I Ching · King Wen 2
Hexagram 2: The Receptive
䷁ 坤 Kūn · also called Earth, Field, Responding · The Receptive above The Receptive
The power of receiving, supporting and carrying through: strength that follows rather than leads.
receptivitydevotionsupportpatiencenourishment
The meaning of Hexagram 2
Six broken lines, earth above earth. Where the Creative initiates, the Receptive completes. This is the hexagram of devotion, of doing the work that makes another's idea real, of the mare that carries a rider across open country. It is not weakness and it is not passivity; the earth holds everything up. The reading says the situation asks you to respond, support and persist rather than to lead. There is great fortune in that when the direction is sound, and the tradition adds that one goes astray by rushing ahead but finds the way by following.
The image. The earth's condition is receptive devotion; the wise person carries the outer world with breadth of character.
- Advice
- Support what is sound, follow the direction that is already right, and persist.
- Warning
- Taking the lead when the moment asks you to follow loses the way; hesitation at the right moment is not weakness.
overStructure: ☷ The Receptive (Earth) below, ☷ The Receptive (Earth) above. Nuclear hexagram 2, The Receptive. Every line reversed: 1, The Creative.
Hexagram 2 for love and relationships
The reading favours listening, warmth and steadiness over grand gestures. Let the other person set the pace for now. Support that is freely given builds trust; support demanded as proof does not.
Hexagram 2 for career
A strong reading for the second-in-command, the collaborator, the person who makes a plan work. Take the lead from someone whose direction is sound and execute it well. Trying to lead now goes astray.
Hexagram 2 for money
Steady accumulation, not speculation. Money grows here through consistent care: the field that is tended yields. Follow proven methods and let time do the multiplying.
Hexagram 2 for decisions
Choose the option that follows an established direction rather than the one that strikes out alone. If you are unsure, wait for a lead to become clear; the reading does not reward forcing the front.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Dragons fight in the open country; their blood is dark and yellow.
The receptive principle pushed past its limit, trying to become what it is not, and colliding with the creative. Both are damaged. A conflict of this kind has no winner; the line asks you to see when yielding has turned into a contest and to step out of it.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart. Read line 6 →
A yellow lower garment. Great good fortune.
Yellow is the colour of the centre and the lower garment is the modest one. The line describes influence exercised through restraint: someone in a position of real strength who chooses not to make a show of it. That combination is highly fortunate.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 8, Holding Together. Read line 5 →
A tied sack. No blame, no praise.
Caution and reserve. Keep your thoughts and plans to yourself; this is a moment when speaking or acting openly brings no benefit and some risk. Withdrawal here is not fear but discretion.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm. Read line 4 →
Hidden excellence. Serve, and let the credit go elsewhere.
You have real ability and the moment asks you not to display it. Working in someone else's service, completing rather than claiming, is the right role now. The tradition promises that the work will come to a good end even if your name is not on it.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 15, Modesty. Read line 3 →
Straight, square, great. Without practice, nothing is lost.
The line of natural correctness: acting simply and honestly, without strain, and having it work. You do not need a strategy here. Doing the plain right thing, as the earth does, is enough and needs no rehearsal.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 7, The Army. Read line 2 →
Frost underfoot. Solid ice is coming.
A first small sign of something that will grow. The tradition's frost is a warning read early: the decline or the difficulty is not here yet, but its beginning is, and the right time to respond is now. Nothing dramatic is needed, only attention.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 24, Return. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 2 mean?
- The power of receiving, supporting and carrying through: strength that follows rather than leads. Six broken lines, earth above earth. Where the Creative initiates, the Receptive completes. This is the hexagram of devotion, of doing the work that makes another's idea real, of the mare that carries a rider across open country. It is not weakness and it is not passivity; the earth holds everything up. The reading says the situation asks you to respond, support and persist rather than to lead. There is great fortune in that when the direction is sound, and the tradition adds that one goes astray by rushing ahead but finds the way by following.
- What does Hexagram 2 mean for love?
- The reading favours listening, warmth and steadiness over grand gestures. Let the other person set the pace for now. Support that is freely given builds trust; support demanded as proof does not.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 2 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 24, Return; line 2 gives Hexagram 7, The Army; line 3 gives Hexagram 15, Modesty; line 4 gives Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm; line 5 gives Hexagram 8, Holding Together; line 6 gives Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 1, The Creative.