Hexagram 29: Deep Water
坎Kǎn
Water finds its way through.
The passages below are historical language. Their references to fortune, danger, and the exemplary person belong to the text’s world. Our modern explanation is an invitation to reflect on your situation.
The Judgment
Classical Chinese
習坎。 有孚，維心亨，行有尚。
Our English rendering
Deep Water, encountered repeatedly. With sincerity, success lies in the heart. Action earns esteem.
The Image
Classical Chinese
象曰：水洊至，習坎。君子以常德行，習教事。
Our English rendering
Water arrives again and again: Deep Water encountered repeatedly. A person of integrity remains constant in virtuous conduct and repeatedly practices the work of teaching.
Translation note: The classical title repeats the image of a pit or dangerous depth. The phrase about success in the heart connects inner sincerity with success; it does not say that sincerity removes the danger.
A modern reading
Water arrives repeatedly, so passing one difficult stretch does not remove every difficulty ahead. Deep Water turns attention to how you proceed when uncertainty recurs. The Judgment places sincerity at the center: what you can honestly commit to matters when the ground feels unreliable. The flowing image allows passage through a difficult condition, while keeping its hazards in view. A dependable next action can be more useful than trying to settle the entire course at once.
The Image answers recurring difficulty with recurring practice. Conduct stays consistent, and teaching is done repeatedly, so knowledge becomes usable under pressure. For a current problem, consider which procedure deserves rehearsal and which promise you can keep even on an unsettled day. Repetition can expose a weak point early enough to address it. It also gives other people a basis for trust when circumstances themselves offer little reassurance.
A question to sit with
What dependable practice would help you handle the part of this difficulty that keeps returning?
Source and method
The Judgment and Image are classical passages from the Book of Changes. The English rendering and modern explanation are Meow Ching’s editorial work. This page covers these two passages; it does not translate the six individual line texts.
Read the classical text on Wikisource · Our sources and method