I Ching Guan Meaning: Hexagram 20 Explained

Draw Guan 觀 and students often say: I will look again. Those three words, look again, are sometimes right, sometimes hiding.

Guan is indeed looking. This hexagram is two-way: you are looking at people, and people are looking at you. Wind walking on the earth, everything blown over once, cannot hide. A child’s view is too shallow; a peep’s pattern is small. Good for examining, learning, a public image. Not good for gambling a throw in this hexagram and looking after.

First get the image right. Guan is Wind over Earth, Contemplation. Xun 巽 above, Kun 坤 below. Wind above, Earth below. Wind walking on the earth, reaching the ten thousand things, so it is called Guan. It is not Earth over Wind, Sheng 升. Sheng is Kun above, Xun below, earth on the wind: climbing up. Guan is wind on the earth: looking, being looked at, demonstrating, examining. Reverse above and below and you misread “see clearly first” as “squeeze up first.”

After it is great, then it can be contemplated

The Xugua says: 「物大然後可觀，故受之以觀。」 When a thing is great, then it can be contemplated; therefore Guan follows. Before it is Lin 臨. Lin is the great; when it is great there is something to look at, and it can stand being looked at. Pattern still small, forcing contemplation of the world: a child’s view. Yourself not yet great, demanding others treat you as scenery: also easy cause for regret.

This is practical for a reading. People who draw Guan have often entered a stage of being examined: probation, review, interview, going public, being judged by family, rated by the market. It may also be that you should go look: look at the trade, the other person, whether this breath of yours is still correct. Guan is not stopping work. It is opening the eyes, then deciding advance or retreat.

The judgment: 「觀，盥而不薦，有孚顒若。」 Hands washed clean, not yet offered; sincerity already shows on the face, looking very solemn. Guan’s scene is often “that cut is not finished, but others are already looking at how you prepare.” Washing is preparation; offering is formally presenting. Draw Guan and your process of preparing is the content. Do not think if you have not taken the stage, no one is looking.

The Tuan says: 「大觀在上，順而巽，中正以觀天下。」 Great contemplation above, following and Xun, centered and correct to contemplate the world. Above is wind, is the elder; below is following; nine in the fifth centered and correct: use this place to look at the world, and let the world look. Great contemplation: the place of looking should be high, correct — not peeking.

The Xiang says: 「風行地上，觀。先王以省方觀民設教。」 Wind walking on the earth, Guan. The former kings inspected the regions, contemplated the people, and set teaching. Go out on tour, look at the people’s condition, then set teaching. I almost copy this for students every time. After contemplating, set teaching; after looking, have a practice. Only look, not teach; only look, not change: the wind blows past and it is gone.

Career and wealth: treat it as an examination period, not a harvest period

Ask about career and draw Guan: overall beneficial to look, to learn, to put the image in order — not to stake heavy when you cannot see clearly. Good for visiting, apprenticing, explaining in public, letting those above come inspect, going yourself to look at the market. Wind walking on the earth: news will flow; the good and the bad will both be seen.

For wealth, Guan is not a typical income hexagram. It is more like “first see whether this business is worth entering.” Look right, and later Shi He 噬嗑 can close; look wrong, and even closed it bites painfully. Investment and Guan: first do the homework, look at people, look at the books; the order can be late. Rushing an order is making Guan into Lin’s rising tide. The tide is not in this hexagram.

Six in the fourth, contemplate the light of the state, beneficial to be a guest of the king. Look at a country’s splendor, beneficial to be the king’s guest. Draw six in the fourth: at work it looks like going to headquarters, seeing a large client, being the person invited, going to a larger occasion to learn. Guest, not host. This line’s luck is in being willing to be a guest, going to look at the light, not grabbing the host’s seat the moment you enter the door. Interviews, visits, exchanges, hanging as an advisor: all on topic.

Nine in the fifth, contemplate my life, the superior person has no blame. Look at your own life, your own doing. Nine in the fifth is the ruling line; a person in position first contemplates themselves, then others. Draw nine in the fifth: managers, teachers, parents, public figures all have to ask: is the life I am living worth being learned from? Wind on the earth; you cannot hide. No blame comes from yourself standing, not from deleting comments.

Love and people: look at people, and prepare to be looked at

Ask about love and draw Guan: both sides are observing. Good for getting to know each other, meeting parents, seeing how the other person lives the everyday — not deciding a lifetime on atmosphere only. Hands washed, not yet offered: much like that stretch of dating. Hands washed, the rite not yet presented; sincerity has to be seen first. Living the days clearly is more useful than filling love talk.

If you are single and draw Guan, a connection is in a place that can be seen: a public occasion, a learning occasion, a group with the meaning of demonstrating. A child’s view is only looking at the surface: tall or not, handsome or not, can they talk. A superior person using this set: cause for regret. Six in the second, peeping contemplation, beneficial for a woman’s correctness. Looking through a door crack, pattern small, beneficial for proper work, inwardness, only asking correctness in that one square of your own. Take peeping to judge a talent, a marriage, a business: too small. Old notes say beneficial for a woman’s correctness; today you need not lock gender. What to hear is: this line’s way of looking is too narrow, only suited to asking a very narrow matter.

If you are already together, Guan reminds: are you only looking at the other person through a crack? Only looking at a phone, one loss of composure, one piece of their family: all peeping. It also reminds that you yourself are being looked at. How you speak at home, how you treat people: wind will carry it out. Jia Ren 家人 speaks of order under a roof; Guan speaks of this order being seen outside.

Workplace people and Guan: less judging behind the back, more looking in the open. Inspect the regions, contemplate the people, set teaching: walk a round, see clearly, then set a rule. Before a meeting, first see how people do the work: more decent than first assigning a crime in the meeting. Initial six, a child’s view: small people, no blame; the superior person, cause for regret. Post small, matter small, looking a little shallow: you get through. You are already in a responsible place and still look at people with a child’s eye: cause for regret. Cause for regret is pattern not enough, not immediately great unluck, but the matter cannot be done large.

Lines: the height of looking differs a lot

Guan’s luck and unluck are almost all written on “how you look.” Looking shallow, looking biased, looking at yourself, looking at the state: four looks, four results.

Initial six: 童觀，小人無咎，君子吝. Look in a child’s way. Small people looking thus, no blame; a superior person looking thus, cause for regret. Draw the initial six: post and insight are still below. You can be a student; do not be a judge. If you already have to lead people, make decisions, and still stop at a child’s view, the matter will be small, and people will also feel you are small.

Six in the second: 窺觀，利女貞. Look through a crack; beneficial for the inward, correct square. Draw six in the second: you can keep your proper work; not appropriate to pass judgment on the whole situation. In love, only peeping at one corner of the other person; at work, only looking at that one point of your department: all this line. Benefit is benefit in a small range of correctness; taken to a large range, not beneficial.

Six in the third: 觀我生，進退. Look at your own life to decide advance or retreat. Six in the third between above and below: most like a crossroads. Draw this line: do not first look whether others envy you. First look whether this breath of yours is lived correctly. Correct, you can advance; not correct, retreat first. Contemplate my life is a mirror, not a window. A window looks at others; a mirror looks at yourself.

Six in the fourth: 觀國之光，利用賓于王. Go look at a larger light; beneficial to approach the host’s seat as a guest. Draw six in the fourth: you should go out the door and see the world. Staying in a child’s view, a peep, you will miss this light. Guest of the king: the attitude should be respectful, learning. Do not go up and judge at once.

Nine in the fifth: 觀我生，君子無咎. In the honored place, look at your own doing; the superior person has no blame. Draw nine in the fifth: you are the center of being looked at. First live yourself into a shape that can demonstrate; then teaching will have people who listen. Only demand those below be contemplated by you, not let yourself be contemplated: wind will blow this wrongness very far.

The upper nine, contemplate his life, the superior person has no blame: in class I add a sentence. Others look at how he lives; he also has no blame. The upper nine is already not in position, but life is still teaching material. Retired, hidden, still being looked at. This hexagram has no line for “left the stage, then free.”

In class, how to look so it is not staring blankly

Draw Guan and I have students do three concrete things.

First, write one line each for “what I am looking at” and “who is looking at me.” Write them out and the two-way holds. Only writing others’ faults is peeping. Only dressing for others to see, yourself not washed: a false offering.

Second, rise one grade in looking. A child’s view up to contemplate my life; a peep up to contemplate the light of the state. The concrete practice is earthy: walk one more site, ask one more person who has done it, forward one fewer comment. Inspecting the regions: you have to go out the door.

Third, after looking, set one teaching. Teaching can be small: change one habit, set one rule, take off the fakest layer of image. Wind walking on the earth: change and it will also be seen. That is worth it.

After Guan is Shi He. After it can be contemplated, then there is closing. See clearly, then you can bite, close. See unclearly now and partner, sue, marry: skipping Guan to bite, and the tooth will break.

Compare: I Ching Lin Meaning | Hexagram 19 How to Read: Approach, How to Receive a Rising Tide. When it is great, then it can be contemplated. After seeing clearly, how to close, how to bite through the obstruction in the middle: I Ching Shi He Meaning | Hexagram 21 How to Read: Biting Through, Judgment and Closing. If a public image has to return to order at home, Jia Ren is also useful: I Ching Jia Ren Meaning | Hexagram 37 How to Read.

I Ching Guan FAQ

Is Guan telling me to wait more, do nothing?

It is telling you to see clearly then move, not telling you not to move. Six in the third writes advance and retreat plainly; retreat is also retreat after looking. Keep looking, never set teaching: the wind blows past, nothing left.

I asked about an exam, study, and drew Guan. Is that good?

The topic fits. Guan has inspecting the regions, setting teaching, being a guest to look at light. Good for seeking learning, examining, following a teacher. A child’s view is only memorizing the skin. Get the line right: the same hexagram can be a good student, or looking at a bustle.

In love the other person keeps observing me, will not state a position. Does that count as Guan?

Much like hands washed, not yet offered: looking at your sincerity, not yet sacrificing. You can wash the hands clean, live the days correctly, let sincerity showing on the face be seen. You can also look at whether they are great contemplation or peeping. Keep peeping, never offer: this relationship will stop in a crack.

Original Guan, changing Lin: how do I read it?

Guan is looking; Lin is near. From looking to near: examination finished, about to take over. From near to looking: drew near, then found you have to take the measure again. The former you can receive; the latter, first do not be cheated by sweet approaching. Step back half a step, look at yourself, look at the other person.

For an online hexagram, try free love divination and match both birthdays with this reading.