SIX LINES
A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains
䷁

Hexagram 2

坤

Kūn

The Receptive

A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains — Wang Ximeng (王希孟), 1113

Wang Ximeng painted A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains when he was eighteen years old, working for Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. The handscroll stretches nearly seven meters, unrolling to reveal blue-green peaks that rise and fall like waves, valleys that cradle villages, waterways that wind through terraced fields. Created in 1113, this landscape depicts the earth's capacity to contain multitudes—human settlements nestle into mountain folds, boats drift across lakes, paths connect one inhabited space to another. The painting invites the eye to travel slowly through its length, discovering how the land holds and supports all these forms of life.

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This is Kūn (坤), the second hexagram. Six broken lines—Earth (☷) doubled—form the counterpart to Qián's creative thrust. The character 坤 contains the earth radical (土) and suggests level ground, the valley that allows water to gather, the soil that permits seeds to germinate. Where Qián initiates, Kūn receives and completes. Wang's scroll embodies this principle: the mountains do not assert themselves but simply stand, present and available. The rivers do not force their courses but follow the contours the earth provides. Wang Ximeng painted this vast blue-green landscape scroll at age 18 for Emperor Huizong. The sweeping mountains and rivers embody the receptive earth's capacity to contain and nurture all things. The Judgment states: "The Receptive brings about sublime success, furthering through the perseverance of a mare." Not the stallion's charging power, but the mare's responsive strength—moving when movement serves, yielding when yielding allows greater work to unfold. In Song Dynasty court ritual, when this hexagram appeared in divination, advisors counseled receptive devotion to larger patterns rather than individual assertion. The Image Text instructs: "The earth's condition is receptive devotion. Thus the superior man who has breadth of character carries the outer world." Wang's painting carries villages, forests, waterways, agricultural terraces—the breadth that can hold diversity without collapsing into chaos. In the I-Ching's sequence, Kūn follows Qián as inhalation follows exhalation, as valley complements peak, as the fundamental polarity from which all other hexagrams emerge through various combinations.

Upper Trigram

☷

坤 Kūn

Earth — Receptive

ElementEarthDirectionNorthFamilyMotherQualitiesreceptive, yielding, nurturing

Lower Trigram

☷

坤 Kūn

Earth — Receptive

ElementEarthDirectionNorthFamilyMotherQualitiesreceptive, yielding, nurturing

Classical Texts

The Judgment

You're not forcing—you're following. Success comes through the mare's responsive strength, not the stallion's charge. Find helpers in the work; stay objective when planning alone.

The Lines

Line 1

You're seeing the first signs—frost before ice. Act on warnings now, before the pattern hardens.

Line 2

Natural alignment requires no special technique. You're straight and square with the situation—everything furthers itself.

Line 3

Your talent can mature unseen. If you must serve publicly, complete the work without claiming credit. Let it bear fruit for others.

Line 4

You're in dangerous times. Total restraint required. Say nothing, reveal nothing. A tied sack draws neither blame nor praise.

Line 5

Work from genuine inner quality, not outward display. The yellow undergarment is present but not showy. This brings supreme fortune.

Line 6

Here's the catastrophe: when the receptive tries to lead instead of support, both sides bleed. The dragon of heaven fights the false dragon of earth. Know your role.

Yilin: Forest of Changes

From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 2 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

Yilin artwork for Hexagram 2
不風不雨，白日皎皎。宜出驅馳，通利大道。

No wind, no rain; the white sun shines bright. Fit to ride forth and gallop; the great road runs clear.

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Earth doubled upon itself: the Receptive remains the Receptive. No wind, no rain — a white sun shining bright. One should venture forth, driving freely along the broad road. When Kun transforms into Kun, no change occurs; the earth's nature simply deepens. The verse paints a day of perfect clarity: the sky withholds both storm and gust, offering unobstructed passage. This is the Receptive at its most generous — the open field, the level plain, the road that runs straight without hindrance. The absence of drama is itself the gift. From Kun to Kun, the message is one of quiet confidence: when the ground beneath is steady, move forward without hesitation. The earth does not need to become anything else to serve the traveler well.

中文注释

坤之又坤，地勢重疊，純陰不變。不風不雨，白日皎皎——天朗氣清，無風無雨，陽光明亮。宜出驅馳，通利大道——適宜出行，大道暢通。坤至坤，無所變化，唯大地之本性更加深厚。此詩寫安穩順遂之日常：天不作風雨之擾，路不設崎嶇之阻，行者但行便是。坤德在於順承，不事張揚而自然利物。非激昂之辭，而是從容行路之樂。坤不必化為他卦方能成就，厚德本身即是最大之利。

Transformations

Hexagram 2 transforming into each of the 64 hexagrams, with Yilin verses.

䷀1䷁2䷂3䷃4䷄5䷅6䷆7䷇8䷈9䷉10䷊11䷋12䷌13䷍14䷎15䷏16䷐17䷑18䷒19䷓20䷔21䷕22䷖23䷗24䷘25䷙26䷚27䷛28䷜29䷝30䷞31䷟32䷠33䷡34䷢35䷣36䷤37䷥38䷦39䷧40䷨41䷩42䷪43䷫44䷬45䷭46䷮47䷯48䷰49䷱50䷲51䷳52䷴53䷵54䷶55䷷56䷸57䷹58䷺59䷻60䷼61䷽62䷾63䷿64

Related Hexagrams

Same upper trigram: Earth (坤)

䷆師The Army䷊泰Peace䷎謙Modesty䷒臨Approach䷖剝Splitting Apart䷗復Return䷣明夷Darkening of the Light䷭升Pushing Upward

Same lower trigram: Earth (坤)

䷇比Holding Together䷋否Standstill䷏豫Enthusiasm䷓觀Contemplation䷢晉Progress䷬萃Gathering Together
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