坤 (kūn) · earth (the receptive principle in the Book of Changes)

Meanings

1 earth (the receptive principle in the Book of Changes)
2 female; feminine
3 the Kun trigram (☷)

Characters

坤

kūn

earth; the receptive principle

Examples

HSK 7-9

乾坤是易经的头两卦。

Qiánkūn shì Yìjīng de tóu liǎng guà.

Heaven and earth, qian and kun, are the first two hexagrams of the Book of Changes.

HSK 7-9

他一招扭转乾坤，反败为胜。

Tā yì zhāo niǔzhuǎn-qiánkūn, fǎnbài-wéishèng.

One decisive move turned the whole situation around.

HSK 7-9

这家店卖乾坤两类服装。

Zhè jiā diàn mài qiánkūn liǎng lèi fúzhuāng.

The shop sells both men's and women's clothing.

Tips

culture

Always paired with 乾 (heaven) as 乾坤, the Book of Changes pair for heaven/earth, male/female, the whole cosmos. 扭转乾坤 means 'to turn the whole situation around'.

Components

radical

土 tǔ

earth; soil

The earth radical on the left carries the core meaning: in the Book of Changes 坤 is the principle of Earth itself, the receptive ground beneath Heaven.

phonetic

申 shēn

to state; the 9th Earthly Branch

Supplies the sound on the right: 申 shifted to kūn. It contributes no meaning here, only the phonetic value.