Upper Trigram
坎 Kǎn
Water — Abysmal
Lower Trigram
艮 Gèn
Mountain — Stillness
Classical Texts
The Judgment
The southwest furthers. The northeast does not further. It furthers one to see the great man. Persistence brings good fortune. Abyss before you, steep mountain behind—obstacles surround. The direction of retreat furthers, not the direction of advance. Pause, retreat, join with allies, find leadership equal to the situation. Persevering when you seem to move away from your goal brings good fortune in the end. Adversity is useful for self-development.
The Lines
Line 1
Going leads to obstructions. Reflect on how to deal with it. Don't strive blindly ahead—that leads only to complications. Retreat for now, not to give up the struggle but to await the right moment.
Line 2
The servant is beset by obstruction upon obstruction, but it is not their own fault. Sometimes duty leads directly into danger. When you cannot act by choice but are bound to seek out danger in service of a higher cause, proceed without compunction.
Line 3
Going leads to obstructions, so return home. Those entrusted to your care cannot get along by themselves. Plunging into danger would be useless. Turn back and they welcome you with joy.
Line 4
Going leads to obstructions, coming leads to union. The direct way is not the shortest here. Hold back and gather trustworthy companions who can help overcome the obstacles.
Line 5
In the midst of greatest obstructions, friends come. Called to help in emergency, don't evade obstacles no matter how they pile up. The power of your spirit attracts helpers. Well-directed cooperation overcomes the obstruction.
Line 6
Going leads to obstructions, coming leads to great good fortune. It furthers one to see the great man. Duty calls back into the turmoil of life. Your experience and inner freedom enable you to create something great that brings good fortune. Alliance with the great person accomplishes the work of rescue.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 39 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.
同載共輿，中道別去。喪我元夫，獨與孤居。
兩杯茶一冷一溫，椅上衣衫尚餘痕。門外車轍已長草，夜夜聽風不等人。
Two cups of tea — one cold, one still warm. On the chair, clothes still hold a trace of warmth. Outside the gate, the carriage ruts are overgrown with grass — night after night, listening to the wind, waiting for no one.
Read full commentary ↓
Water on the mountain returns to water on the mountain — Obstruction unchanged. This verse (a rewrite) must be read through the original: 'Sharing one carriage, we traveled together, but midway you departed. I have lost my husband, and dwell alone in solitude.' The original captures the most intimate form of abandonment: two who rode the same carriage, bound by marriage and shared direction, until one simply left. The survivor remains, companionless, in an empty house. From Obstruction to Obstruction, the pattern holds: the mountain does not move, the water does not flow. When the same hexagram meets itself, there is no transformation — only the pure, unrelieved experience of the condition. The empty chair and the cold tea are obstruction without exit, grief without the consolation of change.
中文注释
山上有水，蹇之蹇——阻之自身。此為改寫詩，須據原詩：「同載共輿，中道別去；喪我元夫，獨與孤居。」同車而行，中途離散。夫已亡故，獨守空屋。最親密之棄離：同乘一輿之人，中途竟別。從蹇至蹇，山不動、水不流。同卦相遇無變化，唯有純粹的、不可緩解的蹇之體驗。空椅、冷茶——阻滯無出口，哀慟無轉圜之慰藉。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Water (坎)
Same lower trigram: Mountain (艮)