I Ching hexagram 2
Hexagram 2: Kun
Earth · 坤為地 · Earth above, Earth below
Receptive strength carries and supports, and it does its best work by following the right lead.
What this hexagram is about
Your part right now is to support and carry, as in a team or a partnership where someone else sets the direction. The text treats that role as a real strength and also shows what happens when softness is pushed past its limit.
A way to think about it
Where could your steady backing make the biggest difference to a plan or a person you believe in?
The text, with Legge's translation
Judgment
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.
The mare is the model here, dependable and steady on the road. Rushing to lead at the start gets you lost, and falling in behind the right guide gets you where you need to be.
Image
地勢坤，君子以厚德載物。
The (capacity and sustaining) power of the earth is what is denoted by Khwăn. The superior man, in accordance with this, with his large virtue supports (men and) things.
Line 1 · 初六
履霜，堅冰至。
In the first line, divided, (we see its subject) treading on hoarfrost. The strong ice will come (by and by).
Your first step lands on frost, and hard ice follows. A small sign at the start tends to grow, so this line asks you to take early signs seriously.
Line 2 · 六二
直方大，不習无不利。
The second line, divided, (shows the attribute of) being straight, square, and great. (Its operation), without repeated efforts, will be in every respect advantageous.
Straight inside, square in conduct and large in scope, you do not need to rehearse. Acting from that character, nothing you do works against you.
Line 3 · 六三
含章，可貞。或從王事，无成有終。
The third line, divided, (shows its subject) keeping his excellence under restraint, but firmly maintaining it. If he should have occasion to engage in the king's service, though he will not claim the success (for himself), he will bring affairs to a good issue.
You keep your talent in reserve and hold to what is right. If you serve in a large public task, you take no credit and still see it through.
Line 4 · 六四
括囊，无咎无譽。
The fourth line, divided, (shows the symbol of) a sack tied up. There will be no ground for blame or for praise.
You hold back both speech and action, like a sack with its mouth tied shut. Nobody can fault you, and nobody praises you either.
Line 5 · 六五
黃裳，元吉。
The fifth line, divided, (shows) the yellow lower garment. There will be great good fortune.
Yellow is the color of the center, and here it is worn as a lower garment. Holding a high position with modesty and good taste earns the text's highest praise.
Line 6 · 上六
龍戰于野，其血玄黃。
The sixth line, divided, (shows) dragons fighting in the wild. Their blood is purple and yellow.
Soft power pushed to its limit meets strong power in the wild, and the fight leaves both sides bleeding. Yielding stretched past what it can bear ends in open conflict.
用六
利永貞。
(The lines of this hexagram are all weak and divided, as appears from) the use of the number six. If those (who are thus represented) be perpetually correct and firm, advantage will arise.
For all sixes, the text asks for lasting steadiness. Yielding tends to waver, so it pays to hold to what is correct over the long run.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi, public domain. English: James Legge, The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882), public domain. Plain notes written by this site.
Questions
I cast hexagram 2. Which text do I read?
With no changing lines, read the judgment: "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." With changing lines, read the lines that changed. When several change at once, Zhu Xi's rules decide which text leads, and the casting page marks it for you.
What are the nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams of Kun?
The nuclear hexagram is Kun itself. The opposite is 1. Qian (Heaven). The inverted hexagram is Kun itself, since the figure reads the same upside down.