I Ching hexagram 29
Hexagram 29: Kan
Water · 坎為水 · Water above, Water below
Danger keeps coming, and an honest, clear mind with steady forward movement is the way through.
What this hexagram is about
Trouble has come again and again, like one setback after another at work or in a hard season of life. Kan (Water) is about getting through repeated danger with a clear head, and the lines show different ways of standing inside a pit.
A way to think about it
Look at the trouble that keeps returning. What do you do each time, and what would it take to meet it with a clear head and plain sincerity?
The text, with Legge's translation
Judgment
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.
A sincere person stays clear in heart even when danger comes twice over. The judgment adds that moving forward with that clarity earns respect.
Image
水洊至，習坎；君子以常德行，習教事。
(The representation of) water flowing on continuously forms the repeated Khan. The superior man, in accordance with this, maintains constantly the virtue (of his heart) and (the integrity of) his conduct, and practises the business of instruction.
Line 1 · 初六
習坎，入于坎窞，凶。
The first line, divided, shows its subject in the double defile, and (yet) entering a cavern within it. There will be evil.
You are in the first trap, and you slide into a deeper hole inside it. The danger is repeated and you have lost your way, so trouble follows.
Line 2 · 九二
坎有險，求小得。
The second line, undivided, shows its subject in all the peril of the defile. He will, however, get a little (of the deliverance) that he seeks.
You are in the middle of danger and cannot break out yet, so aim at small gains only, which is within reach.
Line 3 · 六三
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).
Whichever way you turn there is another pit, and resting is all that is left. Pushing on drops you into the deepest hole, so acting is the wrong move.
Line 4 · 六四
尊酒簋，貳用缶。内約自牖，終无咎。
The fourth line, divided, shows its subject (at a feast), with (simply) a bottle of spirits, and a subsidiary basket of rice, while (the cups and bowls) are (only) of earthenware. He introduces his important lessons (as his ruler's) intelligence admits. There will in the end be no error.
Your offering is bare-bones, plain clay and a modest meal, and you deliver it by whatever small opening exists. In the end no fault attaches to you.
Line 5 · 九五
坎不盈，禔既平，无咎。
The fifth line, undivided, shows the water of the defile not yet full, (so that it might flow away); but order will (soon) be brought about. There will be no error.
The pit has not yet filled to the brim, and once the water rises level the trouble settles. Nothing at this stage is held against you.
Line 6 · 上六
係用徽纆，寘于叢棘，三歲不得，凶。
The topmost line, divided, shows its subject bound with cords of three strands or two strands, and placed in the thicket of thorns. But in three years he does not learn the course for him to pursue. There will be evil.
Tied with cords and set in a thorn thicket, you have no way out for three years. The reading is unfavorable, the deepest point of the pit.
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 29. Which text do I read?
With no changing lines, read the judgment: "Khan, here repeated, shows the possession of sincerity, through which the mind is penetrating. Action (in accordance with this) will be of high value." 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 Kan?
The nuclear hexagram is 27. Yi (Nourishment). The opposite is 30. Li (Fire). The inverted hexagram is Kan itself, since the figure reads the same upside down.