47 story

The image of hexagram 47
Kún, Enclosed Tree

Hexagram 47 has trigram Kăn, Water, below or inside, Duì, Marsh, above or outside. Water has no form of itself, it adapts to its container. Lake is the social environment. Adapting to that is difficult.

What does it mean, 'inner' and 'outer trigram' (popup)

When trigram Kăn is below (popup)

When trigram Duì is above (popup)

Kăn below Duì: for Kăn it is difficult to adapt to social rules, it is not where it belongs. Kăn is an individual, doesn't even know where the road will lead, simply goes where something opens up. Duì means 'open', but towards the outside and in a contained environment, not the free undefined space of Kăn. When Kăn's formlessness gets contained within borders, it will feel frustrated and claustrophobic.

The old diviners gave this combination of trigrams a name: Kún. It means: difficult, obstruction, seclusion, siege, material poverty, exhausted, embarrassed, tired, sleepy, dying.

Ideogram of the hexagram name: a tie 囗 around a plant 木 to make it grow in a certain way, a tree within an enclosure. Besiege, to surround or be surrounded, difficult. Originally maybe a "梱", a threshold.

The Image says: A marsh without water: confined. A noble one incurs fate on fulfilling his aspiration.

Hex.47 is the contrast of 22, which is about the beauty of nature's abundance. An image of a well-watered plant versus 47 a dried-out one.
Hex.47 is lacking what one needs, being enclosed, shut off, difficulties.

  Story (all stories have been written long ago, I see some of them differently now).
  Remember your garden! Life can be big and interesting or full of duties, but happiness dwells in a small and limited place, a secret garden. There the tree of life is growing. Never stay out of there too long.
  The tree of life grows only in the magic circle, the symbol of one-ness, and that is your garden. It is the only place where it can grow. The power of life comes from that tree.
  Prisons exist too, but they are not inside, they are outside the garden. You can be a prisoner of opinions, fears, guilt or duties. As soon as you enter the gate of your garden, you are no prisoner anymore, all is locked out.

The image of hexagram 47 Kún, Enclosed Tree

The image of hexagram 47
Kún, Enclosed Tree