Hexagram 20 觀 changing to hexagram 30 離
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 3, 4, 5.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 30 離, line 2
黃離，元吉。
The second line, divided, shows its subject in his place in yellow. There will be great good fortune.
Hexagram 30 離, line 6
王用出征，有嘉折首，獲匪其醜，无咎。
The topmost line, undivided, shows the king employing its subject in his punitive expeditions. Achieving admirable (merit), he breaks (only) the chiefs (of the rebels). Where his prisoners were not their associates, he does not punish. There will be no error.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 20 觀 — judgment
盥而不薦，有孚顒若。
Kwân 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).
Hexagram 30 離 — judgment
利貞。亨。畜牝牛，吉。
Lî indicates that, (in regard to what it denotes), it will be advantageous to be firm and correct, and that thus there will be free course and success. Let (its subject) also nourish (a docility like that of) the cow, and there will be good fortune.
The changing lines of hexagram 20
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 童觀，小人无咎，君子吝。 | The first line, divided, shows the looking of a lad;—not blamable in men of inferior rank, but matter for regret in superior men. |
| 3 | 觀我生，進退。 | The third line, divided, shows one looking at (the course of) his own life, to advance or recede (accordingly). |
| 4 | 觀國之光，利用賓于王。 | The fourth line, divided, shows one contemplating the glory of the kingdom. It will be advantageous for him, being such as he is, (to seek) to be a guest of the king. |
| 5 | 觀我生，君子无咎。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject contemplating his own life(-course). A superior man, he will (thus) fall into no error. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.