Hexagram 20 觀 changing to hexagram 38 睽
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 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 38 睽, line 3
見輿曳，其牛𧤊，其人天且劓，无初有終。
In the third line, divided, we see one whose carriage is dragged back, while the oxen in it are pushed back, and he is himself subjected to the shaving of his head and the cutting off of his nose. There is no good beginning, but there will be a good end.
Hexagram 38 睽, line 6
睽孤， 見豕負涂，載鬼一車， 先張之弧，後說之弧，匪寇婚媾，往遇雨則吉。
The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject solitary amidst the (prevailing) disunion. (In the subject of the third line, he seems to) see a pig bearing on its back a load of mud, (or fancies) there is a carriage full of ghosts. He first bends his bow against him, and afterwards unbends it, (for he discovers) that he is not an assailant to injure, but a near relative. Going forward, he shall meet with (genial) rain, and there will be good fortune.
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 38 睽 — judgment
小事吉。
Khwei indicates that, (notwithstanding the condition of things which it denotes), in small matters there will (still) be good success.
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. |
| 2 | 窺觀，利女貞。 | The second line, divided, shows one peeping out from a door. It would be advantageous if it were (merely) the firm correctness of a female. |
| 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.