觀 → 豐
Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 55: Abundance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 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 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 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.
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
大人失宜，盈滿復虧；長冬之木，盛者滅衰。
The great man loses his due measure; what was full now wanes again. A tree in deep winter -- what flourished withers and decays.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over earth surveys the inevitable decline of fullness. A great man loses his proper measure; what was brimming now wanes. Winter's trees stand as evidence — what once flourished decays, the vigorous fades. The verse states a cosmic law with lapidary concision: fullness is the precondition of emptying, and the height of flourishing already contains its recession. Thunder over fire forms Abundance, which pairs lightning and thunder in maximum brilliance. From Contemplation to Abundance, the transformation carries its own warning: Abundance's very definition includes the knowledge that it cannot be sustained. The sage does not grieve at the waning but recognizes that even the sun at midday must begin to set.
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