Hexagram 20 of 64
观 guān
Contemplation
巽 (xùn, Wind) above · 坤 (kūn, Earth) below
The Judgment 卦辞
Do not act yet — observe. Climb to where the whole landscape is visible. How you live becomes what others see: make your example worth watching.
The Image 大象
Wind moves over the earth: contemplation. Kings of old toured the regions, observed the people, and set their teaching accordingly.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 观 has its own classical text. If a line in your cast is changing, its text is the heart of your reading.
Line 1 · 初六
Seeing like a child: harmless for the small, limiting for those who should see further.
「童观，小人无咎，君子吝」
Line 2 · 六二
Peering through a crack — a narrow view. Safe enough, but you were built for more.
「窥观，利女贞」
Line 3 · 六三
Watch your own life to know when to advance and when to withdraw.
「观我生，进退」
Line 4 · 六四
Contemplating the glory of the kingdom — a guest at court. Learn from the great.
「观国之光，利用宾于王」
Line 5 · 九五
Examine your own life and conduct. The wise find no blame there.
「观我生，君子无咎」
Line 6 · 上九
Watch how others live — the wise learn without being burned.
「观其生，君子无咎」
If you drew this in a reading
A pattern of tension and craft. This hexagram belongs to the large middle family of mixed patterns: it works, but only along its own grain. Read the Judgment closely — mixed hexagrams usually name the exact condition on which their promise depends.
In yes/no questions this hexagram reads as “not yet clear” — the answer hinges on timing and execution.
The trigrams give the flavor: 巽 (Wind) above — gentle penetration — gradual influence, flexibility, patience — over 坤 (Earth) below — receptive devotion — nourishment, patience, carrying others. Where those two energies meet, 观 is born.
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