觀 → 謙
Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 15: Modesty
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
六三 觀我生進退。
Six in the third place means: Contemplation of my life Decides the choice Between advance and retreat.
Line 5
九五 觀我生。君子无咎。
Nine in the fifth place means: Contemplation of my life. The superior man is without blame.
Line 6
上九 觀其生。君子无咎。
Nine at the top means: Contemplation of his life. The superior man is without blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
高崗鳳凰，朝陽梧桐；噰噰喈喈，菶菶萋萋。陳辭不多，以告孔嘉。
Phoenixes on the high ridge, morning sun on the paulownia; they cry yong-yong, they call jie-jie, lush and verdant all around. Few words are offered in address -- yet how excellently auspicious.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over earth lifts the gaze toward a lofty ridge where phoenixes perch in morning sun, paulownia trees luxuriant beneath them. Their harmonious cries — yongong, jiejie — fill the air, while the trees flourish in dense, verdant splendor. The verse draws directly from the Shijing ode 'Juan A,' celebrating the phoenix appearing only where sage-rule prevails, nesting solely in paulownia. The offering of words is spare and modest, yet pronounced supremely auspicious. Earth over mountain, the image of Modesty, keeps the mountain hidden within the earth. From Contemplation to Modesty, observation discovers that true majesty conceals itself: the phoenix settles not on the highest peak but where virtue grows quietly, and the most auspicious message arrives in few words.
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