Hexagram 29 of 64 · King Wen order
坎The Abysmal
Kǎn · ䷜ · above: Water ☵ 坎 Kǎn · below: Water ☵ 坎 Kǎn
Navigating through repeated dangers by remaining true to oneself and maintaining inner flow.A one-line gloss written for this site (AI-assisted). Everything below it is the classical text.
The Judgment 卦辭
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.
James Legge, The Yî King (1882), the Text. Words in (parentheses) are Legge's own additions.
Commentary on the Judgment 彖傳 (Tuan, the first Wing)
1. Khan repeated shows us one defile succeeding another.
2. 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).
3. 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.
4. 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.
The Image 象
水洊至，習坎；君子以常德行，習教事。
(The representation of) water flowing on continuously forms the repeated Khan. 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.
Legge's Great Image (Appendix II). The Chinese above also carries the Small Images of the six lines.
The six lines 爻辭
Read from the bottom (line 1) to the top (line 6). Each line: the Chinese, Legge's translation, and the Small Image commentary on it.
Line 1 初六
The first line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
習坎，入于坎窞，凶。
The first SIX, divided, shows its subject in the double defile, and (yet) entering a cavern within it. There will be evil.
Small Image: 'In the double defile, he enters a cavern within it:'—he has missed his (proper) way, and there will be evil.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 60, Limitation.
Line 2 九二
The second line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
坎有險，求小得。
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.
Small Image: 'He will get a little (of the deliverance) that he seeks:'—he will not yet escape from his environed position.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 8, Holding Together.
Line 3 六三
The third line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
來之坎坎，險且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。
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).
Small Image: 'Whether he comes or goes, he is confronted by a defile:'—he will never (in such circumstances) achieve any success.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 48, The Well.
Line 4 六四
The fourth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
樽酒簋貳，用缶，納約自牖，終無咎。
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.
Small Image: '(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.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 47, Oppression.
Line 5 九五
The fifth line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
坎不盈，祗既平，無咎。
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.
Small Image: '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.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 7, The Army.
Line 6 上六
The sixth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
係用徽纆，寘于叢棘，三歲不得，凶。
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.
Small Image: 'The sixth line, divided, shows its subject missing his (proper) course:'—'there will be evil for three years.'
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 59, Dispersion.
Related hexagrams
lines 2-4 below, 3-5 aboveOpposite 錯卦30. The Clinging, Fire 離
every line changed
A hexagram is a mirror, not a command: read it to reflect, never to obey. Sources: James Legge (tr.), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (Oxford, 1882; 2nd ed. 1899), public domain; the Chinese text from Project Gutenberg ebook #25501 (易經), public domain. The trigram facts and the related hexagrams are computed from the line pattern. The gloss, selection and arrangement are CC-BY-SA-4.0 (PlayfulProcess). Data: github.com/PlayfulProcess/recursive-iching.