觀 → 坤
Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 2: The Receptive
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 5, 6).
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
繼祀宗邑，追明成康；光照萬國，享世久長。疾病不醫，下即蒿廬。
Continuing the ancestral sacrifice at the clan seat, upholding the brilliance of Cheng and Kang; their light shines on ten thousand states, their era endures long. The illness cannot be cured -- one descends to the thatched grave.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind moves over the earth as the observer surveys dynastic continuity. The verse opens with ancestral rites carried forward, invoking the glory of Kings Cheng and Kang — the golden age of early Zhou peace when virtue radiated across ten thousand states. Yet the poem pivots sharply: illness goes untreated, and the sufferer sinks into a wormwood hut. The contrast between imperial splendor and destitute squalor is stark. Kings Cheng and Kang, son and grandson of King Wu, presided over an era so peaceful that punishments went unused for forty years. From Contemplation to the Receptive, lofty observation yields to earth's patient endurance: glory must be sustained through humble, ceaseless devotion, or it collapses into neglect.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store