The name 名
The lower half of the character 蹇 is 足, the foot. Its root sense is lameness: walking until the feet are hurt, so that each step comes hard. From there it stands for any situation where progress is painfully slow. Su Shi's line about a lame donkey braying on a long road catches the word exactly.
The image 象
Below is Gèn, the mountain; above is Kǎn, water. A mountain already blocks the road, and on top of it lies dangerous water, so one obstacle is stacked on another. The Tuan reads it as 'seeing danger and being able to stop': Kǎn is the peril ahead, Gèn is one's own halt. Zhun, Kan, Jian and Kun are the four great hexagrams of hardship, and every one of them contains Kǎn.
Layers of images 層
A gua can be read on several levels at once: the trigrams as members of a family (father, mother, eldest to youngest sons and daughters), the six lines as ranks in an organisation (from newcomer to ruler), and as forces of nature and animals. Each extra level adds meaning to the line texts.
Read as a family
Below is Gèn, the youngest son; above is Kǎn, the middle son: two brothers, one ahead and one behind. The elder brother (Kǎn) is up front, caught in danger; the younger (Gèn) behind knows how to stop. The Tuan says: to see danger and be able to stop, that is wisdom. The youngest turns out to know best when not to charge ahead. The wisdom of Jiǎn is not to force a way through, but to stop, turn back, and find others to go with.
Line 1, “going brings difficulty, coming back brings praise”: as soon as Line 1 moves up it meets the nuclear Kǎn of lines 2–4, danger ahead, so it is best not to move. If it changes to yang, the lower trigram becomes Lí, light: knowing when to stop and when to withdraw is what earns praise.
Line 2, “the king’s servant meets difficulty upon difficulty, not for his own sake”: Line 2 sits in the nuclear Kǎn, and Line 5, which it answers, sits in the upper Kǎn: double danger, hence “difficulty upon difficulty.” The second place is the official, the fifth the king; he suffers not for himself but to answer his ruler, like someone working himself to the bone for the state, or cleaning up a mess for the company: exhausting, but beyond reproach.
Line 5, “great difficulty; friends come”: the ruler’s seat is the very centre of the upper Kǎn, the heart of the hexagram’s trouble; but it is central and upright and corresponds with Line 2, so friends come to help. When a leader falls into deep trouble, the most important asset is the trust built up in ordinary times.
Top line, “going brings difficulty, coming back brings greatness; good fortune; it is fitting to see the great person”: the top place is the elder already outside the action, with no road further on. Turning back to support the “great person” at Line 5 achieves something large. Someone who has stepped down need not charge forward again, but can hand his experience to the one in the middle of the trouble.
Turn Jiǎn over and you get Xiè, Release. Jiǎn is water ahead of the mountain, a call to stop; Xiè is thunder above the water, a call to move. Difficulty and release are the two halves of one story: first, in Jiǎn, learn to stop, turn back and find companions; when the time comes, the action of Xiè follows.
Change all six lines of Jiǎn and you get Kuí, Opposition. Behind obstruction there is often estrangement: the lines of Jiǎn keep saying “come back,” turn round, link up, friends arrive, which is exactly the cure for Kuí. When things are stuck, it is worth asking first whether some relationship broke down.
In sequence 序
乖必有難，故受之以蹇；蹇者難也。
The Sequence says: estrangement must bring difficulty, so Kuí is followed by Jiǎn, and Jiǎn means hardship. When people have turned their backs on one another, the road ahead soon closes. Kui and Jian sit side by side in the order, yet every one of their six lines is inverted. Estrangement and obstruction are two faces of one figure.
The judgment 辭
蹇：利西南，不利東北；利見大人，貞吉。
The judgment: the southwest is favorable, the northeast is not; it is favorable to see the great person, and steadfastness brings good fortune. In the later-heaven arrangement, the southwest is Kun, on the yin side of the circle (Xun, Li, Kun, Dui); the northeast is Gen, on the yang side (Zhen, Gen, Kan, Qian). So this is not about compass points. It says: in hardship, be pliant rather than forceful. Nowhere does the Changes say 'favorable to the northeast.' Seek out someone of virtue and standing, and hold to your principles.
Commentary on the judgment 彖
彖曰：蹇，難也，險在前也。見險而能止，知矣哉！蹇利西南，往得中也；不利東北，其道窮也。利見大人，往有功也。當位貞吉，以正邦也。蹇之時用大矣哉！
The Tuan: Jian is hardship, with danger in front; to see danger and be able to stop is wise. Going southwest gains the center, meaning the fifth line; the northeast is a dead end. Seeing the great person brings achievement; the fifth line, rightly placed, sets the state in order. It closes with 'great indeed is the timely use of Jian.' An unwelcome hexagram teaches attention to timing, because no life runs smooth from start to finish.
The great image 象
象曰：山上有水，蹇；君子以反身修德。
'Water on the mountain: Obstruction. The noble person turns back upon himself and cultivates virtue.' When the road is blocked, look first at yourself. Mencius: 'Whenever one's conduct fails to get results, seek the cause in oneself.' He compares this to archery: an archer who misses blames neither the winner nor the target, only himself. The Great Image does what it often does here, turning an outward impasse into a lesson in character.
The six lines 爻
Ruling line The fifth line rules. The Tuan's 'going, it gains the center' and 'rightly placed and steadfast, it sets the state in order' both refer to it, and as ruler it bears the greatest obstruction.
The path of the six lines, bottom to top
Line 1 knows from the start that going forward means danger, and stopping wins it praise. Line 2, the king’s servant, meets danger upon danger and toils not for itself. Line 3, at the top of the lower trigram, finds the way ahead hard and returns to its own place, to the delight of the two yin lines below. Line 4 enters the upper trigram, finds going hard, and turns back to join forces with Line 3, linking their strength. Line 5 is at the very heart of the difficulty, and because it has been upright all along, friends arrive to help; the top line, already outside, has nowhere further to go and turns back to support the great person, achieving something large.
初六往蹇，來譽。
In plain words
Going forward meets obstruction; coming back earns praise.
Close reading
A yin line in a yang place, it is not rightly placed, and it has no correspondence with the fourth, which is also yin. One step up lands it in the inner Kan formed by lines two to four, hence 'going meets obstruction.' The whole hexagram turns on going and coming: going means pressing on, coming means holding back. The Small Image, 'it is fitting to wait,' names the wisdom of the moment.
One level deeper
Line 1, “going brings difficulty, coming back brings praise”: as soon as Line 1 moves up it meets the nuclear Kǎn of lines 2–4, danger ahead, so it is best not to move. If it changes to yang, the lower trigram becomes Lí, light: knowing when to stop and when to withdraw is what earns praise.
If you drew this line
Do not press ahead. Step back and wait for the moment; restraint is what earns respect now.
六二王臣蹇蹇，匪躬之故。
In plain words
The king's minister meets obstruction upon obstruction, and not for his own sake.
Close reading
Central and correct, and in true correspondence with the fifth, the second line could not be better placed. Yet it sits inside the inner Kan, and the fifth it answers sits in the upper Kan: two layers of danger, hence 'obstruction upon obstruction.' 'King' always means the fifth place, so this is the king's servant; 躬 means oneself, and the hardship is borne on the ruler's behalf. The Small Image, 'in the end no fault,' means no one blames him and he holds no grudge.
One level deeper
Line 2, “the king’s servant meets difficulty upon difficulty, not for his own sake”: Line 2 sits in the nuclear Kǎn, and Line 5, which it answers, sits in the upper Kǎn: double danger, hence “difficulty upon difficulty.” The second place is the official, the fifth the king; he suffers not for himself but to answer his ruler, like someone working himself to the bone for the state, or cleaning up a mess for the company: exhausting, but beyond reproach.
If you drew this line
You are carrying a hardship for others or for a common cause. It will be tiring, but the fault is not yours; do your duty and you will be beyond reproach.
Whose Hardship?
After a lecture on the Changes, there was a demonstration casting. A crew-cut young man who looked like a high-school student raised his hand and drew this line. He was asking about his studies. The reader said only two things: your studies are very hard, and you are not studying for yourself. His mother, sitting beside him, began to cry. The family's business had done well and they had sent him to high school in America, where his English could not keep up; he longed to come home but dared not defy his parents. The reader did not decide for them and simply asked them to talk it over at home. A casting can bring the truth to light, but the choice stays with the people concerned.
九三往蹇來反。
In plain words
Going forward meets obstruction, so one turns back.
Close reading
A yang line in a yang place and in correspondence with the top line, the third has every urge to advance. But the outer trigram is Kan: danger outside, a halt within, so it sees the peril and turns back. The Small Image says 'those within rejoice': the two yin lines beneath are its household, and they are glad to have it home. Only a third line can speak of 'within,' since the first has nothing below it.
If you drew this line
When the outward push is blocked, return to your own people. Real support and warmth are waiting there.
Looking After the Feet
A scholar about to spend more than two months lecturing in Beijing cast beforehand and drew this line. The name alone was daunting. But no line of Jian is ominous, and knowing a difficulty in advance lets you prepare for it. Taking a hint from the 'foot' at the base of the character, he went regularly for foot care with friends while in Beijing, and came through months of travel with his legs in good shape. Back in Taiwan, his students and old friends valued their time with him all the more, just as the Small Image says: those within rejoice.
六四往蹇來連。
In plain words
Going forward meets obstruction; coming back, one finds allies.
Close reading
A yin line in a yin place, the fourth is rightly placed, but it sits inside the upper Kan and cannot advance either. It has no correspondence with the first; yet it neighbors the third below and supports the ruling fifth above. Turning back to link with the third gives it solid backing, hence 'rightly placed and substantial.' When no one can move forward, join forces. For a pliant yin line, this comes more easily than it does for the forceful third.
If you drew this line
When you cannot advance alone, join with those in the same position and find solid backing.
九五大蹇朋來。
In plain words
In the greatest obstruction, friends come.
Close reading
Firm, central and correct, the fifth is the ruler of the hexagram, so it bears the 'great' obstruction; only a yang line can be called great. The 'friends' are the corresponding second line and the fourth just beneath it, both of whom rally to help. The Small Image, 'because of central restraint,' plays on Gen, where the second sits, an image of hard, knotted wood: the fifth keeps to the center and keeps its measure. Many troubles come from a lack of self-restraint; measure and moderation draw allies.
One level deeper
Line 5, “great difficulty; friends come”: the ruler’s seat is the very centre of the upper Kǎn, the heart of the hexagram’s trouble; but it is central and upright and corresponds with Line 2, so friends come to help. When a leader falls into deep trouble, the most important asset is the trust built up in ordinary times.
If you drew this line
This is the hardest stretch. Hold to the middle way and keep your restraint, and help will come.
上六往蹇來碩，吉；利見大人。
In plain words
Going forward meets obstruction; coming back brings a rich harvest. Good fortune. It is favorable to see the great person.
Close reading
A yin line in a yin place, rightly placed, it stands at the end of Jian with nowhere further to go. Turning back, it corresponds with the third line, the core of the lower Gen, which is the trigram of fruit; hence 'coming back brings a rich harvest.' 'Its intent is within' means its heart turns toward the lower trigram; 'it follows the noble' means it leans on the fifth line just below, the great person. In shared hardship there is no time to quibble that it sits above a yang line.
One level deeper
Top line, “going brings difficulty, coming back brings greatness; good fortune; it is fitting to see the great person”: the top place is the elder already outside the action, with no road further on. Turning back to support the “great person” at Line 5 achieves something large. Someone who has stepped down need not charge forward again, but can hand his experience to the one in the middle of the trouble.
If you drew this line
Stop charging forward. Turn back to the resources you already have and the guidance of someone wiser; the harvest lies there.
Stories 典
The Lame Donkey's Cry
In the Jiayou reign of the Song, the brothers Su Shi and Su Zhe travelled to the capital for the examinations. On the way they passed through Mianchi, lodged at a monastery and wrote poems on its wall. Some years later Su Shi passed through Mianchi again on his way to a post at Fengxiang, and sent his brother the poem 'Recalling Old Times at Mianchi.' Its first half likens a life's traces to a wild goose's prints on melting snow. Its closing couplet looks back: 'Do you still remember how rough the old road was? The way was long, we were weary, and the lame donkey brayed.' Su's own note says their horse had died on the road and they had to go on by donkey. A long road, exhausted travellers, a limping beast: here is Jian in human form. And yet the two brothers made it through.
The Humane Person Is Like an Archer
The best gloss on 'turning back on oneself to cultivate virtue' comes from Mencius: 'The humane person is like an archer. The archer sets himself right and then shoots; if he misses, he does not resent the one who beat him, but simply looks for the cause in himself.' You straighten your stance before you draw. If the arrow goes wide, you do not resent the winner, nor claim the target was set in the wrong place. Elsewhere he says: 'Whenever conduct fails to get results, seek the cause in yourself; when you yourself are upright, the world will turn to you.' When dealings go badly, most people blame others first. The mountain and the water of Jian cannot be moved; the only thing you can adjust is yourself.
Zengzi's Three Daily Questions
The Confucian habit of self-examination goes back to Zengzi: 'Each day I examine myself on three points. In acting for others, have I been less than loyal? With friends, have I been less than trustworthy? What I pass on, have I practised?' The third question is often read as 'have I reviewed what my teacher taught me,' but that fits poorly. Zengzi was forty-six years younger than Confucius and still in his twenties when the Master died, and the first two questions are an adult's reckoning with work and friendship. Zengzi later taught many students, and 傳 here means passing teaching on, as when Zixia asks in the Analects 'what should be passed on first?' The question, then, is whether he himself lives by what he teaches others.
Insight 悟
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but a life rarely runs that way. Four lines of Jian say 'going meets obstruction,' and every time they turn back something good is waiting: praise, a glad household, allies, a harvest. Jian is one of the four great hexagrams of hardship, yet none of its lines is ominous, because a difficulty you can see is one you can prepare for. If the way is blocked, come back. Stay supple, drop your airs, and look first at yourself. Confucius praised the person who 'approaches affairs with due fear and succeeds by careful planning.' That is the right frame of mind for Jian.