I Ching hexagram 20

I Ching hexagram 20: Contemplation

观 guān · wind above earth

Wind moving over the earth, a worshipper with washed hands before the offering: look closely, and know you are being watched.

The judgment: The hands have been washed, the offering not yet presented. There is good faith, grave and full of reverence.
"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)."
James Legge's translation, 1882
What it says to you: Wind passes over the whole earth and touches everything, the way a good ruler's example reaches every house. The judgment catches the most solemn moment of a ceremony: the hands have been washed, and the offering has not yet been made. Everyone is watching, and the sincerity of that pause is what they see. Contemplation works both ways here. You are looking, and you are being looked at. The lines climb from a child's glance and a peek through a door crack up to the clear view of someone who studies their own life, then the lives around them. So before you move, take the longer look. Ask what your choices have actually produced, then let your conduct speak while people watch. The rite has not started yet. Use the pause well.

Matter by matter

Love: Observe before you act. How they live tells you more than what they say; let them see you too.
Work: Study the situation and set an example. People are watching how you conduct yourself.
Money: Look before committing. An honest review of where your money has gone matters more than new moves.
A yes or no question: Wait. Look longer first; the offering is not yet made, and clarity comes from watching.

The six lines of Contemplation

A hexagram is built from the bottom up, so the first line is the lowest. You read a line's text only when your cast made it a moving line.

Bottom line, broken

A child's way of looking. For small people, no harm; for the noble-minded, a shame.

You are seeing this the way a child would, at surface level. That is forgivable in someone with no say. If others depend on your judgment, look much deeper before you decide anything.
Second line, broken

Peeping out through a crack in the door. Favorable for a woman's steadiness.

You are seeing only a narrow slice, from inside your own room. In the old reading this suited someone whose world was the household. If your decision is larger than that, open the door and look properly.
Third line, broken

Looking at my own life, to decide whether to advance or withdraw.

Turn the gaze inward. What have your actions actually produced so far? Let that honest record, rather than hopes or fears, decide whether you push forward now or pull back.
Fourth line, broken

Seeing the glory of the kingdom. It pays to be received as the king's guest.

You can see where real quality and power are found. Go there. Offer your skills to a strong institution or a capable leader; the old text calls it being received as the king's guest.
Fifth line, solid

Looking at my own life. For the noble-minded, no harm.

You are the one people look to, so examine your own conduct first. If what your life produces is good, you are clear. Faults in those around you often start with the example you set.
Top line, solid

Looking at their lives. For the noble-minded, no harm.

You stand a little outside the action now, watching how others live and asking whether you measure up. That kind of reflection keeps you honest, and nothing goes wrong because of it.

About hexagram 20

What does I Ching hexagram 20 mean?

Hexagram 20, Contemplation, puts wind above earth. Wind moving over the earth, a worshipper with washed hands before the offering: look closely, and know you are being watched. Its judgment reads: The hands have been washed, the offering not yet presented. There is good faith, grave and full of reverence.

Is hexagram 20 a yes or a no?

Wait. Look longer first; the offering is not yet made, and clarity comes from watching.

What does hexagram 20 mean for love?

Observe before you act. How they live tells you more than what they say; let them see you too.

What does hexagram 20 mean for work?

Study the situation and set an example. People are watching how you conduct yourself.

Cast the coins for a new question , or for a straight yes or no, throw the moon blocks

The I Ching reads a moment. For the years of your own life, cast your birth chart; on your chart page you can ask three questions of your own, answered against it, for $2.99.

The judgment and lines are rendered from the Chinese text; the quoted judgment is Legge's 1882 translation, and every other English line is Jade Almanac's own. A cast is a prompt for reflection, not advice about health, money or the law.