坎

I Ching trigram · 6 of 8

Kǎn ☵ Water 坎 · The Abysmal: water, danger and the courage to keep flowing

Kǎn is one yang line held between two yin lines, like a river running through a deep gorge. It stands for danger, difficulty and hidden depths, and also for the courage and sincerity that carry you through them.

Yang trigram
Element: Water
Season: Midwinter
Doubled: hexagram 29

Element

Water 水

Direction

North

Family

Middle son 中男

Quality

Danger, depth 陷

Animal

Pig 豕

Body

Ear 耳

The lines of Kǎn

Yin Top line · heaven

Yang Middle line · humanity · ruling line

Yin Bottom line · earth

Kǎn has a solid yang line in the middle, enclosed by two broken yin lines. The firm centre is surrounded by softness and emptiness, which the I Ching reads as a strong heart in a ravine, or water that is soft outside but never loses its course.

In the three sons and three daughters, the single line that differs from the others is the ruling line. In Kǎn it is the middle line, so Kǎn is the middle son.

What Kǎn means

Kǎn is water, and especially water in a ravine or pit. Its quality in the Discussion of the Trigrams (说卦传) is 陷 (xiàn), to sink or fall into danger. Yet water itself is not destroyed by danger. It flows on, fills every hollow it meets and keeps going until it reaches the sea.

As the middle son, Kǎn is serious, thoughtful and often tested by life. It is linked with risk, hardship, the unknown and deep feeling, but also with wisdom, sincerity and endurance. hexagram 29, The Abysmal (Water) teaches that if you are sincere at heart you will find a way through, and that danger met again and again becomes a kind of training.

In the Later Heaven arrangement Kǎn stands in the north, the direction of midwinter and midnight. The commentary says “he toils in Kǎn” (劳乎坎). It is the season of rest and hard labour, when everything draws inward before spring.

水洊至，习坎；君子以常德行，习教事。
Water flows on without stopping: the image of the repeated abyss. The noble person keeps to steady virtue and practises the work of teaching.
The Image of hexagram 29, The Abysmal (Water)

Kǎn in your birth hexagram

With Kǎn in your birth hexagram, you may have a deep, private and resilient character. Kǎn people often meet challenges early in life and grow wise and resourceful because of them. They are good listeners who see beneath the surface.

Strengths

Resilient in hard times
Deep, intuitive and perceptive
Brave in the face of risk
Sincere and loyal
Wise beyond their years

Watch out for

Prone to worry or low moods
Can be secretive or hard to read
May attract or seek out risk
Tends to carry burdens alone
Slow to trust

Find your own trigrams. The free Birth Destiny calculator works out your birth hexagram and its two trigrams from your date and time of birth.

Kǎn as the lower and upper trigram

Every hexagram has a lower trigram for the inner situation and an upper trigram for the outer world. Kǎn reads a little differently in each place.

Below: the inner world

As the lower trigram, Kǎn shows inner uncertainty, risk or a situation that needs care. In hexagram 6, Conflict heaven above pulls away from water below, a picture of conflict, while in hexagram 64, Before Completion fire sits above water and the task is not yet complete.

Above: the outer world

As the upper trigram, Kǎn shows danger or difficulty in the outer world that must be handled wisely. In hexagram 5, Waiting clouds gather in the sky above heaven and the right move is to wait, while in hexagram 63, After Completion water above fire shows something just completed that still needs care.

The 15 hexagrams that contain Kǎn

Kǎn appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams: eight with Water below and eight with Water above, with hexagram 29, The Abysmal (Water) counted in both lists. Click any hexagram to read its meaning.

Water ☵ as the lower trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
4	Youthful Folly	Mountain over Water	Learning, guidance, discovery
6	Conflict	Heaven over Water	Conflict, justice, negotiation
7	The Army	Earth over Water	Discipline, organisation, command
29	The Abysmal (Water)	Water over Water	Danger, depth, persistence
40	Deliverance	Thunder over Water	Release, relief, forgiveness
47	Oppression	Lake over Water	Adversity, exhaustion, inner strength
59	Dispersion	Wind over Water	Dispersal, dissolving, reconnection
64	Before Completion	Fire over Water	Transition, potential, care

Water ☵ as the upper trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
3	Difficulty at the Beginning	Water over Thunder	Beginnings, struggle, growth
5	Waiting	Water over Heaven	Patience, timing, preparation
8	Holding Together	Water over Earth	Union, alliance, belonging
29	The Abysmal (Water)	Water over Water	Danger, depth, persistence
39	Obstruction	Water over Mountain	Obstacles, reflection, finding help
48	The Well	Water over Wind	Resource, service, depth
60	Limitation	Water over Lake	Limits, discipline, measure
63	After Completion	Water over Fire	Completion, order, vigilance

Symbols and correspondences

The Discussion of the Trigrams links Kǎn with water, ditches and channels, ambush, bending and straightening, the bow and the wheel, melancholy and heartache, earache, blood and the colour red, the moon, thieves, and hard wood with a soft core.

Lines (bottom to top)	yin, yang, yin
Name	坎 Kǎn, The Abysmal
Image in nature	Water
Quality	Danger, depth (陷)
Yin or yang	Yang trigram
Five element	Water (水)
Family member	Middle son (中男)
Later Heaven direction	North
Early Heaven direction	West
Season	Midwinter
Animal	Pig (豕)
Part of the body	Ear (耳)
Early Heaven number	6
Later Heaven (Luo Shu) number	1
Opposite trigram	☲ Lí, Fire
Doubled hexagram	hexagram 29, The Abysmal (Water)
Feng shui life area	Career and life path
Kua number	1 (East group)

Kǎn in feng shui

On the Later Heaven bagua Kǎn governs the north, the area of career and life path, traditionally linked to the middle son. Its element is Water, supported by black and dark blue, flowing wavy shapes, mirrors and glass, and moving water. In the Eight Mansions system, people with a kua number of 1 belong to Kǎn and the East group.

Tips for the north

A small water feature or a picture of water suits the north
Add metal objects too, since Metal produces Water
Avoid heavy earthy colours and objects here, since Earth blocks Water

More about the five elements →

Kǎn questions, answered

What does Kǎn mean in the I Ching?

Kǎn (坎) means water or the abysmal. It has one yang line between two yin lines and stands for danger, depth, courage, sincerity and the middle son. Doubled, it forms hexagram 29, The Abysmal.

Is Kǎn a bad sign?

Kǎn warns of difficulty, but it is not simply bad. Its lesson is that danger can be passed through by staying sincere and consistent, the way water keeps flowing, and that hardship builds skill and wisdom.

Which hexagrams contain Kǎn?

Kǎn appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams. It is both trigrams in hexagram 29, The Abysmal (Water). It is the lower trigram in hexagrams 4, 6, 7, 40, 47, 59 and 64, and the upper trigram in hexagrams 3, 5, 8, 39, 48, 60 and 63.

What element and direction is Kǎn?

Kǎn belongs to the Water element. In the Later Heaven (King Wen) arrangement used in feng shui it sits in the north, and in the Early Heaven (Fu Xi) arrangement it sits in the west.