致命遂志，困而不失其所
先看圖像，再讀文字。Read the image before the words.
澤無水，困
(The trigram representing) a marsh, and (below it that representing) water (which has flowed away from it), form Kun.
君子以致命遂志。
The superior man, in accordance with this, will sacrifice his life in order to carry out his purpose.
澤中無水——困之象。君子由此體會：寧可付出生命也要實現志向（致命遂志）。困境中以志守。
(The trigram representing) a marsh, and (below it that representing) water (which has flowed away from it), form Kun. The superior man, in accordance with this, will sacrifice his life in order to carry out his purpose.
先讀經文，再讀《彖傳》如何解釋卦辭。The received text, then the Tuan commentary on it.
困：亨，貞，大人吉，無咎。有言不信。
困卦——亨通，守正，大人物吉，無咎。但此時說話無人相信。困境中言語無用，只能以德行立。
(In the condition denoted by) Kun there may yet be progress and success. For the firm and correct, the (really) great man, there will be good fortune. He will fall into no error. If he make speeches, his words cannot be made good.
困，剛揜也。險以說，困而不失其所，亨；其唯君子乎！貞大人吉，以剛中也。有言不信，尚口乃窮也。
困，是剛爻被柔爻所揜（掩蓋）。內險（坎）外悅（兌），處困而不失其所，故亨——只有君子能如此！「貞大人吉」是因為剛在中位（九二、九五）。「有言不信」是因為崇尚口舌反而走入窮途。
In Kun the strong (lines) are covered and obscured. (We have the attributes of) peril and satisfaction; there is distress, but no failure of success. (And then) what is said is not believed; — to be fond of arguing in such a case only leads to exhaustion.
六條線各有一句判斷。閱讀次序初→上；卦象由下而上，看左側的卦。One statement per line, read from the first line to the top. The figure is drawn bottom-up — watch the rail.
臀困于株木，入于幽谷，三歲不覿。
屁股困於斷木——入幽暗山谷，三年不見人。陰柔處下又無應，陷入孤困。
The first SIX shows its subject with bare buttocks straitened under the stump of a tree. He enters a dark valley, and for three years has no prospect (of deliverance).
入于幽谷，幽不明也。
入幽谷，是幽暗不明。
困于酒食，朱紱方來，利用享祀，征凶，無咎。
困於酒食（過豐反成困）——朱紱（君賜的禮服）方來，利於享祀（祭祀），前進凶，無咎。剛中得位，先困後通。
The second NINE shows its subject straitened amidst his wine and viands. There come to him anon the red knee-covers (of the ruler). It will be well for him (to maintain his sincerity as) in sacrificing.
困于酒食，中有慶也。
困于酒食，中位有福慶。
困于石，據于蒺藜，入于其宮，不見其妻，凶。
困於頑石，據於蒺藜（刺），入家門卻不見妻——凶。陰柔不正，處險之上、應上之窮，凶禍至極。
The third SIX shows its subject straitened by a (frowning) rock. He lays hold of thorns. He enters his palace, and does not see his wife. There will be evil.
據于蒺藜，乘剛也。入于其宮，不見其妻，不祥也。
據蒺藜是乘剛之凶。入宮不見妻，是不祥之兆。
來徐徐，困于金車，吝，有終。
緩慢前來——困於金車（顯赫之車反成困），可惜，但最終有結果。
The fourth NINE shows its subject proceeding very slowly (to help the subject of the first line), who is straitened by the carriage adorned with metal in front of him. There will be occasion for regret, but the end will be good.
來徐徐，志在下也。雖不當位，有與也。
緩來，志在下方（援初六）。雖位不當，但有相應。
劓刖，困于赤紱，乃徐有說，利用祭祀。
削鼻砍足之刑——困於赤紱（高位之服）。慢慢有解脫，利於祭祀。剛健尊位但被群陰所困。
The fifth NINE shows its subject with his nose and feet cut off. He is straitened by (his ministers in their) scarlet aprons. He is leisurely in his movements, however, and is satisfied. It will be well for him to be (as sincere as) in sacrificing (to spirits).
劓刖，志未得也。乃徐有說，以中直也。利用祭祀，受福也。
受刑，是志向未達。徐有說，是因中正剛直。利祭祀，受福。
困于葛藟，于臲卼，曰動悔，有悔，征吉。
困於葛藟（藤蔓纏繞），動搖不安——說「動就有悔」，但有悔而後行則吉。困之極處須變動。
The topmost SIX shows its subject straitened, as if bound with creepers; or in a high and dangerous position, and saying (to himself), 'If I move, I shall repent it.' If he do repent of former errors, there will be good fortune in his going forward.
困于葛藟，未當也。動悔有悔，吉行也。
困於葛藟，是位置未當。動而悔之而後行則吉。
把象套到你的情境，取一個可行的下一步。Apply the image to your situation; take one practical step.
困·守·致命遂志
Oppression · holding firm · sacrificing for purpose
困卦最大的應用：「致命遂志」+「有言不信」。困境中靠德守、不靠言辯。最忌六三「困于石」（多重受困）。最特殊的是九二「困于酒食」——表面豐裕的困比明顯的困更難覺察。
Kun's deepest applications: 'sacrifice life for purpose' + 'words not believed'. In oppression, hold by virtue, not by argument. Worst: line 3's stone-and-thorns. Most subtle: line 2's 'trapped in wine and food' — the gilded-cage trap is harder to see than the obvious one.
九二「困于酒食」是現代成功者最常忽略的困——你以為自己「都好了」，但精神已被物質枷鎖困住。讀此爻自警：豐裕也是一種困。
Line 2's 'trapped in wine and food' — the modern successful person's most-overlooked oppression. You think you're 'fine' but your spirit is shackled by material comfort. Abundance can imprison.
王弼以為困卦的核心在「君子處困不失其所」——身在困境而志不改，方為真君子。卦辭「有言不信」最深——困中辯解只會更窮，須以德立。
Wang Bi takes the core of Kun to be 'the superior man in straits does not lose his place' — to be in hardship with one's purpose unchanged is what makes a true junzi. The deepest words in the Judgment are 'his words are not believed' — arguing your case while oppressed only deepens the exhaustion; one must stand by virtue instead.
程子強調大象「致命遂志」——君子處困寧死不改其志。彼以九二、九五兩剛爻為全卦之主：剛中能於困境中得吉，因為內德不改。
Cheng Yi stresses the Great Image's 'yield up life to fulfill the purpose' (zhi ming sui zhi 致命遂志) — the superior man in straits would sooner die than alter his aim. He takes the two strong lines, 2 and 5, as the masters of the hexagram: firmness in the central places wins good fortune even in oppression, because the inner virtue does not change.
朱子直言：困者，窮也。卦辭「亨貞大人吉」三項：通在德、正在守、吉在大人之德。學者觀此知：真正的困境是德性的試金石。
Zhu Xi puts it plainly: Kun means exhaustion. The Judgment gives three terms — success, correctness, good fortune for the great man: the success lies in virtue, the correctness in holding fast, the good fortune in the great man's character. The student learns from this: real hardship is the touchstone of virtue.
困是澤無水，該養人的水漏光了。卦辭裡最扎人的是「有言不信」四字：人到困境，說什麼都沒人聽，辯解越多越顯得窮，這時候能做的只有守住自己，等時機。大象「致命遂志」把底線劃出來：命可以交出去，志不能改，處困的君子靠這個立住。 卦中兩爻對著看。九二「困于酒食」，酒食豐足，人卻困在裡頭，這種看著不像困的困，恰是磨德性的地方；六三「困于石，據于蒺藜」最凶，前有石頭擋路，偏又抓一把刺當依靠，退無可退還自傷，處困的壞走法讓它占全了。
Kun is the lake with no water — what was meant to sustain has drained away. The words that sting most in the Judgment are 'his words are not believed': once you are in real trouble, nothing you say gets a hearing, and the more you explain, the poorer you look. All you can do then is hold yourself and wait for the hour. The Great Image draws the bottom line: 'yield up life to fulfill the purpose.' Your life can be surrendered; your aim cannot be altered — that is what the junzi in straits stands on. Read two lines against each other. Line 2, 'straitened amid wine and food': the table is full and yet the man is trapped in it — the kind of trouble that doesn't look like trouble, and exactly the place where character gets ground down or tempered. Line 3, 'straitened by rock, grasping thorns,' is the worst: a boulder blocks the way ahead, and he steadies himself on a fistful of spines — no way back, and wounding himself besides. Every wrong way of being in trouble is collected in that one line.
Straitened, hemmed in, exhausted — the lake with its water drained away. Not defeat: confinement.
To cover, obscure (archaic form of 掩) — the strong lines covered by the weak: the hexagram's defining structure.
To see, meet face to face. 'Three years without a meeting' — prolonged isolation.
The knee-cover of ceremonial dress — red or scarlet, an emblem of rank. Here, honors that themselves confine.
Thorny caltrop plant — the worst possible handhold: what you lean on wounds you.
The ancient punishments of cutting off the nose and the feet — mutilation as figure for a ruler stripped of efficacy.
Trailing creeper vines — entanglement that tightens the more you struggle carelessly.
Wobbling, unsteady, ill at ease — perched where nothing is secure.
第 47 困（外無水）與第 48 井（內有水）為綜卦。卦序的安排有深意：困之時須求井——在外無資源時返求內在之源。後世道家「絕學無憂」「致虛守靜」之說皆與此相應。
Hexagram 47 Kun (no water outside) and Hexagram 48 Jing (water within) are inverses. The sequence is deliberate: in a time of Kun, seek the well — when outer resources fail, return to the inner source. Later Daoist teachings such as 'abandon learning, be free of care' and 'reach emptiness, hold stillness' answer to this arrangement.
大象「君子以致命遂志」四字是中國「節氣士」精神的源頭——在困境中寧死也不改志。後世孔子困於陳蔡、文天祥被囚都是此卦之大象的具體實踐。
The Great Image's 'the superior man yields up life to fulfill his purpose' is the source of the Chinese ideal of the scholar of unbending integrity — sooner die in hardship than alter one's aim. Confucius besieged between Chen and Cai, and Wen Tianxiang in captivity, are this Great Image put into practice.
卦辭「有言不信」三字是困卦的特殊智慧——困境中你說的話沒有人會相信，越說越窮。此時最該做的是閉口、守德、等待。彖傳「尚口乃窮」是同一意。
The Judgment's 'his words are not believed' is Kun's particular wisdom — in oppression, nothing you say will be believed, and the more you talk, the poorer you stand. What the moment calls for is to close the mouth, hold to virtue, and wait. The Tuan Zhuan's 'relying on the tongue leads to exhaustion' says the same.
困卦中有兩個剛中之爻（九二、九五），這在六十四卦中比較少見。兩者皆於困中得吉——說明困之卦的關鍵是「中位之剛」，是內在堅實。
Kun has two strong lines in the central places (2 and 5) — relatively rare among the 64 hexagrams. Both find good fortune within oppression, which shows that the key to Kun is 'firmness at the center': inner solidity.
「致命遂志」之意？為何困中此語為大象之主？
What does 致命遂志 (zhi ming sui zhi) mean? Why is it the master line of the Da Xiang (Great Image)?
為何「有言不信」？困中應如何處世？
Why are words not believed in oppression? How should one act?
用九二「困于酒食」評論一個你看見過「豐裕中的困」的場景。
Use line 2 to comment on a 'trapped-in-abundance' scenario you've witnessed.