損 → 觀
Hexagram 41: Decrease → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5).
Line 1
初九 已事遄往。无咎。酌損之。
Nine at the beginning means: Going quickly when one's tasks are finished Is without blame. But one must reflect on how much one may decrease others.
Line 2
九二 利貞。征凶。弗損益之。
Nine in the second place means: Perseverance furthers. To undertake something brings misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, One is able to bring increase to others.
Line 5
六五 或益之十朋之龜。弗克違。元吉。
Six in the fifth place means: Someone does indeed increase him. Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Supreme good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
奮翅鼓翼，翱翔外國。逍遙徙倚，來歸溫室。
Spreading wings, beating pinions; soaring and roaming in foreign lands. Wandering at ease, lingering and leaning; returning home to the warm chamber.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Mountain above lake transforms into wind above earth — Contemplation, where the ruler surveys the realm from on high. Wings spread and beating, one soars above foreign lands in broad flight. Wandering at leisure, leaning and resting, one returns at last to the warm chamber. The verse traces an arc from adventurous flight to contented homecoming. The bird explores distant countries but ultimately circles back to its nest. From Decrease to Contemplation, the mountain gives way to wind sweeping across the earth — the sage-king's inspection tour, observing the people and setting customs. Decrease here is the act of releasing: the bird must leave its perch to see the world. But Contemplation's purpose is return — seeing widely in order to understand one's own place more deeply.
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