29 - The Abysmal

Contemporary Interpretation

29 - The Abysmal

A glassy sea over shoals

Our roots:
Fathomless.
Sometimes
The abyss
Touches us:
Vehement disturbance,
Deep astonishment.
And we?
Just watch.
And disengage
Until calm restores:
A glassy sea
Over shoals.

Follow the Path of the Dao: A Western Approximation

The Hexagram's Inner Trigrams

yin yang yin yin yang yin

Upper Trigram: Kan, Water

2nd Core Character: Gen, Mountain

1st Core Character: Zhen, Thunder

Lower Trigram: Kan, Water

The Hexagram's Inner Trigrams in the Context of Yin and Yang

The hexagram's inner trigrams within the fields of Yin and Yang

Changes and Impulses

Additional Resources

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The abysmal (29) points downwards.

The image

Water flows continuously and reaches its destination: the image of the repeated abysmal. Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue and practices teaching.

The judgement

The repeated abysmal. If you are truthful you will have success in your heart, and whatever you do will succeed. Full text of Richard Wilhelm's 1924 translation by Cary F. Baynes