咸 → 觀
Hexagram 31: Influence → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 6).
Line 3
九三 咸其股。執其隨。往吝。
Nine in the third place means: The influence shows itself in the thighs. Holds to that which follows it. To continue is humiliating.
Line 4
九四 貞吉悔亡。憧憧往來。朋從爾思。
Nine in the fourth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. If a man is agitated in mind, And his thoughts go hither and thither, Only those friends On whom he fixes his conscious thoughts Will follow.
Line 6
上六 咸其輔頰舌。
Six at the top means: The influence shows itself in the jaws, cheeks, and tongue.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
九里十山，道卻峻難，牛馬不前，復反來還。
Nine miles, ten mountains; the road turns steep and hard. Ox and horse will not advance; they turn back and return again.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
A lake upon a mountain, but the mountain itself becomes the obstacle. Nine miles and ten peaks — the road is steep and the terrain impossible. Oxen and horses refuse to advance, and the traveler turns back the way he came. The repetition of 'nine' and 'ten' suggests not a specific geography but an overwhelming accumulation of barriers. Even the most patient draft animals balk. From Influence to Contemplation, the mountain's receptive openness transforms into wind moving over the earth: the ruler surveys the land from above. But what he sees is impassable. Contemplation reveals the truth that some paths cannot be forced. The wise response — returning home — is itself an act of clear-sighted observation rather than defeat, recognizing that the terrain demands retreat.
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