坤

I Ching trigram · 8 of 8

Kūn ☷ Earth 坤 · The Receptive: devotion, support and the ground that lets things grow

Kūn is made of three broken yin lines, the purest image of receptivity in the I Ching. It is the earth, the mother and the quiet strength that nourishes, carries and completes what heaven begins.

Pure yin
Element: Earth
Season: Late summer into early autumn
Doubled: hexagram 2

Element

Earth 土

Direction

South-west

Family

Mother 母

Quality

Devoted, yielding 顺

Animal

Ox 牛

Body

Belly 腹

The lines of Kūn

Yin Top line · heaven

Yin Middle line · humanity

Yin Bottom line · earth

All three lines of Kūn are broken yin lines. Open in the middle, they show something that receives, holds and gives form.

Kūn is not weak. In the I Ching yielding is a strength of its own: the power of patience, care and endurance. With Qián it is one of the two parents of the other six trigrams.

What Kūn means

Kūn is the earth that lies open under the sky. Its quality in the Discussion of the Trigrams (说卦传) is 顺 (shùn): devoted or yielding, going along with the natural order rather than against it. Where Qián creates, Kūn receives the creative impulse and turns it into something real, the way soil turns a seed into a harvest.

In the trigram family Kūn is the mother: nurturing, protective and endlessly generous. It is linked with cooperation, service, home and the many people who make any great work possible. hexagram 2, The Receptive says the receptive succeeds through the perseverance of a mare, an animal that is strong yet follows and adapts.

In the Later Heaven arrangement Kūn sits in the south-west, in late summer when the crops ripen. The commentary says “service is done in Kūn” (致役乎坤). This is the season of steady work that brings everything to completion.

地势坤，君子以厚德载物。
The earth's condition is receptive devotion. The noble person, with generous virtue, carries the world.
The Image of hexagram 2, The Receptive

Kūn in your birth hexagram

When Kūn is in your birth hexagram, it brings a patient, supportive and practical nature. Kūn people often hold families, teams and communities together, and their influence is quiet but deep.

Strengths

Patient, loyal and dependable
Caring and nurturing
An excellent team player and organiser
Practical and down to earth
Great endurance under pressure

Watch out for

Can be too passive or self-effacing
May put others first for too long
Slow to make big decisions
Can cling to routine and security
Resentful if efforts go unnoticed

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.

Kūn as the lower and upper trigram

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

Below: the inner world

As the lower trigram, Kūn shows an inner state of openness and receptivity, ready to follow a good lead. In hexagram 35, Progress the sun rises over the earth and progress comes easily, while in hexagram 16, Enthusiasm thunder bursts from the ground and stirs people into action.

Above: the outer world

As the upper trigram, Kūn describes a gentle, accepting or supportive environment. In hexagram 11, Peace heaven sits beneath earth and the two meet in harmony, while in hexagram 24, Return a single yang line returns beneath five yin lines, the turning point when the light comes back.

The 15 hexagrams that contain Kūn

Kūn appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams: eight with Earth below and eight with Earth above, with hexagram 2, The Receptive counted in both lists. Click any hexagram to read its meaning.

Earth ☷ as the lower trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
2	The Receptive	Earth over Earth	Receptivity, support, endurance
8	Holding Together	Water over Earth	Union, alliance, belonging
12	Standstill	Heaven over Earth	Stagnation, separation, integrity
16	Enthusiasm	Thunder over Earth	Enthusiasm, inspiration, readiness
20	Contemplation	Wind over Earth	Observation, perspective, example
23	Splitting Apart	Mountain over Earth	Erosion, letting go, protecting the base
35	Progress	Fire over Earth	Progress, recognition, promotion
45	Gathering Together	Lake over Earth	Gathering, community, leadership

Earth ☷ as the upper trigram
No.	Hexagram	Upper over lower	Theme
2	The Receptive	Earth over Earth	Receptivity, support, endurance
7	The Army	Earth over Water	Discipline, organisation, command
11	Peace	Earth over Heaven	Peace, prosperity, harmony
15	Modesty	Earth over Mountain	Modesty, balance, humility
19	Approach	Earth over Lake	Approach, growth, opportunity
24	Return	Earth over Thunder	Return, renewal, new cycles
36	Darkening of the Light	Earth over Fire	Hidden light, resilience, discretion
46	Pushing Upward	Earth over Wind	Rising, steady growth, effort

Symbols and correspondences

The Discussion of the Trigrams links Kūn with earth, the mother, cloth, the cooking pot, frugality, the level plain, a cow with her calf, the large wagon, form, the multitude, the handle or shaft, and black soil.

Lines (bottom to top)	yin, yin, yin
Name	坤 Kūn, The Receptive
Image in nature	Earth
Quality	Devoted, yielding (顺)
Yin or yang	Pure yin
Five element	Earth (土)
Family member	Mother (母)
Later Heaven direction	South-west
Early Heaven direction	North
Season	Late summer into early autumn
Animal	Ox (牛)
Part of the body	Belly (腹)
Early Heaven number	8
Later Heaven (Luo Shu) number	2
Opposite trigram	☰ Qián, Heaven
Doubled hexagram	hexagram 2, The Receptive
Feng shui life area	Love, marriage and partnerships
Kua number	2 (West group)

Kūn in feng shui

On the Later Heaven bagua Kūn governs the south-west, the area of love, marriage and partnerships, traditionally linked to the mother of the household. Its element is Earth, supported by yellow, beige and soft earthy tones, ceramics and square shapes. In the Eight Mansions system, people with a kua number of 2 belong to Kūn, as do men whose kua number works out as 5, and they are in the West group.

Tips for the south-west

Keep pairs of objects in the south-west to support relationships
Use ceramics, crystals and earthy colours
Limit large plants here, since Wood breaks up Earth

More about the five elements →

Kūn questions, answered

What does Kūn mean in the I Ching?

Kūn (坤) means earth or the receptive. It is three broken yin lines and stands for devotion, nurture, patience and the mother. Doubled, it forms hexagram 2, The Receptive.

Is Kūn the opposite of Qián?

Yes. Kūn is made of three yin lines and Qián of three yang lines, so each is the other with every line changed. Together they are the parents of the other six trigrams, and in the Early Heaven arrangement they face each other, Qián in the south and Kūn in the north.

Which hexagrams contain Kūn?

Kūn appears in 15 of the 64 hexagrams. It is both trigrams in hexagram 2, The Receptive. It is the lower trigram in hexagrams 8, 12, 16, 20, 23, 35 and 45, and the upper trigram in hexagrams 7, 11, 15, 19, 24, 36 and 46.

What element and direction is Kūn?

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