19. Lín 臨
APPROACH, EXPANSION, INSPECTION, VISITATION
APPROACH, EXPANSION, INSPECTION, VISITATION
The best time for acquiring new knowledge and experience. Work creatively and diligently, but do not hurry, the wheel of fortune is already in motion.
The best time for acquiring new knowledge and experience. Work creatively and diligently, but do not hurry, the wheel of fortune is already in motion.
Hexagram Structure
The sign continues the story of the previous hexagram: while there was decay in the bowl there was nothing to draw close to, and after the cleaning a meeting becomes possible. Lin describes that meeting. The lower trigram is Dui, joy; the upper is Kun, pliancy: the movement toward the other comes from below willingly, and from above it is received without resistance, so the whole sign reads as a mutual step by two sides.
The old social background of the image is a victor entering an annexed territory: the visit here is not a courtesy call but the establishing of a living connection with what used to be foreign. In terms of knowing, this is the moment when preconceived opinions have been cleared away and the object is directly available for the first time.
The aphorism promises original development, but on the mandatory condition of steadiness — and immediately reminds one of the clock: by the eighth moon the situation will turn into its opposite, into flight. The drawing together is granted for a term, and whoever comes late will meet not a meeting but a parting.
How It Works in Practice
The period is generous: whatever you take on moves, and this is not a short run of luck — a time of large successes on several fronts at once lies ahead. A layout like that has to be worked, not admired. Set goals and pursue them decisively: the more you take now, the better circumstances will fall out later — success here attracts the next success.
There is a reverse side to the rise. Against the background of your results it is easy to hurt those nearby: a careless word will offend, negligence will anger, and the difference in pace by itself will provoke envy. Friends are not the scenery of your growth, and being considerate with them matters more right now than being eloquent.
A separate line of this period: someone close, whom you supposedly know inside out, will behave in a way that forces you to revise your view of them. Not necessarily for the worse, but the revision will be imposed rather than initiated by you. There is no need to prepare for it in advance — it is enough not to cling to the old portrait of a person once the living original starts to diverge from it.
The practical conclusion is simple: act widely while time is working for you, and carefully with the people around you. The first will bring results, the second will let you keep them. The strength of this period is that the two tasks do not conflict: decisiveness in affairs coexists perfectly well with softness in relationships, as long as you remember which is for what.
Traditional Description
Above is the trigram Kun (Earth), below is the trigram Dui (Lake), the metaphorical image of this hexagram is a lake solidified on high ground. Both the depth of the waters and the inexhaustible generosity of the earth demonstrate the readiness of the wisest people to support and teach others. Lin notices that we are now in an excellent position to gain the experience and knowledge necessary for our development.
Lin says that you once again have an open path to people. You are in the spotlight, people are drawn to you, seeking your participation. The whirlwind of events might so captivate you that it’s hard to discern where useful communication ends and idle, empty chatter begins. The hexagram isolates enviers or enemies, but you should not engage in mere busywork, occasionally retreat into creativity, reveal your talents and abilities. As a result, you will find yourself at the peak of recognition, will be noticed by influential people, enhance your rating and social prestige, financial position. Not only the brilliance of the mind but also hard work, diligence, patience, discipline will play a positive role in your career. Having received a new post, do not shy away from the work process itself, from responsibilities, show how one should work.
Wherever you go and wherever you find yourself, you will become the soul of the company and the leader in affairs. Friendliness, openness, respect, and open goodwill are the main character traits for this period of life. But do not hurry, the wheel of fortune is already in motion and moves at the prescribed speed.
An alternative understanding of this hexagram is that it describes a situation that needs to be corrected, but this can only be done gradually, analyzing the current situation and finding the best way out. The image of the wise ruler, who thinks tirelessly – is the image of a strategist, over a Go board or chessboard, who does not make thoughtless and hasty moves, especially if the situation requires correction. He approaches problem-solving by studying the circumstances and context of the situation. Lin reminds us that all great deeds were born as a result of solving problems and contradictions.nnnnn
I Ching Talking
Sincere visitation. Happiness.
Hexagram Line Descriptions
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The top line finds the process finished: the active phase is behind, and a deepening of what has been reached sets in. The drawing together becomes sincere at this step in the literal sense — there is nothing left to hide and no reason to, and openness stops being an effort and turns into a natural state. All the earlier experience is drawn into the new system of knowledge and takes its place in it. The result is twofold: good fortune and no blame — a rare case where a completion turns out to be a ripening rather than a decline.
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The fifth step is the summit of the sign. The drawing together becomes known here: experience gathered earlier and fresh contact with the object fuse into one, and knowledge no longer runs after its material but disposes of it freely. Subject and object no longer pull in different directions — their interaction becomes concerted. The text measures that fullness by the standard of a state: to command a situation this way befits a great ruler. The promise of good fortune here is not an advance but a statement of fact.
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The fourth position takes the drawing together into the outer sphere. What was only an intention at the first line reaches its goal here: a person actually comes to the other — to that very other for whose sake the whole thing was undertaken. Conditions are favorable, and self-giving stops being a risk. In terms of knowing, this is the moment of gaining new knowledge not in reflection but in reality, in direct contact with the object. The line is calm: such a step brings no censure.
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The third step is the crisis point: activity has to be shown from a pliant position, and the drawing together turns out pleasant to the taste but closed in. Everything happens inside one's own experience, no movement goes outward, and the main danger here is self-satisfaction: sitting in what has been reached as in warm water and swimming nowhere. Such stagnation is not counted a misfortune in itself. But there is only one way to avoid reproach — to grow concerned in time about what is happening and to treat it with genuine care.
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The second position is the center of the lower trigram, and here the drawing together reaches a natural balance. The cautions needed at the start are already superfluous: the situation carries you itself, the way a current carries a boat going the same way. Moving forward calls for no special effort, and the response from the fifth step — the center of the upper trigram — guarantees in advance that the movement will be met. The text sets no conditions at all: good fortune without reservations, and nothing unfavorable. Of all the steps of the sign this is the most cloudless.
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The first step of drawing together is taken in an atmosphere of rising tension: the connection is only being tied, and a clumsy jerk can tear it. Hence the double requirement of this step — softness in the movement itself and firmness in holding the frame. One enters what is new, whether a person or an idea, with humanity rather than with pressure; but the limits of what is permitted are held strictly, or the first impulse grows into intrusiveness. The line names steadiness as the direct condition of good fortune: whoever holds both the pace and the measure gets the beginning right.
Taken together, the six steps describe a full cycle of meeting something new. First restraint and limits, then an easy middle where everything goes by itself; midway, a sticky sweetness that threatens stagnation, and the way out of it through care; then a real coming to the other, full command of the situation and, at last, the sincerity of completion. The sign insistently repeats one condition on every floor — steadiness, and one warning from the aphorism: a drawing together has a calendar limit. An open door is to be used while it stands open.