Hexagram 20 for love
Hexagram 20 Observation in love and relationships
Guan is wind moving over the earth: something that touches everything below it without being held. Two strong lines at the top are seen by four yielding lines below, and the judgment's image is the worshipper who has washed his hands but not yet made the offering — sincerity visible before anything is done. For a relationship this is a hexagram of watching and being watched: one party is trying to understand the other, and the way they look, the lines say, matters more than what they find.
The lower lines are the poor ways of seeing a partner: as a child sees (line one), through a crack from inside one's own walls (line two). Line three turns the gaze on one's own conduct before deciding to go on or draw back. The upper lines belong to the one who is seen: close enough to admire and join (line four), judged by the effect on the other (line five), still an example from a distance (line six). The stance is to look honestly and to be worth looking at.
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
- Is hexagram 20, Observation, a good sign for love?
- Guan is wind moving over the earth: something that touches everything below it without being held. Two strong lines at the top are seen by four yielding lines below, and the judgment's image is the worshipper who has washed his hands but not yet made the offering — sincerity visible before anything is done. For a relationship this is a hexagram of watching and being watched: one party is trying to understand the other, and the way they look, the lines say, matters more than what they find.
- 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).