The Judgment
Oppression: yet success is possible. Steadfastness — the great man brings about good fortune; no blame. But when one has something to say, it is not believed.
Hexagram 47
Oppression / Exhaustion
K'un / Kùn 困
K'un is the hexagram of the drained lake: resources sunk away, strength exhausted, adversity pressing from every side — and, the Judgment's bitterest touch, words no longer believed. In such times explanation is wasted breath; only being carries weight.
Hexagram
47
Lake ☱ (Tui, the Joyous)
Water ☵ (K'an, the Abysmal)
Oppression: yet success is possible. Steadfastness — the great man brings about good fortune; no blame. But when one has something to say, it is not believed.
Classical frame
Judgment and image
Read these as the root statements before moving into modern interpretation, lines, and situation-specific paths.
The Image
The lake drained, its water sunk away below: this is Exhaustion. In the same way, we stake our very life on following our will.
Deeper reading
The full meaning of Hexagram 47
Overview
K'un is the hexagram of the drained lake: resources sunk away, strength exhausted, adversity pressing from every side — and, the Judgment's bitterest touch, words no longer believed. In such times explanation is wasted breath; only being carries weight.
Yet the same Judgment opens with success, and the image explains: exhaustion is where greatness is assayed. Stripped of everything external, the superior person stakes life itself on following their will — cheerful in the worst, unbroken because the breaking point was always inner, and the inner was never surrendered. Times of oppression, met so, are the making of the great.
The Spirit of K'un
Much oppression is manufactured inwardly: false and oppressive beliefs — doubts about the higher power, about the creative force of the universe, about others' potential — exhaust us more thoroughly than circumstances do. The counsel is to rid ourselves of these delusions; adopt a neutral, open attitude; accept how things are going without forcing progress; say little; and stay patient while the creative power works in its subtle, zigzagging way.
Equanimity is the whole armour here: grounded as earth, unwavering as mountain, and quietly cheerful — for cheerfulness in adversity is not denial but the deepest form of faith.
The Shadow Side
Exhaustion breeds its own oppressors. Despair, which blocks the very perception that would find the exit. Restless force, battering at closed doors until the strength for open ones is gone. Comfortable delusion — the golden carriage of fixed ideas we ride deeper into the trap. And the creeping vines: small doubts indulged until they bind everything. In this hexagram, the enemy is almost never the circumstance; it is what the circumstance persuades us to believe.
Changing lines
Six line readings
Line 1
The Bare Tree and the Gloomy Valley
Sitting oppressed under a leafless tree, straying into a gloomy valley: for three years, one sees nothing.
Oppression's first trap is mood: settling under the bare tree, wandering into the valley of gloom, and losing years to a darkness that is half circumstance and half surrender. Despair blocks the sight that would find the way out. Cultivate the balanced, cheerful, accepting attitude the situation seems least to deserve — resist both hope's flutter and doubt's weight — and the open mind returns, bringing with it, in its own time, the exit the gloom was hiding.
Line 2
Oppressed at Meat and Wine
Oppressed while at meat and drink. The man with the scarlet knee bands approaches. Offering sacrifice furthers; setting forth brings misfortune. No blame.
The subtle oppression of sufficiency: fed, housed, comfortable — and inwardly flat, exhausted by impatience and stalled ambition rather than by want. Help is already approaching (the scarlet knee bands of the coming ally), but it cannot be hurried: setting forth to force matters brings misfortune. Sacrifice instead the self-comforting attitudes and the negative views blocking unity with the Sage; count the present blessings honestly. Renewal in this line is inner first, and the outer follows it in.
Line 3
Stone and Thistles
Letting oneself be dashed against stone, leaning on thorns and thistles; entering the house and not seeing one's wife. Misfortune.
The self-made oppression, complete: battering at what is immovable (the stone), resting on what cannot support (the thorns), until even the nearest good is no longer visible (the house without the wife). Restless force against closed doors undermines everything it means to rescue. Stop. Withdraw into stillness, release the attachment to the specific outcome, and let the present moment show its actual paths — they were never through the stone.
Line 4
The Golden Carriage
He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage. Humiliation — but the end is reached.
Oppression upholstered: trapped in comfortable, flattering, fixed ideas — the wealth of self-justifications, the luxury of settled judgments about ourselves and others — riding in gilded circles while calling it a journey. Progress resumes slowly and humbly: step down from the carriage, release the judgments, and turn open-minded to the wisdom waiting outside it. The pace is embarrassing and the arrival certain — the end is reached by those willing to walk.
Line 5
Oppressed from Above
Nose and feet cut off — oppression from the high places. Yet joy comes softly. It furthers to make offerings.
Oppression at its most official: advancement blocked and mobility gone, the obstruction wearing authority's own colours, help absent from precisely the quarters that should give it. The turn comes softly — not as rescue but as gradual easing, for the one who stays modest, acknowledges the limits of their own knowledge, and keeps making the inner offerings: releasing resistance, dropping self-indulgence, staying open to help from the Unknown. What the high places withheld, the deep places supply — quietly, and in time.
Line 6
The Creeping Vines
Oppressed by creeping vines, moving uncertainly, saying 'movement brings remorse.' But feel remorse over that — and make a start: good fortune comes.
The last oppression is gossamer: not stone now but vines — small doubts, tender hesitations, the murmured conviction that trying again will only hurt. The bonds are real only while believed. The line's hinge is a change of remorse: regret not the risk of moving but the timidity of not moving — and start. The vines part before the first genuine step; they always would have. Recognise the help already present, make room for it by refusing despair its last soft grip, and walk out of the hexagram into good fortune.
Sage advice
When the lake runs dry, be what needs no water: will, staked whole on the true course. Say little — words are spent coin here; let equanimity do the talking. Uproot the beliefs that oppress worse than facts, keep a stubborn cheerfulness against the gloom, and test each bond before believing it — most are vines, not stone. Exhaustion is the assay of greatness: what remains when everything is drained is exactly what you are.
Situation meanings
Read this hexagram through real life
Love meaning
Hexagram 47 in love means the relationship may feel strained, tired, or emotionally constricted, and it cannot be forced open easily right now. In a relationship, it favors endurance, honesty about pressure, and simplifying what is making love feel heavy. If you are single, it can reflect discouragement that needs compassion rather than more pushing. This love reading often appears when love is being tested by limitation and emotional fatigue.
Open interpretation
Career meaning
Hexagram 47 in career means pressure, frustration, or burnout is making work feel restrictive, and the priority is to simplify and preserve energy. It favors endurance, clearer boundaries, and focusing on what is essential instead of trying to carry everything at once. This career reading often points to a period where resilience matters more than expansion.
Open interpretation
Business meaning
Hexagram 47 in business means the business is under pressure, strain, or exhaustion and cannot be forced forward cleanly right now. It favors endurance, realism, and reducing pressure where possible instead of pushing through burnout or tight constraints. This business reading often appears when resilience matters more than expansion.
Open interpretation
Family meaning
Hexagram 47 in family means the household is carrying heaviness, fatigue, or emotional pressure that cannot be ignored. It favors gentleness, realistic limits, and relieving strain where possible instead of pretending everyone can keep carrying the same load. This reading often appears when the family needs rest, support, and emotional breathing room.
Open interpretation
Money meaning
Hexagram 47 in money means finances are under pressure, constraint, or exhaustion and cannot be forced forward cleanly right now. It favors endurance, simplification, and reducing strain where possible instead of pushing from desperation. This money reading often appears when resilience and realism matter more than expansion.
Open interpretation
Personal growth meaning
Hexagram 47 in personal growth means pressure, fatigue, or emotional heaviness are asking you to simplify and reconnect with your inner strength. It favors endurance, honest limits, and restoring yourself rather than pretending you can keep pushing without cost. This growth reading often appears when resilience matters more than expansion and the real task is to stay centered under strain.
Open interpretation
Learning meaning
Hexagram 47 in learning means fatigue, discouragement, or mental strain may be limiting your progress. It favors simplification, endurance, and restoring your relationship to the work instead of pretending exhaustion is not real. This learning reading often appears when resilience matters more than speed.
Open interpretation
Further study
Related guides for this hexagram
These guides help place this hexagram inside the wider reading method, hexagram system, and practical interpretation context.
Core Explainer
What use the I Ching actually has
Understand what the I Ching is actually useful for today, from decision-making and self-reflection to timing, conflict, and personal transformation.
Practical Guide
How the I Ching applies to modern life
See how the I Ching can be used in modern life for decision-making, relationships, timing, reflection, and personal growth without reducing it to fortune-telling.
Interpretation
How intuition fits into I Ching readings
Learn how intuition fits into I Ching readings, why it should support rather than replace hexagram structure, and how to interpret the oracle with more clarity.
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