困 Oppression
Upper trigram: Lake (the lake) · Lower trigram: Water (water)
Exhaustion and constraint — hold your center; this is the test.
Modern interpretation
You are depleted and hemmed in. Do not abandon your principles for quick relief — rest, keep your word, and wait. Dignity in hardship is never wasted; the well that does not run dry in drought is proven.
The Judgment · 卦辞
亨。贞大人吉，无咎。有言不信。
“In (the condition denoted by) Khwăn there may (yet be) progress and success. For the firm and correct, the (really) great man, there will be good fortune. He will fall into no error. If he make speeches, his words cannot be made good.” — James Legge, The Yî King (1882)
The six lines · 爻辞
Read from the bottom line upward. Each line pairs the received Chinese text with Legge's English translation.
臀困于株木，入于幽谷，三岁不觌。
“The first line, divided, shows its subject with bare buttocks straitened under the stump of a tree. He enters a dark valley, and for three years has no prospect (of deliverance).”
困于酒食，朱绂方来。利用享祀。征凶，无咎。
“The second line, undivided, shows its subject straitened amidst his wine and viands. There come to him anon the red knee-covers (of the ruler). It will be well for him (to maintain his sincerity as) in sacrificing. Active operations (on his part) will lead to evil, but he will be free from blame.”
困于石，据于蒺藜，入于其宫，不见其妻，凶。
“The third line, divided, shows its subject straitened before a (frowning) rock. He lays hold of thorns. He enters his palace, and does not see his wife. There will be evil.”
来徐徐，困于金车，吝，有终。
“The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject proceeding very slowly (to help the subject of the first line), who is straitened by the carriage adorned with metal in front of him. There will be occasion for regret, but the end will be good.”
劓刖，困于赤绂，乃徐有说，利用祭祀。
“The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject with his nose and feet cut off. He is straitened by (his ministers in their) scarlet aprons. He is leisurely in his movements, however, and is satisfied. It will be well for him to be (as sincere) as in sacrificing (to spiritual beings).”
困于葛藟，于臲�觯�曰动悔有悔，征吉。
“The sixth line, divided, shows its subject straitened, as if bound with creepers ; or in a high and dangerous position, and saying (to himself), ‘If I move, I shall repent it.’ If he do repent of former errors, there will be good fortune in his going forward.”
About changing lines
In a real I Ching reading, hexagrams are built by casting coins or yarrow stalks six times, bottom line first. Some lines come out “old” (unstable) — an old yin or old yang flips into its opposite, producing a second hexagram that shows where the situation is heading. The changing lines are the moving parts of your answer: read their individual line statements above, and they point to the direction of change.
Ask a question and cast the coins — free, with a plain-English interpretation grounded in the classical text.
Start free reading