Hexagram 19
Approach
Earth over Lake
The judgment
元亨。利贞。至于八月有凶The lake sits under the earth and two strong lines are rising. An approach this favorable has a short season, so take what is close before it moves on.
The image
The earth comes down to the lake and the water rises to meet it. What draws near does so on its own schedule.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.
- 初九Line 1
咸临，贞吉
Moving to join forces at the very start, before footing is firm—first see whether the other side truly means to walk alongside.
Marked in the textauspicious
- 九二Line 2
咸临，吉无不利
Holding the center, reaching out to sense and connect draws a response more readily than pushing alone.
Marked in the textauspiciousnothing works against it
- 六三Line 3
甘临，无攸利。既忧之，无咎
Holding things together with sweet talk stalls the work; noticing this and pulling back leaves room to return.
Marked in the textnothing is servedno blame
- 六四Line 4
至临，无咎
Close to the seat of decision, going down to see conditions firsthand is steadier than hearing it relayed.
Marked in the textno blame
- 六五Line 5
知临，大君之宜，吉
From the leading seat, guiding by seeing the whole picture means trusting your own read over others' accounts.
Marked in the textauspicious
- 上六Line 6
敦临，吉无咎
At the end, closing with a generous, grounded hand—adding no more pressure, leaving room for whoever takes over.
Marked in the textauspiciousno blame
Where each changing line leads
Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.
This page is for reference. To get a hexagram from six throws, cast your own.
The classical text is the Zhouyi, public domain, checked against a Wikisource transcript. The readings are ours. Daily hexagram