觀 → 剝
Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 23: Splitting Apart
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
壽如松喬，與日月俱；常安康樂，不罹禍憂。
Long-lived as Song and Qiao, enduring alongside sun and moon; ever at peace and in good health, never suffering misfortune or worry.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over earth contemplates a vision of immortal longevity. Life stretches as long as Chisongzi and Wang Qiao — the legendary Daoist immortals — enduring alongside the sun and moon. Constant peace and well-being prevail, with neither calamity nor sorrow. The two immortals, always mentioned together, represent transcendence of mortal limits: Chisongzi was Rain Master of Shennong's age, Wang Qiao a Zhou prince who ascended to heaven. Mountain over earth forms Splitting Apart, which strips away all that is inessential. From Contemplation to Splitting Apart, the paradox is striking: the hexagram of dissolution meets a promise of eternal life. Perhaps immortality itself requires the stripping away of everything mortal — only what is essential survives the splitting.
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