Hexagram 20, line 2
六二Line 2 of Observation
Six in the second place · 觀 guān
爻辭 The line text
闚觀，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.
窺觀女貞，亦可醜也。'The firm correctness of a woman, in peeping out from a door' is also a thing to be ashamed of (in a superior man).
In plain words
Line two 'peeps' (窺觀): it looks at the ruler through a crack in the door. It is yin in a central, correct place and corresponds properly to the fifth line, so it does see the right thing — but from inside the house, partially, without stepping out. The text says this is fitting as 'the steadiness of a woman', the traditional image of a life kept within the gate, and the small Image adds that for anyone else it is a thing to be ashamed of (亦可丑也). 朱熹 reads it as a view that is correct but narrow, because the viewer has not left their own room.
If this line is changing
You are judging from inside your own walls; the view is not wrong, but it is partial, and acting on it as if it were the whole picture would embarrass you.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 坤 Kun (the Receptive) (earth).
- It corresponds (應) with line 5: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
觀 Observation becomes ䷺ 59 渙 Dispersing
Wind over water: dispersing. Success; the king approaches the temple; favourable to cross the great river — scattering rigidity, selfishness and division so that people regroup around something shared.
What it becomes59 · 渙 DispersinghuànThe six lines of 觀 Observation
- 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
Read 觀 Observation for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the second place of hexagram 20, Observation, mean?
- Line two 'peeps' (窺觀): it looks at the ruler through a crack in the door. It is yin in a central, correct place and corresponds properly to the fifth line, so it does see the right thing — but from inside the house, partially, without stepping out. The text says this is fitting as 'the steadiness of a woman', the traditional image of a life kept within the gate, and the small Image adds that for anyone else it is a thing to be ashamed of (亦可丑也). 朱熹 reads it as a view that is correct but narrow, because the viewer has not left their own room.
- What does hexagram 20 become when line 2 changes?
- Observation becomes hexagram 59, 渙 Dispersing: Wind over water: dispersing. Success; the king approaches the temple; favourable to cross the great river — scattering rigidity, selfishness and division so that people regroup around something shared.
- Is line 2 of Observation in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).