Hexagram 20: Contemplation

觀 (Guān)

Observation, reflection, and gaining insight through watching.

Overview

Human fate does not always follow a smooth and even path. Periods of rising and falling take turns. You go down, then you go up. That is what is happening in your life.

No one can keep working at the same level all the time. Everyone's energy and will to create rise and fall. You have noticed yourself that after a stretch of hard activity you need to turn to something else. So look back now and compare the past stage of your life with the present one.

In the past you were expected to be full of energy and to hold to your goals. You did that. You reached what you set out for. Now the conditions are completely different, and you have to bring your actions in line with them.

Do not rush ahead. This is a time to stop and think. If you move forward now, you may come to a dead end. Wait until fate is with you, and then move toward your goal.

People around you

Think about how you have acted with the people around you. Perhaps you made a mistake. Or perhaps you missed something important that could have brought your relationships to a new level.

Look carefully at what happened and at what is happening, so that you prepare the ground for the future.

Work and rest

In your work, quietly follow the decisions that have already been made. Stay on the road you know. That way you avoid mistakes and needless worry.

Do not forget to rest. Noisy company and large gatherings are not for you yet. Use your free time for something that clears away the tiredness that has built up and gives you something to think about. That helps a great deal.

Your wish

This is not the moment for your wish. Think in detail about what you want to do, and when the way is open, go ahead and do it.

This Overview is one traditional reading of the figure, offered as a prompt for reflection and perspective rather than a prediction of a fixed future. Where this material comes from.

New to the sequence? See how lines, trigrams and changing lines work, or cast your own reading with the three-coin method.

Structure

Read from the bottom upward, hexagram 20 is Wind/Wood over Earth. Its two inner, or nuclear, trigrams are Mountain over Earth. What the eight trigrams mean.

Upper trigram (lines 4–6): Xùn · Wind/Wood Gentle and penetrating
Lower trigram (lines 1–3): Kūn · Earth Receptive and devoted
Upper nuclear (lines 3–5): Gèn · Mountain Still and stopping
Lower nuclear (lines 2–4): Kūn · Earth Receptive and devoted