47 · 泽水困

困卦原文

困。亨，贞，大人吉，无咎。有言不信。

象曰：泽无水，困。君子以致命遂志。

白话文解释

困卦：通泰。卜问王公贵族之事吉利，没有灾难。筮遇此爻，有罪之人无法申辩清楚。

《象辞》说：本卦上卦为兑，兑为泽；下卦为坎，坎为水，水渗泽底，泽中干涸，是困卦的卦象。君子观此卦象，以处境艰难自励，穷且益坚，舍身捐命，以行其夙志。

《断易天机》解

困卦兑上坎下，为兑宫初世卦。此卦君子受困于小人，阳为阴蔽，大人则吉而无咎。所闻之言没有诚信。

北宋易学家邵雍解

泽上无水，受困穷之；万物不生，修德静守。

得此卦者，陷入困境，事事不如意，宜坚守正道，等待时机。

台湾国学大儒傅佩荣解

时运：身名皆困，不如安命。

财运：财乏势危，不如归去。

家宅：安全第一；女寡之象。

身体：肾水已亏，险在眼前。

传统解卦

这个卦是异卦（下坎上兑）相叠。兑为阴为泽喻悦；坎为阳为水喻险。泽水困，陷入困境，才智难以施展，仍坚守正道，自得其乐，必可成事，摆脱困境。

大象：水在泽下，万物不生，喻君子困穷，小人滥盈之象。

运势：诸事不如意，所谓龙游浅水遭虾戏。

事业：境况十分不佳，遭受到很大的困难。人生面临巨大的考验，如采取不正当的手段，会愈陷愈深。相反，如身陷困逆境地而不失节操，自勉自坚，泰然处之，不失其志，终能成事。

经商：面临激烈竞争，很有破产的可能。切勿失望，而应在困境中奋斗。为此，只能靠平日加强修养。认真反省自己的行为，总结教训，重新奋起，但也不宜浮躁，应缓慢而进。同时，更要警惕因致富发财，得意忘形而陷入新的困境。

求名：欲速则不达。应以谦虚的态度，缓慢前进，应有坚定的志向，唯有志才能促成事业的成功。

婚恋：以乐观态度冷静处理，尤应注重人品。

决策：聪明智慧，但怀才不遇。若不因困境而失去信心，坚持努力上进，放弃侥幸心理，锲而不舍，虽不一定能守全实现自己的理想，但终会有所成。

第四十七卦的哲学含义

困卦卦象，泽水困卦的象征意义

困卦，这个卦是异卦相叠，下卦为坎，上卦为兑。坎为水在下，兑为泽在上。泽水落入坎水，泽水减少；坎水流入东海，坎水减少，水势越来越少就会遭受穷困。从另一个角度来分析，两水合一，水势增大而成灾，灾难就会给天下人带来穷困。

从卦象上看，坎为险在下，兑为悦在上。这又意味着先遇危险而后受困，后因困难克服而喜悦。这意味着陷入困境，才智难以施展，仍坚守正道，自得其乐，必可成事，摆脱困境。

困卦位于升卦之后，《序卦》之中这样解释道：“升而不已必困，故受之以困。”一直升进，最后总会遇到困境。在困境之中，正好可以考验人格，并且会出现转向通达的契机。

《象》中这样解释困卦：泽无水，困；君子以致命遂志。这里指出：困卦的卦象是坎（水）下兑（泽）上，为泽中无水之表象，象征困顿；作为君子应该身处穷困而不气馁，为实现自己的志向，不惜牺牲生命。

困卦象征着困顿，告诫人们困境求通的道理，属于中上卦。《象》曰：时运不来好伤怀，撮上押去把梯抬，一筒虫翼无到手，转了上去下不来。

2 47 泽水困(䷮)-高岛易断

2.1 困：亨，贞。大人吉，无咎。有言不信。

2.2 《彖传》，曰：困，刚揜也。险以说，困而不失其所亨，其惟君子乎？贞大人吉，以刚中也。有言不信，尚口乃穷也。

2.3 《大象》曰：泽无水，困。君子以致命遂志。

2.4 初六：臀困于株木，人于幽谷，三岁不觌。

2.5 九二：困于酒食。朱绂方来，利用亨祀。征凶，无咎。

2.6 六三：困于石，据于蒺藜。入于其宫，不见其妻，凶。

2.7 九四；来徐徐，困于金车，吝，有终。

2.8 九五：劓劓。困于赤绂，乃徐有说。利用祭祀。

2.9 上六：困于葛藟，于臲卼，曰动悔。有悔，征吉。

泽水困

困：亨。贞大人吉，无咎。有言不信。

《彖》曰：困，刚揜也。险以说，因而不失其所，亨，其唯君子乎。贞大人吉，以刚中也。有言不信，尚口乃穷也。

《象》曰：泽无 水，困。君子以致命遂志。

Judgment

Legge: Oppression means that successful progress is still possible. The perseverance of the truly great man brings good fortune without error; but if he relies on words, no one will believe them.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Oppression. Success. Perseverance. The great man brings about good fortune. No blame. When one has something to say, it is not believed.

Blofeld: Adversity leading to success thanks to persistence in a righteous course; good fortune for the truly great and freedom from error! Though words be spoken, they will not inspire confidence. [`Great' refers to high moral qualities. This hexagram is of evil omen for most people, but success can be won through tremendous persistence in doing what is right.]

Liu: Oppression. Success. Persistence. Good fortune for the great man. No blame. If one indicates with words only, no one will believe.

Ritsema/Karcher: Confining, Growing. Trial: Great People significant. Without fault. Possessing words not trustworthy. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of restriction and distress. It emphasizes that turning inward through accepting enclosure is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: Entangled: Receipt; determination for the great man is auspicious; there is no trouble. There are words that are not trustworthy.

Cleary (1): Exhaustion develops the righteous. Great people are fortunate and blameless. If one complains, one will not be trusted.

Cleary (2): Exhausted but coming through successfully, upright great people are fortunate and impeccable. Mere words are not believed.

Wu: Hardship indicates pervasion and perseverance. There will be good fortune for the great men. No error. But their words do not make impressions on people.

The Image

Legge: An abyss beneath the marsh that drains its water -- the image of Oppression. Thus the superior man will sacrifice his life to attain his purpose.

Wilhelm/Baynes: There is no water in the lake: the image of Exhaustion. Thus the superior man stakes his life on following his will.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a marsh in which no water (appears). The Superior Man risks his life to carry out his will.

Liu: The lake with no water symbolizes Oppression. The superior man would give up his life to achieve his purpose.

Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh without stream. Confining. A chun tzu uses involving fate to release purpose.

Cleary (1): A lake with no water is exhausted. Therefore superior people use life to the full and achieve their aim. [When people lack purpose their path is at an end. Therefore they use life to the full to achieve their aim… Using life to the full means to get to the end of conditioned life; achieving one’s aim means to achieve the primordial life… Using the temporal to restore the primordial, ending false life and establishing real life, producing being in the midst of nothingness, seeking life within death, getting through an exhausting impasse, is like a lake without water again being filled with water.]

Cleary (2): …Developed people accomplish their will by living out their destiny. [Developed people only live out their destiny; they do not willingly try to avoid following and accepting it. Being strong and balanced, they are able to be joyful even in danger; this is the will that is up to oneself. Developed people intend to accomplish their will and do not vacillate just because they run into problems.]

Wu: The marsh has no water; this is Hardship. Thus the jun zi is prepared to dedicate his life to fulfill his commitments. [A marsh devoid of water is like a man deprived of his intellectual pursuits. This is unacceptable to a jun zi. He would rather fight to the end than surrender to idiocy.]

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: In Oppression we see the dynamic lines covered and obscured by the magnetic. We see the attribute of Perilousness in the lower trigram going on to Cheerfulness in the upper. Who but the superior man is still able to advance although straitened by circumstances? The central position of the dynamic lines explains the good fortune of the great man who is firm and correct. As regards speech making, to be fond of argument or persuasion is the way to be reduced to extremity.

Legge: The written Chinese character of Oppression presents us with the picture of a tree within an enclosure. "A plant," according to Williams, "fading for want of room." "A

tree," according to T'ai Tung, "not allowed to spread its branches." The image conveys the idea of being straitened and distressed, and the hexagram indicates how skilful management may relieve it. The two central places in the figure are occupied by dynamic lines, but line two is confined between one and three, which are magnetic; and line five (the ruler), as well as four (his minister), are covered by the magnetic sixth line. These conditions indicate the repression of good men by adversity. The K'ang-hsi editors imply that "actions and not words" are what are required in the case. Perilousness is the attribute of the lower trigram, and Cheerfulness that of the upper. The superior man, no matter how straitened, remains master of himself, and pursues his principled intent. The idea of speech making is found in the upper trigram, one of the attributes of which is the mouth, or speech, as well as Pleased Satisfaction. The pleading of the oppressed party still tries to make others pleased with him. Literally translated, the first sentence of the Image reads: "A marsh with no water is Oppression." Chu Hsi says: "The water descending and leaking away, the marsh above will become dry."

Anthony: Our belief in the ruling power as beneficial is shaken by doubt. This lack of steadfastness is a problem because it obstructs acceptance and its corrective power. We often receive this hexagram when we feel tired. The oppressiveness of doubt exhausts our inner resources.

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: With enough will, success can be won. "Actions speak louder than words.”

(i.e., The answer lies beyond the realm of reason and logic -- intuition furthers.) The Superior Man stakes everything he's got on his will to succeed. In Oppression we have the image of a dry lake bed. Anyone who has ever seen

alkali flats in the desert can easily understand this metaphor for Oppression -- almost nothing can live in such an environment. The following hexagram, The Well, is an upside-down image of Oppression depicting the opposite case of an unending source of nourishment flowing from deep beneath the surface of the earth. (A comparison of these two figures will reveal a great deal about the meaning of each.)

To be under Oppression then, is to be cut off from all sustenance -- although there is water down below, it is presently inaccessible, and there is no nourishing flow of inner forces to the surface. This is a common, inevitable and potentially defeating experience for anyone doing serious inner work: People who try to practice the Tao can all keep steadfast when they are in easy circumstances, but many of them waver in determination when they are in difficult or perilous situations. They may change their minds because of the

pressures of making a living, or they may slack in determination due to illness; their spirits may flag because of old age, or they may stop work because of obstruction by some obsession. All these are cases in which people do not exert the mind of Tao and are hindered by exhaustion, so they ultimately do not attain the Tao.

T. Cleary – The Taoist I Ching Obviously, this is a dangerous situation, and we are told how to cope with it in the Confucian commentary, where it is observed that the lower trigram of Peril goes on to the upper trigram of Cheerfulness. These two trigrams are found in reversed sequence in hexagram number sixty, Restrictive Regulations, where a cheerful attitude is described as absolutely essential for the furtherance of the Work. The observations made there also apply here, and we see the superior man thereby enabled to advance under conditions that would utterly defeat lesser individuals. This Cheerfulness cannot be underestimated. When it comes naturally and isn't forced, it is a gift of grace. Suddenly one is enabled to face the most incredible hardships

with a light heart. It isn't that you no longer care -- you still do the best you can to further the Work, but you do it with bemused detachment. The one thing the Jewish mystics never lost sight of was the suffering experienced in the arena of the profane. They did not retreat from this suffering, but sought instead to find meaning in it by living it. This is the core of mysticism. The temple in which the sacred marriage takes place is the world.

C. Ponce -- Kabbalah Lines 2 and 5 specifically mention sacrifice: an important concept in the I Ching. Sacrifice is mentioned in lines 17:6, 45:2, 46:2, 46:4, 47:2, 47:5, 63:5, and in the Judgment of hexagram 20. Note that in each case sincerity is specifically cited as essential to success.

Sincere 1: marked by genuineness: as a: free of dissimulation: not hypocritical:

REAL, TRUE, HONEST...

Very often, the “sincerity” of our sacrifices involves following the dictates of the Work whether we fully understand them or not. Much that takes place in the Work is incomprehensible to ego consciousness; for example, changes often occur within the psyche which we only experience as strange dreams. Yet somehow, perhaps months later, we suddenly realize that we no longer act in a certain way or have lost interest in something that used to be of compelling importance. Our sacrifices are necessary for these changes to take place, even if they don't immediately make sense to us. "With sacrifice shall you nourish the gods; and may the gods nourish you. Thus nourishing one another, you will obtain the Highest Good. "The gods, nourished by sacrifice, will bestow on you the enjoyments you desire." He is verily a thief who enjoys the things that they give without offering to them anything in return.

The Bhagavad-Gita

Each of Cleary’s Taoist (1) and Buddhist (2) commentaries provides valuable insights into how much courage is required to follow the dictates of the Work at its more advanced levels. Take comfort that others before you have persevered and survived: “Developed people accomplish their will by living out their destiny.”