Hexagram 2: Kun

Earth over Earth · 坤为地 · Tendency: Auspicious

Structure

• Number: 2 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷁
• Upper trigram: Kun (Earth)
• Lower trigram: Kun (Earth)
• Lines: yin yin yin yin yin yin (bottom to top)

The statement

元亨。利牝马之贞。君子有攸往，先迷，后得主，利。西南得朋，东北丧朋。安贞吉。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

Now it's more suitable to follow the current, cooperate steadily, rather than forcefully lead. Focus on building foundations, services, logistics, and long-term accumulation; things will gradually unfold. Be careful not to be overly passive; gentleness does not mean having no boundaries. Stick to the principles that need to be upheld.

A Buddhist reading

Kun (the Receptive) is six yin lines and means yielding. Where Qian is illumination, Kun is stillness, and in practice it is zhi, the calming side of meditation. Ouyi Zhixu insists on the order: understanding must first be opened by the wisdom of Qian, and only then completed by the practice of Kun. Sitting in concentration before understanding produces what he calls dark attainment, a blind sort of realization. The five perfections are like a blind man and wisdom is the guide; eyes and feet must travel together. Capacity to carry things is accumulated, never inherited.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous / Opposite: Hexagram 1: Qianevery line changed to its opposite
• Next: Hexagram 3: Zhun

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.