升 → 觀
Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 20: Contemplation
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).
Line 2
九二 孚乃利用禴。无咎。
Nine in the second place means: If one is sincere, It furthers one to bring even a small offering. No blame.
Line 3
九三 升虛邑。
Nine in the third place means: One pushes upward into an empty city.
Line 5
六五 貞吉升階。
Six in the fifth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. One pushes upward by steps.
Line 6
上六 冥升。利于不息之貞。
Six at the top means: Pushing upward in darkness. It furthers one To be unremittingly persevering.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
稼穡不偏，重過不傾。巧言賊忠，傷我申生。
The sowing and reaping are not partial; the heavy load does not tip. Clever words destroy loyalty; they wound our Shensheng.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wood grows within the earth, and the harvest is honest and impartial — grain grows neither favoring one side nor tilting to another. Yet cunning words assassinate loyalty, and Prince Shensheng of Jin is destroyed. According to the Zuo Zhuan, Lady Li slandered the crown prince with poisoned meat, framing him for attempted patricide. Shensheng, too filial to defend himself against his father's consort, chose death rather than expose the plot. Wind over earth, the image of Contemplation, watches from above as the ruler observes his domain. From Pushing Upward to Contemplation, steady growth encounters the gaze that distorts reality. Slander transforms what rises honestly into something the observer fears and destroys.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store