夬 → 觀
Hexagram 43: Breakthrough → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 壯于前趾。往不勝為咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Mighty in the forward-striding toes. When one goes and is not equal to the task, One makes a mistake.
Line 2
九二 惕號。莫夜有戎。勿恤。
Nine in the second place means: A cry of alarm. Arms at evening and at night. Fear nothing.
Line 3
九三 壯于頄。有凶。君子夬夬。獨行遇雨。若濡有慍。无咎。
Nine in the third place means: To be powerful in the cheekbones Brings misfortune. The superior man is firmly resolved. He walks alone and is caught in the rain. He is bespattered, And people murmur against him. No blame.
Line 4
九四 臀无膚。其行次且。牽羊悔亡。聞言不信。
Nine in the fourth place means: There is no skin on his thighs, And walking comes hard. If a man were to let himself be led like a sheep, Remorse would disappear. But if these words are heard They will not be believed.
Line 6
上六 无號。終有凶。
Six at the top means: No cry. In the end misfortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
疾貧望仕，使伯南販。開牢擇羊，多得大䍧。
Sick with poverty, longing for office; the elder uncle is sent south to trade. Opening the pen to select sheep, he gains many fine large rams.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake risen above heaven opens into the wind sweeping across the earth. Afflicted by poverty, one yearns for an official post, and sends an uncle south to trade. Opening the pen to select sheep, one finds many fine large rams. The verse traces a pragmatic response to hardship: rather than lamenting, the family dispatches a kinsman to commerce and discovers unexpected abundance among the flocks. From Breakthrough to Contemplation, decisive action yields to the surveying gaze of the wind moving over the earth. Contemplation means seeing clearly — and what this observer sees, upon looking carefully into the pen, is wealth hiding in plain sight. The breakthrough was not a dramatic stroke but the simple act of opening the gate and choosing wisely.
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