Hexagram 29 for love
Hexagram 29 The Pit (Water) in love and relationships
Kan is water on water: one danger following another, the heart tested by repetition. In a relationship it is the hexagram of a hard passage — distance, mistrust, circumstances pressing on both people — and the judgment says what gets through it: 'with sincerity, the heart has free course'. The two strong central lines are the resource. Line two makes small gains without escaping; line five brings the water to level without triumph. The weak lines at either end show what happens when sincerity is lost: sinking deeper at the start, bound in thorns at the end.
For a question about love the hexagram does not promise relief soon, but it does say the bond can hold if the heart stays honest and the pace stays modest. The fourth line is the picture of how: plain words, no performance, by whatever simple route is open. A changing line in the lower trigram means the difficulty is still deepening and the task is not to flail; one in the upper trigram means the way out exists but is narrow.
The hexagram in brief
Water upon water: repeated danger. With sincerity the heart gets through — flow like water, filling each hollow and moving on without losing your nature.
Don't panic and don't climb out too fast; keep inner honesty, practise with the difficulty, and keep moving.
The judgment
習坎，有孚，維心亨，行有尚。Khan, here repeated, shows the possession of sincerity, through which the mind is penetrating. Action (in accordance with this) will be of high value.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 坎 The Pit (Water) has its own page:
- 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
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Is hexagram 29, The Pit (Water), a good sign for love?
- Kan is water on water: one danger following another, the heart tested by repetition. In a relationship it is the hexagram of a hard passage — distance, mistrust, circumstances pressing on both people — and the judgment says what gets through it: 'with sincerity, the heart has free course'. The two strong central lines are the resource. Line two makes small gains without escaping; line five brings the water to level without triumph. The weak lines at either end show what happens when sincerity is lost: sinking deeper at the start, bound in thorns at the end.
- What does Hexagram 29, 坎 The Pit (Water), mean?
- Water upon water: repeated danger. With sincerity the heart gets through — flow like water, filling each hollow and moving on without losing your nature.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).