Upper Trigram
兌 Duì
Lake — Joyous
Lower Trigram
坎 Kǎn
Water — Abysmal
Classical Texts
The Judgment
Success. Persistence. The great person brings about good fortune. No blame. When you have something to say, it is not believed. Adversity is the reverse of success but can lead to success if it befalls the right person. The strong one remains cheerful despite danger—this cheerfulness is the source of later success, a stability stronger than fate. He who lets his spirit be broken has no success. But if adversity only bends you, it creates a power to react. In times of adversity, be strong within and sparing of words.
The Lines
Line 1
Sitting oppressed under a bare tree, straying into a gloomy valley. For three years, sees nothing. When adversity befalls you, be strong and overcome the trouble inwardly. If weak, the trouble overwhelms you. Sitting under a bare tree, falling into gloom and melancholy, makes everything more hopeless. This attitude comes from inner delusion that must be overcome.
Line 2
Oppressed while at meat and drink. The one with scarlet knee bands is coming. It furthers one to offer sacrifice. To set forth brings misfortune. No blame. Inner oppression while externally all is well. Exhausted by the commonplaces of life with no way of escape. Help comes from a high place. Overcome disagreeable situations by patience of spirit.
Line 3
Oppressed by stone, leaning on thorns and thistles. Enters the house and does not see his wife. Misfortune. Restless and indecisive in adversity. You butt your head against a wall and feel oppressed by it. Lean on things without stability. Turn back irresolutely only to find fresh disappointment. If oppressed by what ought not to oppress, disgrace follows.
Line 4
Coming very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage. Humiliation, but the end is reached. You see the need of others and would like to help but begin hesitantly. Drawn into the circle of powerful acquaintances, you can't withdraw. Great embarrassment, but the trouble is transitory. Original strength offsets the mistake; the goal is reached.
Line 5
Nose and feet cut off. Oppression at the hands of the one with purple knee bands. Joy comes softly. It furthers one to make offerings. One who has the good of mankind at heart is oppressed from above and below, finding no help among those whose duty it would be to assist. But little by little, things turn for the better. Until then, turn to what is beyond, firm in inner composure.
Line 6
Oppressed by creeping vines. Moving uncertainly and saying 'Movement brings remorse.' If you feel remorse over this and make a start, good fortune comes. Oppressed by bonds easily broken. The distress is ending but you're still irresolute, influenced by the previous condition, fearing regret if you move. Grasp the situation, change your mental attitude, make a firm decision—master the oppression.
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.
Read full commentary ↓
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)