Hexagram 2 for work
Hexagram 2 Earth for work and career
In work Kun is the hexagram of the second in command, the team, the ground on which things are built. The Great Image says the superior person 'carries things with the thickness of his character'; the judgment says it is favourable to find friends in the south-west, the yin direction, and to lose them in the north-east — to work among one's own kind and not to compete with the strong. It favours execution over invention, support over leadership, and finishing over starting.
For a project or a position, Kun asks you to be the one who makes the thing actually happen. Line two is doing it plainly and well; line three is doing it without taking the credit and making sure it is finished; line four is keeping your counsel in a tense period; line five is holding a senior role with visible modesty. A changing first line says watch the early signs of a trend; a changing top line says a subordinate who has grown strong is about to fight the boss, and nobody wins that.
The hexagram in brief
Pure yin: the earth that carries everything. Strength through receptiveness, patience and service; success comes from following a good lead rather than forcing the front, like a mare steady on the open plain.
Support, nourish and follow what is worth following; take the long way with friends rather than striking out alone.
The judgment
坤：元亨，利牝馬之貞。君子有攸往，先迷後得主，利西南得朋，東北喪朋。安貞，吉。Khwăn (represents) what is great and originating, penetrating, advantageous, correct and having the firmness of a mare. When the superior man (here intended) has to make any movement, if he take the initiative, he will go astray; if he follow, he will find his (proper) lord. The advantageousness will be seen in his getting friends in the south-west, and losing friends in the north-east. If he rest in correctness and firmness, there will be good fortune.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 坤 Earth has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginningtreading on frost · hard ice · small beginnings
- 六二Six in the second placestraight, square, great · without practice · the way of earth
- 六三Six in the third placehidden brilliance · serving without credit · a proper end
- 六四Six in the fourth placetied sack · no blame, no praise · caution
- 六五Six in the fifth placeyellow lower garment · great good fortune · culture at the centre
- 上六Six at the topdragons fight · in the open · yin exhausted
The same hexagram for
Questions
- What does hexagram 2, Earth, mean for a career question?
- In work Kun is the hexagram of the second in command, the team, the ground on which things are built. The Great Image says the superior person 'carries things with the thickness of his character'; the judgment says it is favourable to find friends in the south-west, the yin direction, and to lose them in the north-east — to work among one's own kind and not to compete with the strong. It favours execution over invention, support over leadership, and finishing over starting.
- What does Hexagram 2, 坤 Earth, mean?
- Pure yin: the earth that carries everything. Strength through receptiveness, patience and service; success comes from following a good lead rather than forcing the front, like a mare steady on the open plain.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).