觀 → 噬嗑
Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 21: Biting Through
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5).
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 4
六四 觀國之光。利用賓于王。
Six in the fourth place means: Contemplation of the light of the kingdom. It furthers one to exert influence as the guest of a king.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
茹芝餌黃，飲食玉英；與神流通，長無憂凶。
Eating lingzhi and swallowing the golden elixir, drinking the jade essence; communing freely with the spirits -- long free from worry and ill fortune.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over earth opens a vision of Daoist cultivation. One eats lingzhi mushrooms and yellow essence, drinks the jade nectar of heaven, and communes freely with the spirits, forever free from worry and misfortune. The verse evokes the longevity traditions of Han-era fangshi practitioners who sought immortality through herbal elixirs and spiritual communion. Lingzhi and jade essence are staples of the materia medica for transcendence. Fire over thunder forms Biting Through, which enforces order by removing obstructions. From Contemplation to Biting Through, the transformation suggests that spiritual nourishment clears the channel between the human and divine: what once obstructed is bitten through, and the practitioner flows unimpeded into communion with the numinous.
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