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Hexagram 29: The Abysmal
坎 · Kǎn
The Abysmal repeated. If you are sincere, you have success in your heart, and whatever you do succeeds.Judgment 卦辭
Water flows continuously: the image of the Abysmal. The noble man walks in lasting virtue and carries on the business of teaching.Image 象辭
Core Meaning of Hexagram 29
Hexagram 29 is danger doubled — water flowing into water, pit after pit. The classic predicament: risk layered on risk with no dry ground anywhere. And its counsel is the oldest samurai secret in the book: sincerity. If your heart is aligned and without evasion, you can pass through — the heart’s clarity is the only dry land in the image.
Hexagram 29 in a Reading
In a reading, you are inside genuine hazard — financial, medical, emotional. Stop searching for safety outside; there is none. Like water, keep moving through the channel without pausing in the pit, learn the terrain as you flow, and act from complete honesty with yourself about what is happening. Sincerity under repeated danger does not remove the danger; it makes you equal to it.
Common Questions
What does hexagram 29 mean?
Hexagram 29 is danger doubled — water flowing into water, pit after pit. Read the full meaning above, or cast your own reading with our free online I Ching coins.
What is the structure of hexagram 29?
Hexagram 29 is built from the trigram Water above and Water below — binary 010010 read from the bottom line to the top. The Abysmal is King Wen number 29 of the 64 hexagrams.
Related Hexagrams
Other Hexagrams with Trigram Water Above
Keywords: i ching hexagram 29, hexagram 29 meaning, the abysmal, kan, water, repeated danger, pitfall, flowing through danger, courage