Hexagram 20, Guān (Contemplation): Line 1

观卦初六 · 风地观 · 中文版

初六:童观,小人无咎,君子吝。

The line (Legge)

The first SIX, divided, shows the looking of a lad - not blamable in men of inferior rank, but matter for regret in superior men.

Small Image commentary

'The looking of a lad shown by the first six, (divided); indicates the way of the inferior people.

象曰:初六童观,小人道也。

In plain words

Looking like a child: no fault for petty people, regret for the noble. The first line is furthest from the fifth, and its view is shallow and naive. The Small Image calls this the way of petty people.

Applying it to your situation

If you tend to see only the surface of things, this line suggests looking a little deeper. What might lie behind this that you have not seen?

Position

A broken (yin) line in the first place, which is a yang (odd) place, so it is not in its proper place. Its partner is line 4; both are yin, so they do not respond.

If this line moves

With this line moving alone, Guān changes into Hexagram 42 Yì (Increase). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·观之益.

A recorded case from Takashima

Guan to Yi: bidding in a government coal tender: A government office was to test the heating power of competing coals before taking bids, and a coal company employee asked whether they would win. The first line of Guan, "a child's view; no fault for the petty, shame for the noble", led Takashima to say the inspectors lacked judgment, so the honest would lose and the crooked win.

The hexagram

Hexagram 20 Guān (Contemplation). The Judgment: Guan shows (how he whom it represents should be like) the worshipper who has washed his hands, but not (yet) presented his offerings - with sincerity and an appearance of dignity (commanding reverent regard).

Next: Line 2

English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction. Plain-English readings and position notes by this site.

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