Hexagram 2 · Kūn 坤 Earth (Yielding)

坤，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。

Kun. Things go through greatly. It is fitting to have the correct firmness of a mare. The noble person has somewhere to go: going first, one loses the way; coming after, one finds it, and the concern is with benefit. Toward the southwest one gains friends; toward the northeast one loses friends. Calm, correct firmness: good fortune.

A mare, Zhu Xi says, is yielding yet strong on the road, so Kun's great success is fitting when yielding strength is held as correctness. Yang leads and yin follows: for yin, going ahead means getting lost, while coming after means finding the way, and its concern is benefit, as yang's is rightness. The southwest is a yin region, the northeast a yang one, so friends are found in the first and lost in the second. Calm is what yielding does and firmness is what strength keeps; above all, settling in what is right brings good fortune.

地勢坤，君子以厚德載物。

The lie of the land is yielding. The noble person, in keeping with this, carries all things with deep virtue.

Earth is also only one, Zhu Xi notes, so instead of doubling the text speaks of the land's lie. High ground and low ground rest on each other without end; earth is supremely yielding and supremely thick, and there is nothing it does not carry. Deep virtue bears others the same way.

Line 1, yin (初六)changing line in the shared reading

履霜，堅冰至。

Treading on frost: hard ice is on its way.

Frost is yin breath condensed, and when that breath peaks, water freezes into ice. Here yin has just appeared at the bottom: its start is slight, but its course is to grow. Zhu Xi says the Yi always leans toward supporting yang and holding yin in check as they wax and wane. No prognosis is stated, because the caution about small beginnings is already in the picture.

Line 2, yin (六二)changing line in the shared reading

直方大，不習无不利。

Straight, square and great. Without practice, there is nothing that is not favorable.

Zhu Xi reads the three words as earth's qualities: straight is being yielding, correct and firm; square is taking on a fixed form; great is virtue that matches the boundless. A yin line in a yin place, central and correct, this holds Kun's way in its purest form, straight within and square without, so it goes well without having to be learned. The prognosis holds for one who has this virtue.

Line 3, yin (六三)changing line in the shared reading

含章可貞，或從王事，无成有終。

Holding its brilliance within, it can stay correct and firm. It may go out to serve in the king's affairs: no achievement at first, but it sees things through.

A yin line in a yang place keeps its beauty inside, and that can be guarded with firmness. Set at the top of the lower trigram, though, it will not stay hidden forever, so at times it steps out to serve those above. Zhu Xi reads the outcome as no success at the start, yet a sure completion later, for the inquirer who has this kind of virtue.

Line 4, yin (六四)changing line in the shared reading

括囊，无咎无譽。

A sack tied shut. No blame, no praise.

The mouth of the sack is tied so nothing gets out. Zhu Xi defines praise here as a reputation that runs beyond the facts: caution this tight avoids blame and wins no praise either. Yin in a yin place and off-center, the line fits either a matter that needs discretion or a time for staying out of view. Some things are best kept closed for now.

Line 5, yin (六五)changing line in the shared reading

黃裳，元吉。

A yellow lower garment. Great good fortune.

Yellow is the color of the center; the lower garment is the dress of what is below. Yin in the ruler's seat, central and yielding, its virtue fills the inside and shows outwardly. Zhu Xi cites the Chunqiu zhuan: Nan Kuai, plotting revolt, drew this line and took it for great good fortune, but Zifu Huibo said it fits only loyal, trustworthy aims, since the Yi cannot be consulted for risky schemes. Nan Kuai failed, which shows, Zhu Xi says, how a prognosis works.

Top line, yin (上六)changing line in the shared reading

龍戰于野，其血玄黃。

Dragons fight in the open country. Their blood is dark and yellow.

Yin, swollen to its limit, comes to contend with yang. Zhu Xi says both sides are defeated and both are wounded. The text names no outcome, but he says that for one in such a state the misfortune is plain to see. The picture is of a yielding force that has forgotten its role and turned to open conflict.

Use of sixes (用六)

利永貞。

It is fitting to be correct and firm for the long term.

As with Qian's nines, this states a general rule: a yin line cast as six changes, one cast as eight does not. The text applies when all six lines of Kun change. Zhu Xi explains that yin softness alone cannot hold firm, but turning into yang it can stay correct for the long run, hence the counsel. It echoes Qian's call to be correct and firm, yet coming from Kun it falls short of great success.