The I Ching, Legge tr.

The Yî King Text: Section I: II. The Khwăn Hexagram

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This is a classical Chinese divinatory and philosophical text — an excerpt from the I Ching (Book of Changes) — presenting hexagram 2, Khwăn (Earth), along with its traditional commentary. The hexagram, composed entirely of divided (yin) lines, represents docility, subordination, and the receptive principle, explicitly contrasted with the first hexagram Khien (Heaven/Creative). The central argument is that the virtuous person embodied by this hexagram must not take initiative but instead follow their lord, gathering like-minded companions in service rather than seeking personal glory. Each of the six individual lines is interpreted symbolically — ranging from early caution (treading on frost as a warning of harder ice ahead) to restraint, humility, and ultimately the danger of overreaching (dragons fighting in the wild when the yin principle wrongly contests the yang). A notably distinctive claim is that the mare's "firmness" attributed to Khwăn is about service and docility rather than gender, and that the ideal posture is quiet strength expressed through yielding. The commentary draws on historical sources (the Žo Kwan chronicle, c. 530 B.C.) and cosmological symbolism (colors, compass directions, the earth as a cube) to reinforce a consistent ethic: subordinate actors thrive through correctness, restraint, and loyalty rather than assertion.

The Yî King Text: Section I: II. The Khwăn Hexagram

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