Hexagram 19 as yes or no
Hexagram 19 Overseeing as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a 'should I' question, Lin says yes: the strong lines are growing, the yielding lines are receiving, and the judgment carries all four virtues. The matter you ask about is in its rising season and the people involved are open to it. The hexagram's condition is 'steadiness', and its caveat is the eighth month — the answer is yes now, not yes indefinitely, so act while the approach is welcome rather than waiting for a better moment that the Tuan says will not come.
If the changing line is in the lower trigram, you are the one drawing near: go with allies and a straight intention (lines one and two), and do not rely on charm (line three). If it is in the upper trigram, you are the one being approached, and the answer turns on how you receive: directly (line four), with discernment about who is capable (line five), or with generosity from a position of strength (line six). None of the upper lines says no; they only differ on the manner.
The hexagram in brief
Earth over the lake: looking down from the shore. Yang grows and influence approaches — supreme success now, with a warning that the eighth month brings a turn.
Lead with care and generosity while your influence grows, and plan for the season when it wanes.
The judgment
臨：元，亨，利，貞。至于八月有凶。Lin (indicates that under the conditions supposed in it) there will be great progress and success, while it will be advantageous to be firmly correct. In the eighth month there will be evil.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 臨 Overseeing has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginningapproach together · steadiness · a right will
- 九二Nine in the second placecentral strength · every advantage · not merely obeying
- 六三Six in the third placesweet approach · no advantage · worry saves it
- 六四Six in the fourth placedirect approach · right place · receiving the strong
- 六五Six in the fifth placewise approach · the great ruler · the middle way
- 上六Six at the topgenerous approach · the top turns inward · good at the end
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 19, Overseeing, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a 'should I' question, Lin says yes: the strong lines are growing, the yielding lines are receiving, and the judgment carries all four virtues. The matter you ask about is in its rising season and the people involved are open to it. The hexagram's condition is 'steadiness', and its caveat is the eighth month — the answer is yes now, not yes indefinitely, so act while the approach is welcome rather than waiting for a better moment that the Tuan says will not come.
- What does Hexagram 19, 臨 Overseeing, mean?
- Earth over the lake: looking down from the shore. Yang grows and influence approaches — supreme success now, with a warning that the eighth month brings a turn.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).