K'un / The Receptive
above: K'un The Receptive, Earth
below: K'un The Receptive, Earth
Khwan 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 southwest and losing
friends in the northeast. If he rest in correctness and firmness, there will be good fortune.
Overall Meaning
Earth, people, mother, etc., the symbol of submission
The same attributes are here ascribed to Khwan, as in the former hexagram Khien; - but with a difference. The figure, made up of six divided lines, expresses the ideal of subordination and docility. The superior man, represented by it, must not take the initiative; and by following he will find his Lord, - the subject, that is of Khien. Again, the correctness and firmness is defined to be that of 'a mare', 'docile and strong', but a creature for the service of man. That it is not the sex of the animal which the writer has chiefly in mind is plain from the immediate mention of the superior man, and his Lord. That superior man will seek to bring his friends along with himself to serve his ruler. But according to the arrangement of the trigrams by King Wan, the place of Khwan is in the southwest, while the opposite quarter is occupied by the yang trigram Kan. All that this portion of the Thwan says is an instruction to the subject of the hexagram to seek for others of the same principles and tendencies with himself to serve their common lord. But in quietness and firmness will be his strength.