Hexagram 19 · Upper canon
Lin · Approach
A good time is near; receive it with care.
The figure
- Number
- 19 (Upper canon)
- Upper trigram
- Earth (Kun)
- Lower trigram
- Lake (Dui)
- Keywords
- approach · care · seizing
- Reversed hexagram
- Dun · Retreat
- Inverted hexagram
- Guan · Contemplation
The meaning
What the name means Lin is looking down from above, facing something, and also arriving.
The picture Earth over lake, the bank leaning over the water, the high place looking after the low one and coming closer step by step.
The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about drawing near, facing and looking after. Something is closing in; meeting it with care and patience beats dodging it. Remember too that water which rises fast also falls fast.
In plain words: what this hexagram says
A good moment is drawing near. Tend it with care and do not be careless because things go well; the chance will pass.
The upper trigram is Earth and the lower is Lake: Earth above, Lake below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.
The judgement
元亨利貞。至於八月有兇。
The image
澤上有地，臨；君子以教思無窮，容保民無疆。
The six lines
From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.
- 初九鹹臨，貞吉。
- 九二鹹臨，吉，無不利。
- 六三甘臨，無攸利；既憂之，無咎。
- 六四至臨，無咎。
- 六五知臨，大君之宜，吉。
- 上六敦臨，吉，無咎。
To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".