Hexagram 29 of 64
The Pit
坎 Kǎn
Upper trigram: 坎 Kǎn, water
Lower trigram: 坎 Kǎn, water
The judgment
習坎，有孚，維心亨。行有尚。
Pit upon pit. There is trust. It is the heart that has success. Moving on earns regard.
The Great Image
水洊至，習坎；君子以常德行，習教事。
Water arrives again and again: Pit upon Pit. In the same way, the noble person keeps virtue and conduct constant and practices the work of teaching.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初六
習坎，入于坎窞，凶。
Pit upon pit. Entering the hollow of the pit. Misfortune.
The pit has a deeper pit within it, and getting used to it is a danger of its own. Ask whether a difficulty has become so familiar that you no longer try to climb out.
Line 2 九二
坎有險，求小得。
In the pit there is peril. Seek, and small things are gained.
Inside the danger, the line allows only small gains. Consider what one small thing you could reach today, and leave the whole climb for later.
Line 3 六三
來之坎坎，險且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。
Coming and going, pit after pit. Peril, and resting against it. Entering the hollow of the pit. Do not act.
There are pits in every direction, and the line's word is do not act. When each move leads to another hole, you could stop moving and look.
Line 4 六四
尊酒簋，貳用缶。内約自牖，終无咎。
A vessel of wine, a basket of grain, and a second serving in clay pots. A pledge passed in through the window. In the end, no blame.
Simple wine, a basket of grain, plain pots, and a window in place of a door. If the formal way to reach someone is closed, consider a small honest gesture through whatever opening there is.
Line 5 九五
坎不盈，禔既平，无咎。
The pit is not filled to the brim. Settled, it is already level. No blame.
The pit is not yet full and the water has only reached level. Ask what you could finish by doing enough and no more.
Line 6 上六
係用徽纆，寘于叢棘，三歲不得，凶。
Bound with black cords and put among thorn thickets. For three years one gets nothing. Misfortune.
The old text pictures a prisoner bound and set among thorns for three years. Without admiring that treatment, ask what has you tied up, and who or what could help you find a way out of it.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is water below and water above, one solid line caught between broken lines in each half. Danger comes and then comes again. It stands for repeated difficulty and for the skill of living through it.
The judgment pairs the doubled pit with trust and a heart that stays clear. Water keeps flowing and does not stop at any drop in the ground. Ask what steady practice or commitment you could hold to while the difficulty lasts.
If your question is about a long stretch of trouble at work or at home, tradition reads this as a time for small steps and plain dealing. The lines caution against growing used to the pit, and they give more credit to modest gestures than to large ones.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/坎), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
Where the sources differ
- In the fourth line, Wikisource (A) reads 尊酒簋，貳用缶。内約自牖 (a vessel of wine and a basket of grain, a second serving in clay pots, a pledge passed in through the window). Project Gutenberg (B) reads 樽酒簋貳，用缶，納約自牖 (a vessel of wine and two baskets, with clay pots, a pledge taken in through the window). Wikisource carries the second reading as an inline alternative, 一作樽酒簋貳，用缶，納約自牖, while keeping the first as its base text.
- In the fifth line, Wikisource (A) reads 禔 (at peace) and Project Gutenberg (B) reads 祗 (only, just). Wikisource carries 一作祗 as an inline alternative while keeping 禔 as its base text.
- Project Gutenberg writes 無 where Wikisource has 无 in the fourth and fifth lines. These are variant forms of the same word.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.