臨Lin · Approach
In one sentence
Momentum is rising and you can push ahead actively, but remember it won't keep rising forever.
The good forces are growing, and you are in a position to lead and move others. Lead and help people with sincerity, not with sweet talk or pressure. Prepare ahead of time for when the tide turns.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- Momentum is rising and people listen when you speak, so you can push ahead freely and bring others along with you. Lead people through sincerity and patient teaching, not through sweet talk and not through pressure. While things are going well, lay the groundwork that needs laying; remember that a day will come when it falls back, and keep something in reserve ahead of time.
- Love
- The relationship is warming up, and you are the one who is more active and more able to draw the other person along. You can approach openly, and be generous with tolerance and care. But do it with a true heart, not by coaxing with sweet words, and certainly not by controlling the other person. When it is hot, do not assume it will always be this hot; use this time to build a solid base.
- Money
- Ways of earning are opening up; you can be more active and move in where you should. But when a lot is coming in, it is easiest to spend freely and easiest to believe it will keep rising. While you have room, set an extra share aside and prepare for the time when things turn thin; do not take the present good stretch for the normal state.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsThings go through in a big way, and it is favorable to stay true. But come the eighth month there will be misfortune — when momentum is at its height, think of the day it will ebb.
The Tuan commentary
臨，剛浸而長。說而順，剛中而應，大亨以正，天之道也。至于八月有凶，消不久也。
Lin: the firm gradually advances and grows. Glad and compliant; the firm is in the center and is answered. Great success through being correct: this is the way of heaven. "When the eighth month comes, there is misfortune": the waning is not long off.
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
澤上有地，臨。君子以教思无窮，容保民无疆。
Earth above the lake: Lin (Approach). The noble one is inexhaustible in teaching and caring, and boundless in sheltering and protecting the people.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text咸臨，貞吉。Approaching through influence. Staying true brings good fortune.In plain wordsDealing with those below you by moving their hearts. Stay true, and there is good fortune. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text咸臨，吉无不利。Approaching through influence. Good fortune; nothing that is not favorable.In plain wordsLeading people by moving their hearts, with momentum still on the rise. Good fortune, nothing that is not favorable. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text甘臨，无攸利。既憂之，无咎。Sweet approach. Nothing is favorable. Once one worries over it, no blame.In plain wordsDealing with people through nice words and a pleasant face does no good at all. But if you are already worried about it and willing to change, there is no blame. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text至臨，无咎。Approaching all the way. No blame.In plain wordsGoing right up to people in person, treating those below you closely and genuinely. No blame. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text知臨，大君之宜，吉。Approaching with wisdom. This befits a great ruler. Good fortune.In plain wordsLeading with wisdom: not showing off your own ability, but freely entrusting capable people. This is how a leader should be. Good fortune. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text敦臨，吉无咎。Generous approach. Good fortune, no blame.In plain wordsTreating people with a generous, honest heart, and staying that way to the end. Good fortune, no blame. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Lin belongs to the second pentad of Major Cold, “Hawks fly high and fierce” (January 25 to January 29, 2027). It is also one of the twelve sovereign hexagrams, standing for the twelfth month of the traditional calendar: two yang lines below, as yang grows.
The twelve sovereign hexagrams → The 24 solar terms, 72 pentads and their hexagrams →