同人 → 觀
Hexagram 13: Fellowship → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4).
Line 1
初九 同人于門。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Fellowship with men at the gate. No blame.
Line 3
九三 伏戎于莽。升其高陵。三歲不興。
Nine in the third place means: He hides weapons in the thicket; He climbs the high hill in front of it. For three years he does not rise up.
Line 4
九四 乘其墉。弗克攻。吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He climbs up on his wall; he cannot attack. Good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
播天舞地，神明所守，安樂無咎。
Sowing across heaven, dancing across earth; the spirits stand guard. Peaceful and joyful, without blame.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and fire form Fellowship in its most sublime register. Scattering heaven and stirring earth, the cosmic forces are guarded by divine spirits — all is peaceful and without fault. The verse is compressed ritual incantation: three short phrases encompassing creation, protection, and blessing. From Fellowship to Contemplation, the transformation elevates communal vision to cosmic observation. Wind moves across the earth in Contemplation as the ancient kings surveyed the regions and observed the people. Here the fellowship is not among humans but between the human and the divine, the terrestrial and celestial — a sacred communion that leaves no room for blame.
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