坎Kan · The Abyss
In one sentence
One danger after another. This is a truly hard time.
Stuck in difficulty; out of one pit and into another. Hold on to your inner conviction and honesty; they are the only thing you can rely on now. Keep doing what should be done, as usual; only by getting to know the danger can you walk out of it. Don't expect to get free all at once.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- This is a truly hard stretch: solve one problem and another arrives, so do not expect to get free all at once. Only two things can be relied on now: the conviction in your heart and honesty in how you work. Do what needs doing each day as usual, and do not take crooked paths for the sake of speed. Only when you know this dangerous ground well will you know where you can put your foot down.
- Love
- The relationship is sunk in difficulty, one pit after another, and one or two conversations will not solve it. The only thing that can hold is honesty: do not deceive the other person, and do not deceive yourself. Live your days as usual, give your full care as usual, and go step by step. If even trust is gone, there is nowhere left to stand. If you are single, do not grab someone in the low point to rescue you.
- Money
- With money it is one hurdle after another; this is a truly tight time, and there is no way to turn it around in one move. Do not take desperate risks, and do not gamble by borrowing new money to pay off old; that only drops you into a deeper pit. Tell the truth to your creditors and your family, keep your word, keep working as usual, and repay and climb a little at a time. Only once you have learned how to live through tight days can you walk out of them.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsDanger upon danger. With sincerity in your heart, the inside stays open; act this way and there will be achievement.
The Tuan commentary
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，險之時用大矣哉！
Kan repeated is danger doubled. Water flows and does not fill up; it moves through danger and does not lose its trustworthiness. "In the heart, success": because the firm is in the center. "Acting brings merit": going brings achievement. The danger of heaven is that it cannot be climbed. The dangers of earth are mountains, rivers and hills. Kings and dukes set up dangers to guard their states. Great indeed is the use of the time of danger!
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
水洊至，習坎。君子以常德行，習教事。
Water flows in again and again: Kan (The Abyss) repeated. The noble one keeps constant in virtuous conduct and practices the work of teaching.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text習坎，入于坎窞，凶。Abyss upon abyss. Falling into a pit within the abyss. Misfortune.In plain wordsDanger upon danger, and you fall into the hole at the bottom of the pit. Misfortune. Weak to begin with, and at the very bottom, you sink deeper and deeper. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text坎有險，求小得。The abyss holds danger. Seek small gains.In plain wordsYou are in the midst of danger and can't get out for now. But you have a backbone and can hold to the middle way, so you can seek a small gain — don't hope for a big one. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text來之坎坎，險且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。Coming or going, abyss upon abyss. Danger, and an uneasy rest. Falling into a pit within the abyss. Do not act.In plain wordsComing is danger, going is danger; a pit in front, nothing steady to lean on behind, and you fall into the hole at the bottom of the pit. Do nothing for now. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text樽酒簋貳，用缶，納約自牖，終无咎。A jug of wine, a bowl of food, a second added, in earthenware. The pledge is passed in through the window. In the end, no blame.In plain wordsA jug of wine, a dish of food, a little more added, all in earthenware; the pledge of trust is handed in through the window. The gift is slight and the route is not the front door, but the sincerity is complete, and you start from the point the other person understands — in the end, no blame. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text坎不盈，祗既平，无咎。The abyss is not full, but it is reaching the level. No blame.In plain wordsThe water in the pit has not yet overflowed, but it is almost level. You are about to come out of danger. No blame. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text係用徽纆，寘于叢棘，三歲不得，凶。Bound with braided cords, set among thorn bushes. For three years no way out. Misfortune.In plain wordsTied up with ropes and thrown into a thicket of thorns, unable to get out for three years. Misfortune. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
Kan is one of the four cardinal hexagrams (Kan, Zhen, Li, Dui). It has no pentad of its own; instead its six lines govern six solar terms in turn: Winter Solstice, Minor Cold, Major Cold, Start of Spring, Rain Water, Insects Awaken.