Hexagram 27: Nourishment → Hexagram 20: Contemplation

Nourishment
Mountain / Thunder
Contemplation
Wind / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 5).

Line 1

初九 舍爾靈龜。觀我朶頤。凶。

shěforsake
ěryour
língspirit
guītortoise
guānand
me
duǒhanging open
with hungry mouth
xiōngunfortunate

Nine at the beginning means: You let your magic tortoise go, And look at me with the corners of your mouth drooping. Misfortune.

Line 5

六五 拂經。居貞吉。不可涉大川。

dismissing
jīngthe norms
to practice
zhēnpersistence
is promising
but one is not
suited
shèto
the great
chuānstream

Six in the fifth place means: Turning away from the path. To remain persevering brings good fortune. One should not cross the great water.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain WindKeeping Still → The Gentle
Lower TrigramThunder EarthThe Arousing → The Receptive

Yilin Verse

一室百孫,公悅婦歡。相與笑言,家樂以安。

One household, a hundred grandchildren; the patriarch delighted, the wives rejoicing. Together sharing laughter and conversation; the family is happy and at peace.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Mountain over thunder opens toward wind over earth — Contemplation, where the sage surveys the realm and sets his teachings. One household holds a hundred grandchildren; the patriarch delights and the wives rejoice. Laughter and conversation fill the rooms; the family is happy and at peace. This is nourishment fulfilled across generations — the domestic ideal of Chinese civilization. From Nourishment to Contemplation, the transformation is gentle: what begins as the careful feeding of a single mouth becomes a panoramic view of generational abundance. The wind passes over the earth as the elder surveys his flourishing descendants, and the mountain's still nurture radiates outward as moral example.

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