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Hexagram 26 — Kun, Oppression
Chronological no. 26 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 47 · 困
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the youngest daughter
the middle son
The Lake is without water: the image of oppression. What should nourish and sustain has dried up, leaving behind a glaring lack where abundance was expected. This is the figure of exhaustion that tests the true nature of the one who endures it. Thus the noble one stakes his life to accomplish his purpose: it is precisely in lack that what one truly values is revealed, to the point of being ready to risk everything for it.
Nothing is restored without first consenting to lack. There is no true rebirth without first having passed through the real experience of deprivation. This line says that oppression, well endured, is not merely a trial to suffer but a purification that prepares the return of abundance.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.
The steadied earth reaches its limit: the solidity that upheld the structure is about to change its nature.
At the threshold between earth and man, suppleness gathers weight: what once yielded by nature is about to harden.
In the action of man, fullness meets its limit: the initiative that led the figure folds back upon itself.
At the sage's seat, fullness hollows out: the force that governed the figure from its center is about to invert.
At the summit, emptiness reaches its fullest extent and closes: the furthest opening turns toward its opposite.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
Eight 12×12 Jacquard patterns are generated from this hexagram, one for each admissible family of the system. Each has its own page: cell, tiling, recolourings and data.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
25 — Sui, Following · 27 — Dui, The Joyous
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☱ Dui): 24 — Cui, Gathering Together · 25 — Sui, Following · 27 — Dui, The Joyous · 28 — Xian, Influence · 29 — Ge, Revolution · 30 — Da Guo, Preponderance of the Great · 31 — Guai, Breakthrough
Same lower trigram (☵ Kan): 2 — Shi, The Army · 10 — Jie, Deliverance · 18 — Kan, The Abysmal · 34 — Meng, Youthful Folly · 42 — Wei Ji, Before Completion · 50 — Huan, Dispersion · 58 — Song, Conflict
