Kan Hexagram Full Guide: Remember These 3 Words When You Hit Rock Bottom in Life

The Kan Hexagram (The Abysmal), also called *Xi Kan* (Repeated Abyss), is formed by Kan above and Kan below.

With two Kan trigrams stacked on top of each other, it means danger piled upon danger.

At the mention of the Kan Hexagram, many people think it’s inauspicious — Kan means a pit, danger, hardship. Who would want to fall into a pit?

But think carefully: in this life, who hasn’t fallen into a pit before?

- A stable job, gone out of nowhere

- A good relationship, broken up out of nowhere

- A healthy body, broken down out of nowhere

- A peaceful life, turned hard out of nowhere

Falling into a pit isn’t scary. What’s scary is being unable to climb out after you fall in.

The Kan Hexagram teaches you: when you’ve fallen into a pit, how to survive and how to get out.

1. The Core of the Kan Hexagram: Water Flows Without Filling the Pit

The Hexagram Judgment of Kan says: *"Xi Kan, you fu, wei xin heng, xing you shang."*

*"Xi Kan"* means layer upon layer of danger.

*"You fu"* means having sincerity and faith.

*"Wei xin heng"* means your mind must be open, not blocked.

*"Xing you shang"* means your actions must have direction and order.

There is another line in the *Tuan Commentary*: *"Water flows without filling the pit; it walks through danger without losing its trustworthiness."*

Water flows and flows in a pit, but it never fills the pit up. Why? Because water keeps moving — it never stays stuck in the pit.

Every path water takes is a dangerous one — it flows down from high places, through gorges, past hidden reefs, into deep pits. But has water ever been afraid? No. It just keeps flowing: it goes around stones, fills up hollows, and leaps off cliffs.

It travels only dangerous paths, yet never breaks its word — it flows exactly where it is meant to go.

This is the wisdom of the Kan Hexagram.

If you’ve fallen into a pit, don’t worry.

What matters is whether you’re still moving forward.

2. Three Common Mistakes People Make When Hit Rock Bottom

The Kan Hexagram is a hexagram of danger. But more often than not, it’s not the pit itself that traps you — it’s the mistakes you make.

Mistake 1: Panicking

The moment you fall into a pit, your first reaction is panic.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

It’s over. It’s over. It’s over.

Am I ever going to get out?

When people panic, they get disorganized. When they’re disorganized, they’re prone to making bad decisions.

The pit might not even be deep — you could climb out with a little effort. But in your panic, you scramble around grabbing at everything, and all the handholds you grab are loose. The more you climb, the more you slide down.

The Kan Hexagram tells you: the more dangerous the situation, the calmer your mind must be.

Only when your mind is calm can your brain think clearly. Only when your brain thinks clearly can you figure out how to get out.

Mistake 2: Being Desperate to Get Out Immediately

Many people, the second they fall into a pit, want to get out right away.

They wish they could be back on solid ground in a second.

They wish they could turn their luck around instantly.

But the reality is: the deeper the pit, the longer you have to climb.

You can’t go faster just because you want to.

The more desperate you are to get out, the more likely you are to chase quick wins; the more you chase quick wins, the more likely you are to take the wrong path; and once you take the wrong path, you might fall even deeper.

That’s why the Kan Hexagram says *"wei xin heng"* — first your mind must be open, then the path can open up.

If your mind is blocked, all your thrashing about is just wasted effort.

Mistake 3: Blaming Everyone and Everything Else

"It’s all his fault. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this mess."

"It’s all bad luck. Why did it have to be me?"

"It’s all this society, this environment, this era."

And after you’re done blaming? The pit is still the same pit, and you’re still in it.

Blaming heaven and man does nothing except make you feel more miserable and more powerless.

People who live by the Kan Hexagram don’t blame heaven, don’t blame earth, and don’t blame the pit.

You fell in — so you fell in.

Accept it, then figure out a way out.

3. Three Words to Climb Out of a Low Point

So how exactly do you climb out of a low point? The Kan Hexagram gives you three words.

First Word: Faith

*"You fu"* — having faith and confidence.

What kind of faith?

It’s not believing "I will definitely succeed" — that’s just empty motivational talk.

It’s believing "there must be a way through this", believing "I will definitely get out", believing "heaven never seals off all exits".

This faith is the only light you have when you’re in the pit.

Look at people who’ve climbed out of low points — it’s not because they’re that much stronger than you. It’s because they had just a little more faith than you.

When everyone else thinks it’s impossible, they still think it’s possible.

When everyone else has given up, they still keep going.

It’s that tiny bit of faith that carries them all the way to the exit.

Second Word: Mind

*"Wei xin heng"* — your mind must be open and unblocked.

What is the mind? It’s your mindset, your perception, your perspective.

Many people are trapped in a pit not because the pit is too deep, but because their mind is blocked.

- Obsessing over one narrow idea, stubbornly sticking to a dead end

- Overthinking everything, scaring yourself with your own thoughts

- Unable to let go of the past, stuck and unable to move forward

If your mind is completely blocked, you won’t see a path even if it’s right there.

If your mind is open, you can find the way out even when you’re in the pit.

How do you open your mind?

- Accept reality: I fell into a pit. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.

- Stop internal friction: stop asking "why me" and start asking "what do I do now"

- Think positively: no matter how deep the pit, there’s an exit. If you can’t find it, it’s just because you haven’t looked in the right place yet

Third Word: Action

*"Xing you shang"* — take action, and take the right kind of action.

Faith and mindset alone aren’t enough. You have to move.

But you can’t move aimlessly either.

*"Xing you shang"* means your actions must have direction, order, and rhythm.

How do you take action when you’re in a pit?

Step 1: Don’t rush to climb up first. Look around you first.

How deep is the pit? How slippery are the walls? Are there any footholds? Is anyone else in the pit?

Get a clear picture of the situation first, then decide how to climb.

Step 2: Take it one step at a time. Don’t expect to reach the top in one leap.

Find a spot you can step on, and step on it first.

Then find the next one, and step on that.

One step at a time, you’ll always climb out eventually.

Step 3: If you can’t climb anymore, rest for a bit. Don’t push yourself too hard.

Falling into a pit is already hard enough. Don’t be hard on yourself on top of that.

If you’re tired, rest. If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re hurt, heal.

When you’ve rested enough, keep going.

4. What the Kan Hexagram Teaches Modern People

For our generation, honestly, everyone is in some kind of "pit".

- High work pressure feels like being in a pit

- Sky-high housing and living costs feel like being in a pit

- Unhappy relationships feel like being in a pit

- An unclear future feels like being in a pit

Some pits are shallow, some are deep.

Some pits you can climb out of, some you might be stuck in for a long time.

But no matter what kind of pit it is, the Kan Hexagram tells you:

First, don’t panic. Falling into a pit isn’t the end of the world — panicking is.

Second, don’t rush. The deeper the pit, the longer it takes to climb out.

Third, don’t stop. As long as you keep moving forward, the day you get out will come.

The image of the Kan Hexagram is water.

What’s the trait of water?

It doesn’t fight the pit — you can be as deep as you want, I’ll just flow slowly.

It doesn’t butt heads with stones — you can be as hard as you want, I’ll just go around you.

And it never stays in one place — even if it’s in a pit, it’s only temporary. Sooner or later, it will flow out.

The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things and does not compete with them; it dwells in places that all people disdain, and thus it is close to the Way.

This saying from Laozi is actually the highest state of the Kan Hexagram.

Where everyone else hates to be, water can stay.

Paths everyone else thinks are impassable, water can pass through.

Because water doesn’t fight, doesn’t rush, and never stops moving.

Final Thought

If you’re at a low point in life right now, and you feel like every day is a struggle.

Remember these three words from the Kan Hexagram:

Faith — believe you can get out.

Mind — keep an open mind, don’t fight with yourself.

Action — take one step at a time, keep moving forward.

Just like water.

Even when it flows into a pit, it’s not afraid.

It fills the pit up, then —

keeps flowing.