Kan (Water) Trigram of the I Ching: the abyss and the stream

← Back to Guide to the Yi King

Kan, Water, is the trigram of one solid line between two broken lines: danger, depth, perseverance. Image, attributes, hexagram no. 29 and points for reflection.

Key points

Trigram	☵ one solid line between two broken lines
Image	Water
Quality	Abyss, danger, current
Family	The second son (middle son)
Element	Water
Direction	West (earlier heaven); north (later heaven)
Double hexagram	Hexagram no. 29, Kan

A Full Heart Surrounded by Emptiness

Kan (pronounced roughly “kahn”) is written with a solid line held between two broken lines. The image the tradition draws from it is that of deep water in a pit: a force flowing at the centre of a hollow. It is an ambiguous trigram, both dangerous (one can fall, drown) and rich in meaning (water persists, digs its way, and eventually gets through).

It is the second son in the family of trigrams. Together with Li, Fire, it forms a pair of complementary opposites, often compared to water and the kitchen fire, which balance one another rather than fight.

Traditional Attributes

Domain	Traditional association
Nature	Water, river, pit, night, moon
Character	Deep, risky, yet always moving forward
Family	Middle son
Body (symbolic)	The ear
Animal	The pig (or the wild boar)
Season and direction	Winter, north (later heaven); west (earlier heaven)
Element	Water

As with the other trigrams, these associations come from the Shuogua and from later systems of correspondences. They serve as a language of images.

Hexagram No. 29

Two Kan trigrams stacked form hexagram no. 29: pit upon pit, water upon water. The text speaks of a river passing through successive gorges without losing its nature, and of a sincerity that makes it possible to cross trials. My summary: in difficult passages, inner uprightness and perseverance count for more than cunning.

Translations vary in the name they give it (“the abyss”, “the unfathomable”, “the repeated pit”). All retain the idea of repeated danger, but also that of inner quality, symbolised by the solid line at the heart of the trigram.

A Reading for Reflection

When Kan appears, ask yourself: what am I afraid of in this situation? Where do I feel I am sinking? What within me remains solid in the midst of the void? Water also teaches flexibility: it goes around an obstacle and, in the end, wears it down.

At work: a delicate passage, an opaque case; the importance of steadiness.
In relationships: a grey area to clarify, trust to build.
For yourself: getting through a moment of anguish without shutting yourself inside it. If you are going through deep distress, speak to a professional or call 3114 (the suicide prevention helpline in France).

The trigram is a mirror, not a prognosis.

Cultural References

Kan is one of the four trigrams on the flag of South Korea (gam, water). The feng shui bagua links it to the north and to one's career, a modern reading specific to some schools. You will find the full set in the I Ching guide.

In a Consultation

In the lower position (inner trigram), Kan evokes what works in depth: a worry, a doubt, a hidden resource. In the upper (outer) position, it describes the environment instead: a situation to get through, an external risk. Paired with Gen, the Mountain, it recalls a mountain torrent; with Heaven, it suggests rain. These image-based links belong to the poetic language of the book, not to a calculation.

The solid line in the middle is the point of focus: in the Chinese view, what matters in danger is not the hollow, but uprightness at the centre.