In love
In matters of the heart, Kun points to a time of strain or lack: faithful gestures are worth more than long explanations, and patience helps.
Hexagram 47
I Ching hexagram 47: Oppression (Kun)
Kun, Oppression, is the hexagram of the squeeze: when means and room run out, inner firmness is the only support left.
- constraint
- endurance
- firmness
The essentials
Kun at a glance
For you, Kun describes a moment when everything tightens: hold steady without wearing yourself out explaining, and let your actions speak for you.
A strength
An inner firmness that remains when circumstances close in, and that shows in what you do rather than what you say.
Something to watch
Justifying yourself endlessly: the ancient text notes that, in a squeeze, words are not believed.
- What it advises
- Conserve your strength, keep your word through simple actions, and do not try to convince people who are not listening.
- Its opposite
- 22. Grace (Bi)
The situation
Kun draws a cramped period: resources dwindle, support is slow to arrive, and every move seems to hit a wall. Its name evokes a tree shut inside a fence, with no room to spread its branches.
Yet the ancient text does not close the door. It still sees a way forward for the firm and upright person, the one it calls great. It adds a warning: in times like these, speeches are not believed. It is actions, even modest ones, that restore trust.
Kun therefore invites sobriety: conserve your strength, stay true to your principles, avoid forcing doors, and accept that the situation will loosen at its own pace.
The image: the Lake above Water
- AboveLake: joy that is shared
- BelowWater: the risky passage
The Lake above Water: the lake empties, and the water fails it. According to the ancient commentary, the person of worth stakes everything on staying faithful to their aim, even when fortune resists.
Consult the I Ching
Throw three coins six times: your hexagram, the lines that change, and the direction they point to.
Free, no account · nothing is sent · no predictions
The six lines
- 1st line (bottom) · brokenSitting beneath a bare stump, then wandering into a dark valley: three years without a prospect. The ancients read a long dead end at the outset, where help is slow to come.
- 2nd line · solidHemmed in amid wine and food, you receive a visit from the sovereign’s envoy. Keep the sincerity of someone making an offering; forcing action would go badly, though without blame.
- 3rd line · brokenStumbling against a rock, grasping at thorns, coming home to find your wife gone: this reads as the aftermath of reckless stubbornness. Better not to force things.
- 4th line · solidHelp approaches slowly, delayed by a carriage sheathed in metal. The regret is real, but the ancient text judges the end favorable: what is late does arrive.
- 5th line · solidHampered by those around you in scarlet aprons, you stay calm and sincere, as though before an altar. Little by little, the situation loosens.
- 6th line (top) · brokenBound as if by creepers, at the top of a perilous place: “If I move, I will regret it.” Acknowledging your mistakes and then moving on is judged favorable.
Kun in your life
At work
For projects under way, Kun describes limited means and recognition that is slow to come: stay upright, take care of the essentials, and let results make the case.
The I Ching helps you reflect on how to act: it does not say what is coming.
How is it built?
- Character
- 困 (kùn)
- Number
- 47 in the King Wen sequence
- Trigrams
- Lake (兌) above, Water (坎) below
- Inner hexagram
- 37. The Family (Jia ren) (lines 2 to 4 and 3 to 5)
- Read upside down
- 48. The Well (Jing)
- Symbol
- ䷮ (U+4DEE)
The English names are the usual renderings of the Chinese characters; the texts rely on the Chinese and on early public-domain translations (Legge, 1882; Philastre, 1885–1893).
Sources
- Wikipedia (English), “List of hexagrams of the I Ching,” read on October 15, 2026: numbers, characters, pinyin, lower and upper trigrams.
- Wikipedia (English), “Bagua,” read on October 15, 2026: lines of the eight trigrams, from bottom to top.
- James Legge (1815–1897), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI, 1882 (Wikisource): public domain.
- Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre (1837–1902), Le Yi King ou Livre des changements de la dynastie des Tsheou, Annales du Musée Guimet, 1885–1893: public domain (the author died more than 70 years ago).
Frequently asked questions about hexagram 47
What does hexagram 47 of the I Ching mean?
Hexagram 47, Kun, means oppression: a moment when means and room are lacking, to be met with inner firmness and deeds rather than words.
What does Kun contrast with?
Hexagram 22, Bi, Grace: the beauty of form when nothing is lacking. Kun shows the opposite, a stripped-down state where only the essential holds.