Hexagram 39 · Lower canon
Jian · Obstruction
A hard road: turn back, look, then borrow strength.
The figure
- Number
- 39 (Lower canon)
- Upper trigram
- Water (Kan)
- Lower trigram
- Mountain (Gen)
- Keywords
- obstacle · reflection · asking help
- Reversed hexagram
- Kui · Opposition
- Inverted hexagram
- Xie · Deliverance
The meaning
What the name means Jian is a lame foot: walking is hard.
The picture Water on a mountain: a mountain ahead blocks the road, and the water piles up on it and cannot flow down.
The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about a road that is blocked. In difficulty there is no need to force your way. Stop first, look at yourself, ask for help, and find a way round.
In plain words: what this hexagram says
The road is blocked, like a bad leg. Do not push; turn back and reflect, and borrow a little strength from those around you.
The upper trigram is Water and the lower is Mountain: Water above, Mountain below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.
The judgement
利西南，不利東北；利見大人，貞吉。
The image
山上有水，蹇；君子以反身修德。
The six lines
From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.
- 初六往蹇，來譽。
- 六二王臣蹇蹇，匪躬之故。
- 九三往蹇，來反。
- 六四往蹇，來連。
- 九五大蹇，朋來。
- 上六往蹇，來碩，吉；利見大人。
To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".