# Hexagram 20: Contemplation

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/20
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Xun 巽](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/xun), Wind, the gentle, penetrating
- **Lower trigram:** [Kun 坤](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kun), Earth, the receptive, yielding
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 000011 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Contemplation. A time for deep observation rather than action. What you need to see is already present; the task is to quiet yourself enough to perceive it. The superior person uses this pause to align their inner life with what is true, and so becomes an example without needing to speak.

## Image

Wind blowing over the earth. The ancient kings visited the regions of the world, observed the people, and offered instruction.

## Counsel

Step back and look. Do not act from reactivity; look until you truly see the shape of the situation. Your example now influences others more than your words. Align yourself with what is true, and let that alignment do its quiet work.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> Boyish contemplation.
> For a lowly person, no blame.
> For a noble one, humiliating.

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> Contemplation through the crack of the door.
> The perseverance of a woman is furthering.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> Contemplation of my life decides
> between advance and retreat.

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> Contemplation of the light of the realm.
> It is favorable to act as the guest of a king.

### Line 5

> A nine in the fifth place means:
> Contemplation of my life.
> The noble one is without blame.

### Line 6

> A nine at the top means:
> Contemplation of his life.
> The noble one is without blame.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [23 Splitting Apart](https://thefreeiching.com/library/23)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [19 Approach](https://thefreeiching.com/library/19)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [34 Great Power](https://thefreeiching.com/library/34)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [42 Increase](https://thefreeiching.com/library/42) |
| Line 2 | [59 Dispersion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/59) |
| Line 3 | [53 Development](https://thefreeiching.com/library/53) |
| Line 4 | [12 Standstill](https://thefreeiching.com/library/12) |
| Line 5 | [23 Splitting Apart](https://thefreeiching.com/library/23) |
| Line 6 | [8 Holding Together](https://thefreeiching.com/library/8) |

Previous: [19 Approach](https://thefreeiching.com/library/19). Next: [21 Biting Through](https://thefreeiching.com/library/21). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 20: Contemplation." https://thefreeiching.com/library/20 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/20). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.