Hexagram 20 for work
Hexagram 20 Observation for work and career
At work Guan is the tower that surveys everything and that everyone can see: the Great Image has the ancient kings 'inspecting the regions, observing the people and setting forth teaching'. It favours looking before doing — understanding an organisation, a market or a team before intervening — and reminds anyone in a visible position that they are being read. The Tuan ties the ruler's influence to being central and correct and to sincerity 'like the washed hands': people are transformed by what they see, not by what they are told.
The lower lines warn against acting on a partial view, naive (line one) or parochial (line two), and line three asks for an honest review of your own record before advancing. Line four is the observer who, having seen a good operation up close, should join it. Line five sets a leader's test: judge yourself by the state of those who work for you. A changing line in the lower trigram is about the quality of your observation; in the upper trigram, about what your conduct shows.
The hexagram in brief
Wind over the earth: a tower from which all is seen, and which all can see. Observe deeply before acting, and remember that you are watched — sincerity even before the offering is made.
Look carefully at the whole picture and at yourself; set an example rather than issuing orders.
The judgment
觀：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).
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 觀 Observation has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginninga child's view · shallow sight · far from the ruler
- 六二Six in the second placepeeping through a door · narrow view · inside only
- 六三Six in the third placeviewing one's own life · advance or retreat · the threshold
- 六四Six in the fourth placethe kingdom's glory · guest of the king · close to power
- 九五Nine in the fifth placethe ruler views himself · seen in the people · central and correct
- 上九Nine at the topviewed by all · no rest yet · beyond office
The same hexagram for
Questions
- What does hexagram 20, Observation, mean for a career question?
- At work Guan is the tower that surveys everything and that everyone can see: the Great Image has the ancient kings 'inspecting the regions, observing the people and setting forth teaching'. It favours looking before doing — understanding an organisation, a market or a team before intervening — and reminds anyone in a visible position that they are being read. The Tuan ties the ruler's influence to being central and correct and to sincerity 'like the washed hands': people are transformed by what they see, not by what they are told.
- What does Hexagram 20, 觀 Observation, mean?
- Wind over the earth: a tower from which all is seen, and which all can see. Observe deeply before acting, and remember that you are watched — sincerity even before the offering is made.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).