困Kun · Exhaustion
In one sentence
You are trapped, and right now no one believes anything you say.
Like a lake with no water: resources dried up, hemmed in on every side. This is widely counted among the hardest hexagrams. Say little, and do not go around explaining yourself. Hold on to your purpose and your bottom line. Those who can still hold firm in hardship come out of it in the end.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- You are trapped: resources have dried up, you are hemmed in on every side, and right now nobody believes anything you say. Speak little, and do not go around explaining or complaining. Hold on to your purpose and your bottom line, and quietly do what can be done. This is one of the hardest hexagrams; only those who can hold on walk out of it.
- Love
- Love is hard right now: what you say does not get through, and the more you explain, the less you are believed. So say less. Do not plead or argue with words; show it in what you do. Hold your bottom line, and do not agree to everything just because you are in distress. If you are single, do not rush to find someone to ease the gloom; hold yourself steady first.
- Money
- Like a lake with no water, money is truly tight. Admit it, cut back first, and hold your bottom line first. Do not go around making promises or asking to borrow; right now nobody believes anything you say. And do not take a crooked road to get out. Hold steady inside the trap, and you can walk out of it.
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 wordsThe person is trapped, but the way still goes through. Staying true is something only a great person can manage: good fortune, no blame. Right now, whatever you say, no one believes it; speak little.
The Tuan commentary
困，剛揜也。險以說，困而不失其所，亨；其唯君子乎？貞大人吉，以剛中也。有言不信，尚口乃窮也。
Kun: the firm is covered over. In danger, yet joyful; hemmed in, yet not losing one's ground: "success." Surely only the noble one can do this. "Staying true: for the great person, good fortune": because the firm holds the center. "There are words, but they are not believed": to prize the mouth leads to exhaustion.
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
澤无水，困。君子以致命遂志。
A lake without water: Kun (Exhaustion). The noble one stakes life itself to carry out their purpose.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text臀困于株木，入于幽谷，三歲不覿。The buttocks are hemmed in by a tree stump. One enters a dark valley and for three years sees no one.In plain wordsYou sit on a dead stump that digs into you and gives no peace; you walk into a dark valley and for three years do not see the light of day. Trapped at the very bottom, in the darkest place. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text困于酒食，朱紱方來，利用亨祀。征凶，无咎。Hemmed in by wine and food. The scarlet sash is just arriving. It is favorable to make offerings and sacrifices. To set forth brings misfortune. No blame.In plain wordsTrapped by food and drink — too much of what you wanted has come, and it has turned into a burden. An appointment from above is on its way. It is fitting to receive it with a sincere heart, as at a sacrifice; going out to seek it brings misfortune. Wait calmly: no blame. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text困于石，據于蒺藜。入于其宮，不見其妻，凶。Hemmed in by stone, leaning on thorns. One enters the house and does not see one's wife. Misfortune.In plain wordsBlocked by rock in front, and what you lean on behind you is thorns. You come home and cannot even find your wife. Misfortune. You pushed against what you should not have touched, and leaned on what you should not have relied on. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text來徐徐，困于金車。吝，有終。Coming slowly, slowly, hemmed in by a golden carriage. Humiliation, but there is an end.In plain wordsYou come ever so slowly, because a golden carriage blocks the road. Your own strength is not enough to rescue the one you want to rescue; a bit humiliating. But the upright does prevail over the crooked in the end, and it will end well. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text劓刖，困于赤紱。乃徐有說，利用祭祀。Nose cut off, feet cut off. Hemmed in by the crimson sash. Then slowly comes relief. It is favorable to offer sacrifice.In plain wordsYour nose cut off, your feet cut off — hurt from above and from below, and the official robe you wear has itself become a trouble. But keep to the middle way, and relief will slowly come. It is fitting to meet this with the sincerity of a sacrifice; given time, blessing comes of itself. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text困于葛藟，于臲卼。曰動悔有悔，征吉。Hemmed in by creeping vines, on a tottering height. One says: to move brings regret. With true regret, setting forth brings good fortune.In plain wordsTangled in vines, standing on a swaying height, regretting every move. But when the trap has reached its limit, it is time to change: once you have truly repented, go forward, and there is good fortune. 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
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Kun belongs to the first pentad of Frost Falls, “Jackals lay out their kill” (October 23 to October 27, 2026).