).

The changing lines of hexagram 29

LineChineseLegge
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.
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.

English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.

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.