I Ching hexagram 19
Hexagram 19: Lin
Approach · 地澤臨 · Earth above, Lake below
Growing influence calls for care in how you approach people, and growth does not last forever.
What this hexagram is about
Your influence over others is growing, as a new manager's does, and you must decide how to approach them. Lin (Approach) shows the earth leaning over a lake, like someone bending down toward those below, and the lines compare real care with flattery.
A way to think about it
Where is your influence growing, at work or at home? Ask whether the way you approach people there comes from real care or from wanting to be liked.
The text, with Legge's translation
Judgment
元亨。利貞。至于八月有凶。
Lin (indicates that under the conditions supposed in it) there will be great progress and success, while it will be advantageous to be firmly correct. In the eighth month there will be evil.
A growing force draws near, and the judgment calls it great and open as long as it stays correct. It also warns that by the eighth month things turn bad, so growth should not be assumed.
Image
澤上有地，臨；君子以教思无窮，容保民无疆。
(The trigram for) the waters of a marsh and that for the earth above it form Lin. The superior man, in accordance with this, has his purposes of instruction that are inexhaustible, and nourishes and supports the people without limit.
Line 1 · 初九
咸臨，貞吉。
The first line, undivided, shows its subject advancing in company (with the subject of the second line). Through his firm correctness there will be good fortune.
You come close by moving people through real feeling, with a partner moving alongside you, and if you stay correct this goes well.
Line 2 · 九二
咸臨，吉无不利。
The second line, undivided, shows its subject advancing in company (with the subject of the first line). There will be good fortune; (advancing) will be in every way advantageous.
Again you come close through shared feeling, this time from a stronger position. Nothing works against this approach.
Line 3 · 六三
甘臨，无攸利。既憂之，无咎。
The third line, divided, shows one well pleased (indeed) to advance, (but whose action) will be in no way advantageous. If he become anxious about it (however), there will be no error.
Approaching with sweet talk and charm leads nowhere good. Once you worry about it and correct course, the fault is gone.
Line 4 · 六四
至臨，无咎。
The fourth line, divided, shows one advancing in the highest mode. There will be no error.
Coming as close as you can, face to face, with real presence, is an approach nothing can fault.
Line 5 · 六五
知臨，大君之宜，吉。
The fifth line, divided, shows the advance of wisdom, such as befits the great ruler. There will be good fortune.
Wisdom in approach means knowing your helpers and trusting them with their parts. This is how a great ruler works, and it reads well.
Line 6 · 上六
敦臨，吉无咎。
The sixth line, divided, shows the advance of honesty and generosity. There will be good fortune, and no error.
Honest, open-handed generosity from a high place is the final form of approach, and the reading is favorable and free of fault.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi, public domain. English: James Legge, The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882), public domain. Plain notes written by this site.
Questions
I cast hexagram 19. Which text do I read?
With no changing lines, read the judgment: "Lin (indicates that under the conditions supposed in it) there will be great progress and success, while it will be advantageous to be firmly correct. In the eighth month there will be evil." With changing lines, read the lines that changed. When several change at once, Zhu Xi's rules decide which text leads, and the casting page marks it for you.
What are the nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams of Lin?
The nuclear hexagram is 24. Fu (Return). The opposite is 33. Dun (Retreat). The inverted hexagram is 20. Guan (Contemplation).