I Ching · Hexagram 2 of 64
Hexagram 2: Kun （坤） — The Receptive
Kun follows Qian and sets out the way of the earth, turning to how body, livelihood and daily life are settled in the human world. Kun is Earth, the mother, whose virtue is yielding, thick, uncontentious and self-sacrificing. The hexagram teaches one to guard first the clarity of the origin, then to imitate the earth's breadth and the mare's tireless walking, saving others and keeping steadfast.
At a glance
| Hexagram | 2 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Name | Kun 坤 · The Receptive |
| Upper trigram | Kun （坤）· Earth |
| Lower trigram | Kun （坤）· Earth |
| Structure | Earth over Earth |
| Lines | 6 lines + 1 use-line |
The Judgment （卦辞）
Kun. Great originating, pervading success. It is favorable to be steadfast as a mare. The gentleman has somewhere to go: he goes astray at first, then finds his master; it is beneficial. In the southwest he gains friends; in the northeast he loses friends. To abide in steadfastness brings good fortune.
ExplainedOf the four virtues, yuan and heng are the root: yuan is gathering the heart back to its source, heng is the openness by which it communes with heaven and the spirits. The mare stands for the way of the earth, gentle and untiring, walking the land without end, and a person should imitate her rather than retire. The southwest brings friends because it is level and yielding, the northeast loses them because it is high and contentious; to rest the heart in inherited virtue is true good fortune.
Tuan Zhuan — Commentary on the Judgment （彖传）
How perfect is the originating power of Kun! All things are born through it, and it obediently receives Heaven. Kun is thick and bears all things; its virtue matches the boundless. Embracing and enlarging, it makes every kind of being flourish. The mare is of the nature of earth, traveling the earth without limit; gentle and yielding, it is ripe for steadfastness, and this is where the gentleman walks. Going astray at first, he loses the way; afterwards, yielding, he attains the constant. In the southwest he gains friends and walks with his kind; in the northeast he loses friends, yet in the end there is celebration. The good fortune of abiding in steadfastness answers to the earth that has no bounds.
ExplainedKun Yuan is the spirit of the earth, perfectly good, through which all things are born and by which Heaven's mandate is received. Its thickness bears mountains and oceans without feeling the weight, and its virtue has no bounds, so a heart wide enough to embrace everything becomes a vessel of that same boundlessness. To carry a great vow is to make every creature flourish, and to be gentle as the mare is to walk the earth without limit, benefiting all.
Xiang Zhuan — Image Commentary （大象）
The condition of the earth is receptive devotion. Thus the gentleman carries all things with the breadth of his virtue.
ExplainedWhere Qian says never ceasing to strengthen oneself, Kun says carrying all things with breadth of virtue. Thick means deep and all-embracing, able to accept and contain anything; to carry means bearing every being without feeling the burden. Whoever calculates and grudges finds his store of blessing thinning with every use.
The Six Lines （六爻）
The lines are read from the bottom upward. Each carries its own text, a Small Image commentary, and a plain-English reading.
Line 1 · YinLine 1
Treading on frost: hard ice will come.
Small ImageTreading on frost and reaching hard ice: the yin begins to congeal; following its course, it arrives at solid ice.
ExplainedFrost in autumn foretells ice and snow: a first stray thought of greed or spite, left uncorrected, hardens into ruinous consequence. Repentance is easy while it is still frost; once it becomes solid ice, this life may not dissolve it.
Line 2 · YinLine 2
Straight, square and great. Without practice, nothing is unfavorable.
Small ImageThe movement of the second six is straight and square; without practice nothing is unfavorable, for the way of earth shines.
ExplainedStraightness is the undeceiving heart, squareness is upright conduct, and greatness is the breadth that follows from both. One who has these three needs no acquired skill, for people trust him and heaven helps him, and no road is closed to him.
Line 3 · YinLine 3
Hiding one's brilliance, one may be steadfast. Perhaps one serves in the king's affairs: without achievement, yet with a fitting end.
Small ImageHiding one's brilliance and being steadfast: it emanates in season. Serving in the king's affairs: wisdom becomes wide.
ExplainedThe good substance lies hidden within, covered over by greed and anger, yet it is enough to make a sage. Only by joining the work of the holy king, serving without claiming achievement, does the seed find its soil and the hidden brilliance shine.
Line 4 · YinLine 4
Wrapping up the sack: no blame, no praise.
Small ImageThe wrapped sack, without blame: carefulness does no harm.
ExplainedTo tie the sack is to keep silent and guard oneself, harming no one and helping no one, so there is neither fault nor praise. It preserves one from injury, yet whoever stops there never shares in the salvation of others.
Line 5 · YinLine 5
The yellow lower garment: supreme good fortune.
Small ImageThe yellow lower garment, supreme good fortune: the pattern is within.
ExplainedThe yellow garment is the seamless robe of the inner center, the gate at the heart's middle. Returning the light and holding that center puts on the yellow robe, gathers the five energies into one, and enters the ranks of the sages.
Line 6 · YinLine 6
Dragons fight in the wild; their blood is dark and yellow.
Small ImageDragons fight in the wild: their way has run its course.
ExplainedThe heavenly dragon and the earthly dragon fight in the open field and both bleed. Contest breeds hatred, hatred breeds war, and the way of both is exhausted; only keeping the center dissolves the conflict.
Use of the Six用六
Use of the six: it is favorable to remain steadfast forever.
Small ImageThe use of the six, steadfastness forever: it ends in greatness.
ExplainedWhen all six lines move, every one of life's six conditions has been passed through. To remain steadfast forever is to end as a great person, cultivating within and serving without, one in virtue with heaven and earth.
Key takeaway
The way of earth is yielding breadth: guard the clarity of the origin, then carry all beings with deep virtue and walk tirelessly as the mare does.
Frequently asked questions
What does Hexagram 2 (Kun) mean in the I Ching?
Kun follows Qian and sets out the way of the earth, turning to how body, livelihood and daily life are settled in the human world. Kun is Earth, the mother, whose virtue is yielding, thick, uncontentious and self-sacrificing. The hexagram teaches one to guard first the clarity of the origin, then to imitate the earth's breadth and the mare's tireless walking, saving others and keeping steadfast.
What is the judgment of Hexagram 2?
Kun. Great originating, pervading success. It is favorable to be steadfast as a mare. The gentleman has somewhere to go: he goes astray at first, then finds his master; it is beneficial. In the southwest he gains friends; in the northeast he loses friends. To abide in steadfastness brings good fortune. Of the four virtues, yuan and heng are the root: yuan is gathering the heart back to its source, heng is the openness by which it communes with heaven and the spirits. The mare stands for the way of the earth, gentle and untiring, walking the land without end, and a person should imitate her rather than retire. The…
What do the six lines of Hexagram 2 say?
Line 1: Treading on frost: hard ice will come. Line 2: Straight, square and great. Without practice, nothing is unfavorable. Line 3: Hiding one's brilliance, one may be steadfast. Perhaps one serves in the king's affairs: without achievement, yet with a fitting end. Line 4: Wrapping up the sack: no blame, no praise. Line 5: The yellow lower garment: supreme good fortune. Line 6: Dragons fight in the wild; their blood is dark and yellow.
What is the main lesson of Hexagram 2 (The Receptive)?
The way of earth is yielding breadth: guard the clarity of the origin, then carry all beings with deep virtue and walk tirelessly as the mare does.
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