觀 → 旅
Hexagram 20: Contemplation → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
梅李冬實，國多盜賊；亂擾並作，王不能制。
Plum and pear bear fruit in winter, the state abounds with bandits and thieves; turmoil and upheaval arise together -- the king cannot impose control.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind over earth watches the natural order invert as disorder spreads. Plums and plum-trees bear fruit in winter — an unnatural portent — and the state swarms with bandits and thieves. Chaos erupts on every side, and the king cannot bring it under control. Fruit appearing out of season signals that nature's rhythms have broken down, mirroring social collapse. Fire over mountain forms the Wanderer, who must navigate hostile territory with caution and clear judgment. From Contemplation to the Wanderer, observation reveals a landscape unsafe for settlement: when seasonal norms fail and brigands roam, staying still is no longer viable. The observer must become a traveler, moving carefully through a world where neither nature nor governance can be trusted.
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