觀 → 臨
Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 童觀。小人无咎。君子吝。
Six at the beginning means: Boy like contemplation. For an inferior man, no blame. For a superior man, humiliation.
Line 2
六二 闚觀。利女貞。
Six in the second place means: Contemplation through the crack of the door. Furthering for the perseverance of a woman.
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
人無定法，緩除才出。地雄走歸，陽不制陰；男失其家。
People have no fixed method, the slow are removed and the able come forth. The earth-hero flees for home; yang cannot govern yin -- the man loses his household.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over earth watches governance lose its moorings. People have no fixed laws; measures are loosened and laxly applied. The male pheasant flees, yang fails to govern yin, and the man loses his household. The verse paints a world of inverted authority: where rules should be firm they dissolve, where masculine principle should lead it retreats. Earth over lake forms Approach, which signifies authority drawing near from above. From Contemplation to Approach, the irony cuts: the hexagram of benevolent oversight meets a situation where oversight has collapsed entirely. The approaching authority finds nothing to govern because the man has already abandoned his post, and the household has no center to hold.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store