Hexagram 30 離 changing to hexagram 20 觀
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 20 觀, line 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.
Hexagram 20 觀, line 6
觀其生，君子无咎。
The sixth line, undivided, shows its subject contemplating his character to see if it be indeed that of a superior man. He will not fall into error.
The two hexagrams
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.
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).
The changing lines of hexagram 30
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 履錯然，敬之无咎。 | The first line, undivided, shows one ready to move with confused steps. But he treads at the same time reverently, and there will be no mistake. |
| 3 | 日昃之離，不鼓缶而歌，則大耋之差，凶。 | The third line, undivided, shows its subject in a position like that of the declining sun. Instead of playing on his instrument of earthenware, and singing to it, he utters the groans of an old man of eighty. There will be evil. |
| 4 | 突如其來如，焚如，死如，棄如。 | The fourth line, undivided, shows the manner of its subject's coming. How abrupt it is, as with fire, with death, to be rejected (by all)! |
| 5 | 出涕沱若，戚嗟若，吉。 | The fifth line, divided, shows its subject as one with tears flowing in torrents, and groaning in sorrow. There will be good fortune. |
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.