Hexagram 29 · 坎为水

The Abysmal Water

Water · Kan palace

Repeated danger; consistency and inner truth carry you through.

Meaning

Water doubled: danger above and below. This is the hexagram of a genuinely difficult passage, and of the conduct that survives it.

Decision Framework

Move through carefully; do not panic, do not rush.

Decision Guidance

The Abysmal describes being in difficulty, not approaching it. Whatever the form of the danger—finances, health, reputation, uncertainty—it is present, repeated, and not simply waiting to be argued away.

The classical instruction is about conduct under sustained pressure rather than about clever escape. Keep to what you know is true, keep your commitments small enough to honour, and move steadily as water does: filling each hollow before advancing further. Panic and haste are what convert a dangerous passage into a disaster. Competence here is mostly persistence and accuracy.

Judgment — Classical Text

习坎，有孚，维心亨，行有尚。

EN The repeated pit; with sincerity the heart succeeds; action wins esteem.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

初六：习坎，入于坎窞，凶。
EN Initial six: the repeated pit — falling into the pit within the pit: misfortune.
九二：坎有险，求小得。
EN Nine in the second: the pit has danger — seek small gains.
六三：来之坎坎，险且枕。
EN Six in the third: coming and going among pits — dangerous, and resting there.
六四：樽酒簋贰，用缶，纳约自牖。
EN Six in the fourth: a flask of wine, two bowls of rice, earthen vessels — the bond enters through the window.
九五：坎不盈，祇既平，无咎。
EN Nine in the fifth: the pit is not filled, only levelled — no blame.
上六：系用徽纆，置于丛棘，三岁不得，凶。
EN Topmost six: bound with cords and thrown among thorns — three years without escape: misfortune.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 29, The Abysmal hexagram, Kan hexagram meaning, hexagram for danger