Hexagram 47
困
Kùn
Oppression
Upper Trigram
兌 Duì
Lake — Joyous
Lower Trigram
坎 Kǎn
Water — Abysmal
Classical Texts
The Judgment
亨。貞大人吉。无咎。有言不信。
The Image
澤無水，困。君子以致命遂志。
The Lines
Line 1
初六 臀困于株木。入于幽谷。三歲不覿。
Line 2
九二 困于酒食。朱紱方來。利用享祀。征凶无咎。
Line 3
六三 困于石。據于蒺蔾。入于其宮。不見其妻。凶。
Line 4
九四 來徐徐。困于金車。吝。有終。
Line 5
九五 劓刖。困于赤紱。乃徐有說。利用祭祀。
Line 6
上六 困于葛藟。于臲卼。曰動悔有悔。征吉。
The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun
William Blake, 1805
Oppression
A seven-headed dragon towers over a woman clothed with the sun, its tails sweeping the stars. William Blake created this watercolor in 1805 as part of his Revelation series, depicting the apocalyptic vision from the Book of Revelation. The pregnant woman cowers beneath the beast's massive form, her radiant garments contrasting with the dragon's red scales. The image captures absolute vulnerability—celestial protection insufficient against overwhelming supernatural threat.
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Blake created this watercolor as part of a series illustrating the Book of Revelation. It depicts the seven-headed dragon from Revelation 12 towering over the pregnant woman clothed with the sun. The woman's helpless position beneath the overwhelming supernatural force relates to hexagram 47's theme of oppression or exhaustion. This is Kùn (困), Oppression or Exhaustion, the hexagram describing the condition of being hemmed in, depleted, unable to advance. The character shows a tree enclosed within boundaries—vital energy constrained by circumstance. The trigram structure places Lake (Duì) above Water (Kǎn): water above water, the lake draining into the abyss below, resources exhausted. Blake's composition emphasizes this enclosure—the woman trapped beneath the dragon's looming presence, her position offering no escape, her pregnancy making flight impossible. The Judgment text states: "Oppression. Success. Perseverance. The great man brings about good fortune. No blame. When one has something to say, it is not believed." The text offers paradoxical counsel—success and good fortune remain possible even in oppression, but words lose their power, explanations fail to convince. Blake's woman cannot argue with the beast above her; speech offers no defense against such force. In Zhou Dynasty divination, this hexagram appeared when drought exhausted wells, when sieges drained cities, when resources ran short despite best efforts. The configuration describes external constraint rather than internal failure—being trapped by circumstance, not character. The Image Text observes: "There is no water in the lake: the image of Exhaustion. Thus the superior person stakes life on following will." The lake emptied, the well run dry—this is the hexagram's central image. What does one do when external resources fail? The text counsels reliance on internal conviction when external support vanishes. Blake's woman, despite her peril, remains clothed in the sun, her essential radiance maintained even under the dragon's shadow. In the I-Ching sequence, Kùn follows Shēng (pushing upward): after the climb comes the moment of exhaustion at the summit, or the crisis when upward progress meets overwhelming resistance. The woman's oppression is positional—caught between earth and beast with nowhere to retreat, the stars themselves falling around her, yet the text promises that perseverance and great character can find success even here.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 47 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.
席多針刺，不可以臥。動而有悔，言行俱過。
The mat is full of needle pricks; one cannot lie down upon it. To move is to invite regret; word and deed alike transgress.
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A lake without water transforming into itself: Oppression doubled. The mat is full of needles, impossible to lie down upon. Every movement brings regret; words and deeds both go wrong. This is the I-Ching's own warning for hexagram 47 taken to its extreme: the image of the lake drained again into a drained lake, oppression reinforcing itself. There is no escape because there is no change. The needle-studded mat captures the peculiar cruelty of a trap that punishes both action and inaction: one cannot rest, yet cannot move without making things worse. The only counsel is the hexagram's own judgment: the great man fulfills his fate and pursues his purpose. Even in double oppression, the sage does not abandon his will.
中文注释
澤無水，困之象也，困之困——困上加困，自我疊加之絕境。席多針刺，不可以臥——席上遍佈針刺，無法安臥。動而有悔——一動則悔；言行俱過——一言一行皆是過錯。此為困卦自變之極端：枯澤又化枯澤，壓迫自我強化。動不得、靜不得，針氈之苦在於行止皆遭懲罰。《易經》困卦之辭曰：「君子以致命遂志」——即便困上加困，大人亦不棄其志。雙重之困中唯一出路，在於不放棄意志本身。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Lake (兌)
Same lower trigram: Water (坎)