Hexagram 29, line 3
六三Line 3 of The Pit (Water)
Six in the third place · 坎 kǎn
爻辭 The line text
來之坎坎，險且枕，入于坎窞，勿用。The third line, divided, shows its subject, whether he comes or goes (=descends or ascends), confronted by a defile. All is peril to him and unrest. (His endeavours) will lead him into the cavern of the pit. There should be no action (in such a case).
來之坎坎，終无功也。'Whether he comes or goes, he is confronted by a defile:'—he will never (in such circumstances) achieve any success.
In plain words
'Coming and going, pit after pit; danger, and one leans on it; entering the hollow of the pit — do not act.' Line three stands between the two chasms, at the top of the lower Kan with the upper Kan directly ahead. It is yin in a yang place, neither correct nor central, and whichever way it moves it meets another drop. 枕 is to lean one's head on something: the line has made a pillow of the danger, resting on it without resolving it. The small Image says such a person 'will never accomplish anything' (終無功也). It is the lowest point of the hexagram in spirit, and its only counsel is to stop.
If this line is changing
Every direction you look is another drop, and dwelling on the danger has become a way of not deciding; do nothing for now, because action from here only lands you in the next pit.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 坎 Kan (the Abysmal) (water).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 6: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
坎 The Pit (Water) becomes ䷯ 48 井 Well
Water drawn up through wood: the well. Towns move, the well stays; it neither increases nor decreases — but a broken rope or a muddy well helps no one.
What it becomes48 · 井 WelljǐngThe six lines of 坎 The Pit (Water)
- 初六Six at the beginningpit within the pit · lost the way · sinking deeper
- 九二Nine in the second placesmall gains · still inside · strong at the centre
- 六三Six in the third placepits before and behind · unrest · do not act
- 六四Six in the fourth placeplain offering · through the window · sincerity reaches
- 九五Nine in the fifth placewater not overflowing · level reached · not yet great
- 上六Six at the topbound with cords · thorn thicket · three years
Read 坎 The Pit (Water) for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the third place of hexagram 29, The Pit (Water), mean?
- 'Coming and going, pit after pit; danger, and one leans on it; entering the hollow of the pit — do not act.' Line three stands between the two chasms, at the top of the lower Kan with the upper Kan directly ahead. It is yin in a yang place, neither correct nor central, and whichever way it moves it meets another drop. 枕 is to lean one's head on something: the line has made a pillow of the danger, resting on it without resolving it. The small Image says such a person 'will never accomplish anything' (終無功也). It is the lowest point of the hexagram in spirit, and its only counsel is to stop.
- What does hexagram 29 become when line 3 changes?
- The Pit (Water) becomes hexagram 48, 井 Well: Water drawn up through wood: the well. Towns move, the well stays; it neither increases nor decreases — but a broken rope or a muddy well helps no one.
- Is line 3 of The Pit (Water) in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).