Hexagram 2 Kūn (坤): The Receptive, meaning and six lines

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Hexagram 2: Kūn (坤), name and composition

Hexagram 2 answers the first. All six of its lines are broken: this is pure yin, the earth that receives, carries and nourishes. The text illustrates it with the mare, a docile and enduring animal that moves forward without ever stopping.

Hexagram No. 2 is written 坤 and transcribed Kūn in pinyin; it is pronounced roughly “koon”. It is made of two trigrams stacked on top of each other: below, on the inside, Kun (Earth); above, on the outside, Kun (Earth). The overall image is therefore Earth above Earth.

The six lines, from bottom to top, are: yin (broken), yin (broken), yin (broken), yin (broken), yin (broken), yin (broken). In the King Wen sequence it forms a pair with hexagram 1 (Qian, The Creative), which is its reversed figure: every line changes nature there, yin becoming yang.

The judgment in brief

The judgment repeats the words of hexagram 1, but specifies that the right perseverance is that of the mare. It then describes someone who wants to lead everything and goes astray, while the one who agrees to follow finds their master and their path. Finally it speaks of gaining friends to the southwest and losing them to the northeast, which commentators read either as directions or as the image of an alliance with one’s peers followed by a necessary withdrawal. A tenacious peace is said to be favorable.

General meaning

Kun is the capacity to receive an impulse and carry it through. This is not passivity: the earth makes grow the seeds that heaven waters, but it asks for patience, constancy and close attention to what is already there. In this position, the text advises following rather than leading, and listening before deciding.

Tradition makes it the image of the mother, of fertility, of a flexibility that fits the ground. More broadly, Kun stands for everything that supports other people’s projects: teams, households, traditions. The same text nevertheless warns against a docility that would dissolve completely: the last line shows what happens when yin is pushed to its limit.

The six lines, one by one

The lines are counted from bottom to top. Here, summarised in our own words, is the image the ancient text attaches to each one; the last column gives the hexagram obtained if that line alone changes.

Line	Nature	Image in brief	If it changes
1	yin (broken)	Frost underfoot: thick ice will come. A small tendency already announces a great change.	No. 24 (Fu)
2	yin (broken)	Straight, square, ample: a just nature acts without effort or any particular training.	No. 7 (Shi)
3	yin (broken)	Keep your talent in the background: you can serve without seeking glory and still see things through.	No. 15 (Qian (humility))
4	yin (broken)	A tightly tied bag: neither blame nor praise. Caution and silence when it is better not to expose yourself.	No. 16 (Yu)
5	yin (broken)	A yellow undergarment: yellow is the colour of earth and of the centre. Modesty at a high rank, a very good sign.	No. 8 (Bi)
6	yin (broken)	Dragons fight in open country: yin pushed to the extreme provokes confrontation, and the blood is mixed black and yellow.	No. 23 (Bo)

When all six lines are changing at once, the ancient text adds a separate formula: lasting perseverance is favorable.

Changing lines

A changing line is a line that the casting marks as unstable: one reads its own text, then it turns into its opposite, which gives a second hexagram, read as the direction the situation is taking. A changing yang line is called “nine”, a changing yin line “six”. Without any changing line, one keeps to the general judgment.

For Kun, a changing line invites you to notice the form your receptivity is taking: attention to early signs, trust in uprightness, discretion, restraint, modesty in authority, and refusal to push things as far as confrontation.

A modern reading, with caution

Today, Kun is often read as an invitation to welcome, support and nurture the foundations of a project or a relationship. A cautious reading avoids reducing it to “obey”: following is not keeping silent when something is wrong. It can be used to reflect on the quality of your listening, on what you carry for others, and on the place of rest within action.

Questions to reflect on

• What am I supporting at the moment, and at what cost to myself?
• Am I following by choice, or out of the habit of effacing myself?
• Which small tendency in my situation deserves attention before it grows?
• What does my receptivity need in order to be solid: rest, limits, allies?

Mistakes to avoid

• Confusing receptivity with passivity, or gentleness with submission.
• Ignoring the early signs of the first line.
• Reading the hexagram as an order to efface yourself, whatever the context.
• Forgetting that Kun only makes sense alongside its opposite, hexagram 1.

Names, translations and a reminder

The name “Kun, The Receptive” follows one translation tradition among others. Other translations speak of Earth, The Yielding or Abandonment; the character 坤 is also the name of the trigram of Earth. Compare two translations if you can.

A reminder: the I Ching is a book of wisdom and divination, consulted as a tool for reflection, never as a prediction; it replaces no medical, legal, financial or safety advice. This page summarises the text in our own words.

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The meanings mentioned belong to tradition and symbolism. They are neither promises of results nor medical advice. Back to The 64 hexagrams of the Yi King.