The Receptive
坤Kun
No. 2 · Earth over Earth
Kun (The Receptive)
Pure yin receptivity that carries everything, the way the earth does. It is about following well, supporting others, building a deep foundation, and knowing when to hold back.
Cast your own hexagramKun (The Receptive) is about going along and carrying weight: pick the right direction, back whoever is leading, and build a deep foundation. It doesn't favor charging out in front. Rushing ahead tends to get you lost, while following tends to bring real gains.
Favorable
- Work alongside the right people
- Build steadily
- Make room and adapt
- Speak up about frustrations early
Avoid
- Grabbing the lead
- Fighting to the finish
- Giving in every time
- Rushing for results
Work and money
- Job search
- Look for roles where you do real work inside an existing system: operations, support, delivery. The Judgment says rushing ahead leads astray, while following finds the way. Skip the flashiest title, get in, attach yourself to the right person, and the path tends to clear.
- Business
- Not the moment to break new ground alone. Teaming up with experienced partners, buying a franchise or becoming a supplier is steadier. In negotiations, listen hard for what the other side wants and build around it.
- Money
- Protect what you have and build slowly, the way you'd tend a field. Not a time to jump in on impulse or lead a risky bet yourself.
Love and people
- Single
- Connection is likely to come gradually through people you already know. The Judgment's friends gained in the southwest point to introductions and group settings, not solo pursuit. Just don't bend so far to please that you lose sight of yourself.
- In a relationship
- Your patience and the way you carry daily life keep things steady. But the top line has dragons fighting in the open: giving in until you finally blow up hurts you both. Raise frustrations early.
- Getting back together
- A hard push to win them back rarely works. Get your own life steady, keep contact light and warm, and let them come closer on their own. The Judgment calls peaceful steadfastness good fortune. Rushing for an answer is how you lose the way.
- People and partnerships
- You make an excellent backbone for a team, and people lean on you. Let those with strong views set the direction while you catch the details. Just don't let everyone dump every chore on your desk.
Daily life
- Exams and study
- Kun (The Receptive) builds depth, so it suits exams with a huge syllabus and lots of memorizing and practice. Follow your teacher's or course's schedule and add a layer at a time, the way soil builds up.
- Moving and travel
- For a move, pick somewhere level and settled, with everyday needs close by. For travel, a group tour or a plan someone else put together works better than blazing your own route. Kun (The Receptive) goes with the flow.
- Body and mind
- You may be carrying everyone else's load and not saying you're tired. Take a page from the fourth line's tied sack: take on less, get to bed earlier, walk outside more. If something feels wrong physically, have a doctor look at it.
Traditional questions
- Something you are waiting for
- Likely to come, but slowly. Earth needs a full season before the harvest. Keep your current pace, stay in touch with the right people, and expect the other side or whoever's in charge to move first.
- Disputes and lawsuits
- Don't strike first or fight to the finish. The top line's blood dark and yellow means both sides bleed if this goes all the way. Bring in someone with standing, give ground where it costs you little, and settle if you can.
- Lost things and people
- There's a fair chance it turns up. Look low: on the floor, a bottom drawer, or tucked in with clothes, fabric or bags. Kun (Earth) stands for cloth and sacks. Go slowly through the corners where things pile up at home.
Making a decision
Leaning yes, but it's better to follow someone experienced or an established plan than to clear a new path on your own.
If you are…
Wants to prove themselves fast and pitch new ways of working. Kun (The Receptive) says to match the team's rhythm first, do what's asked thoroughly, and figure out who really steers things. In the Judgment, rushing ahead leads astray and following finds the way. Push for change once people trust you.
Kun (The Receptive) says carrying is a skill in itself, and you are holding up the whole household. But the first line's frost underfoot means ice is coming: small resentments harden over time. Sort out who does what with your family now, before you hit breaking point.
This is the reading when no line is changing. With changing lines, Zhu Xi’s method says which line to read, and the result page after a casting tells you directly.
元亨，利牝馬之貞。君子有攸往，先迷後得主，利。西南得朋，東北喪朋。安貞吉。
Great success. It pays to have the steadfastness of a mare, gentle and enduring. When the noble person sets out, rushing ahead leads astray; following behind, they find the one to follow, and it pays. To the southwest you gain friends; to the northeast you lose friends. Peaceful steadfastness brings good fortune.
Kun (The Receptive) is Earth over Earth: the Kun trigram doubled, all six lines broken. Kun is the ground, level and yielding, able to bear whatever is set on it. So the image of this hexagram is devotion, going along with what is above.
Six at the beginning
履霜，堅冰至。
When you tread on frost, hard ice is on its way.
A small problem is already showing, like one missed deadline or one cold remark. It costs least to deal with it now. Don't wait for it to build up bit by bit into something big.
Small Image: 履霜堅冰，陰始凝也。馴致其道，至堅冰也。
Six in the second place
直方大，不習无不利。
Straight, square and great. Without practice, nothing fails to go well.
Your natural way of doing things is the right one, and you don't need to borrow anyone's playbook. Work and treat people in your own honest way, and things tend to fall into place.
Small Image: 六二之動，直以方也。不習无不利，地道光也。
Six in the third place
含章，可貞。或從王事，无成有終。
Keeping your talents hidden, you can stay steadfast. If you serve the king, claim no credit, but see the work through to the end.
You're capable, but this isn't the time to grab the spotlight. Help your manager or team finish the job and let the credit go elsewhere. Your turn to shine can come when the timing is right.
Small Image: 含章可貞，以時發也。或從王事，知光大也。
Six in the fourth place
括囊，无咎无譽。
A sack tied shut. No blame and no praise.
For now, say less, commit less and act less, especially while the situation is unclear. No one is likely to applaud, but it tends to keep you out of trouble.
Small Image: 括囊无咎，慎不害也。
Six in the fifth place
黃裳，元吉。
A yellow lower garment. Great good fortune. Yellow is the color of the center, and the lower garment is worn below, showing someone centered and humble.
You have the position and the ability, yet you keep a low profile and treat people kindly. Holding authority without putting on airs is the best move now. Both the work and people's loyalty tend to follow.
Small Image: 黃裳元吉，文在中也。
Six at the top
龍戰于野，其血玄黃。
Dragons fight in the open country. Their blood is dark and yellow.
The side that kept giving way finally hits its limit and clashes head-on with the stronger side, and both get hurt. Clear the air while talking is still possible, instead of holding on until everything breaks.
Small Image: 龍戰于野，其道窮也。
All sixes
利永貞。
It pays to be steadfast forever.
When every line of Kun (The Receptive) changes: yielding, carried to its end, turns into firmness. Going along with others is fine, as long as you hold on to your own long-term principles. That is what leads somewhere good.
Small Image: 用六永貞，以大終也。
至哉坤元，萬物資生，乃順承天。坤厚載物，德合无疆；含弘光大，品物咸亨。牝馬地類，行地无疆，柔順利貞。君子攸行，先迷失道，後順得常。西南得朋，乃與類行，東北喪朋，乃終有慶。安貞之吉，應地无疆。
Perfect indeed is the origin in Kun (The Receptive). All things owe their growth to it, and it receives heaven in devotion. Kun is deep and carries all things, and its virtue matches heaven's boundlessness. It holds everything, wide and bright and great, and every kind of thing comes through. The mare belongs to the earth and roams it without limit, gentle, yielding and steadfast. When the noble person acts, going first means losing the way; following and yielding, they find the lasting path. Gaining friends in the southwest means traveling with your own kind. Losing friends in the northeast means that in the end there is cause for celebration. The good fortune of peaceful steadfastness answers to the earth's boundlessness.
The Image地勢坤，君子以厚德載物。
The lie of the land is yielding and deep. Seeing this, the noble person uses deep virtue to carry people and things.
The Sequence: why it comes here有天地，然後萬物生焉。
Once heaven and earth exist, all things come into being after them. Kun (The Receptive) is the earth, and with Qian (The Creative) it stands at the start of everything: heaven above begins things, earth below receives them. So Kun follows right after Qian.
Miscellaneous Notes乾剛坤柔，比樂師憂。
Qian (The Creative) is firm and Kun (The Receptive) is yielding. Kun's character is gentle receptivity, the counterpart to Qian's strength: Qian leads and begins, while Kun takes things in and raises them to maturity.
Related hexagramsFAQ
What does Kun mean for love?
Connection is likely to come gradually through people you already know. The Judgment's friends gained in the southwest point to introductions and group settings, not solo pursuit. Just don't bend so far to please that you lose sight of yourself. Your patience and the way you carry daily life keep things steady. But the top line has dragons fighting in the open: giving in until you finally blow up hurts you both. Raise frustrations early.
What does Kun mean for work?
Look for roles where you do real work inside an existing system: operations, support, delivery. The Judgment says rushing ahead leads astray, while following finds the way. Skip the flashiest title, get in, attach yourself to the right person, and the path tends to clear. Good for being the one who executes and supports, making the team's work steady and solid. Hold off on chasing the lead role. Building trust matters more than standing out.
With Kun, will what I am waiting for come?
Likely to come, but slowly. Earth needs a full season before the harvest. Keep your current pace, stay in touch with the right people, and expect the other side or whoever's in charge to move first.
With Kun, will I find what I lost?
There's a fair chance it turns up. Look low: on the floor, a bottom drawer, or tucked in with clothes, fabric or bags. Kun (Earth) stands for cloth and sacks. Go slowly through the corners where things pile up at home.
A hexagram answers one question; your chart shows the whole of you and your year.
The classical text follows the standard edition of the Zhouyi. The plain readings are Xingge’s own, offered as a reference, not as the final word.