Kun :: Beset

Offering: auspicious for the wise :: No harm : words are not believed

困

䷮

6 :: first

Flogged and cast in a pit.¹ Three years not seen.

You experience corporeal punishment, isolation and restriction. You are held back for a long time (three years).

9 :: second

Beset by food and drink. Red sashes. Offerings should be made.
Military expeditions are disastrous. No misfortune.

Celebrating success with food, drink, and honorific titles becomes a burden and a bore. Even though you should show gratitude, you become critical and bite the hand that feeds you. You are punished and isolated but, despite every-thing, you are growing stronger.

6 :: third

Beset by stones and thorny bows. Returning home to find no wife. Disaster.

You neglected your resources for too long and now they are gone. Obstacles (rocks), pain (thorns), and loss (no wife) beset you. Your procrastination and mistrust have backfired. Your taking things for granted has lead to failure.

9 :: fourth

Slowly, slowly. Beset by a bronze chariot. Hardship will have an end.

The situation is improving slowly despite your fears and your doubts. Burdensome responsibilities, a dull leader and/or an unsupportive partner weigh heavily upon you. Have patience. This cumbersome situation will eventually end.

9 :: fifth

Cut off the nose and feet. Red sashes. Slowly released. Make offerings.

Your freedom comes at last, but at a very high price. You have been through the mill-isolated, punished, and humiliated. Now that you are finally free, do not forget to be grateful (make offerings).

6 :: top

Beset by entanglements.² Progress is arduous and awkward.
A military expedition is successful.

You are nearly "out of the woods" when you get caught again in more compli-cations. Though you experience yet another setback, this time you successfully exert a little well-placed force (military expedition) to escape confinement.

Image

Kun refers to a deep pit dug on Zhou battlefields to imprison a wild and bel-ligerent, defeated enemy officer. Kun means isolation, oppression and entan-glement. For the captive, loss is made repeatedly worse by struggling against the odds.

Auspices

The situation is harsh, fated, and seemingly irreversible. When Kun is divined efforts to escape often lead to the worsening of circumstances. Divining Kun is inauspicious in all cases.

Good for punishment, cultivating under hardship, and soul searching.

Bad for making your case, advancement of any kind, and travel.

Comment

Sometimes you reach an impasse and cannot see what to do. You put your life and resources on the line and stick to your principles, but there is no positive result-this is Kun. It is a painful moment of truth.

When Kun is divined it is hard to know whether you are being belligerent or honorable. You cannot see your complicity in this tangled and difficult situation, so you blame others. Confused by fatigue and isolation, you even neglect your supporters. By the time you escape this dilemma you are battered and scarred.

Time will tell whether enduring such hardship and pain will make you a stronger person. The good news is, the pain will pass.

Other Correspondences

Business: Undermined by competition, wait for the crisis to pass and then rebuild.

Disharmonies: Insomnia, anorexia, drug addiction, injury, chronic pain, and depression.

Prognosis: Poor. The patient has a slow and difficult recovery. There is a likelihood of several relapses and a possible fatality. The patient may commit suicide.