Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
The Receptive
Hexagram 2 of the Yi Jing · 坤 Kūn
The figure
Earth doubled: six broken lines, yin at its fullest. The strength that receives, carries and brings to term — not the impulse, but the capacity to give form and to last.
What this figure illuminates
The Receptive lights up the moments when to act is first to receive and support. The power is not in the impulse but in availability: to follow, to carry, to let what must ripen ripen.
For a decision, the figure shifts the question: not “how do I force it?” but “what can I truly make myself available to, and what would I gain by letting it come rather than provoking it?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
The Receptive: great and originating, penetrating, furthering through the firm devotion of a mare. To lead is to lose the way; to follow is to find the master. Good fortune lies in constancy.
The Image
The earth, in its breadth, carries all things. Seeing this, the noble person supports the world with the generosity of their virtue.
The Six Lines
- First line
You tread on hoarfrost; the hard ice is not far behind. Heed the first sign.
- Second line
Straight, foursquare, and great, needing no contrivance: whatever you undertake will further.
- Third line
Keep your brilliance veiled, yet hold it firm. If you serve, claim no credit — and still you bring things to a good end.
- Fourth line
A sack tied shut. No blame and no praise — prudence keeps you safe.
- Fifth line
A yellow under-robe: modest, and central. Great good fortune.
- Sixth line
Dragons battle in the open, their blood dark and yellow — the yielding strained to the point of conflict.
Daoa's wording, written after the classical reference translations, now in the public domain: James Legge (1882) and Charles de Harlez (1889).
A question to keep
What is asking to be received rather than forced?
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