Hexagram 19: Approach

In the Wilhelm-Baynes translation of the I-Ching (易經 Yìjīng), Hexagram 19, Approach (臨 Lín), is read through Earth (坤 Kūn) over Lake (兌 Duì). The classical sources describe its themes as approach, opportunity, generosity. This is pattern recognition, not prediction.

The Judgment reads: "Approach has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. When the eighth month comes, there will be misfortune.", the Judgment is the I-Ching's classical summary of the situation the hexagram describes, and what the present moment is asking of the reader.

The Image reads: "The earth above the lake: the image of Approach. Thus the superior person is inexhaustible in the will to teach, and without limits in tolerance and protection of the people.", in the classical sources the Image is the elemental picture, the upper and lower trigrams in conversation, that the reader holds while sitting with the hexagram.

Green Aventurine is the traditional pairing for Approach. The classical Chinese gemology lineage associates this stone with the hexagram's central themes, hold it during meditation on the reading. This is reflective practice, not divination-as-prediction.

An I-Ching cast is one consultation. The fuller reading, Four Pillars (四柱 Sì Zhù), Kua personal feng shui, and Compass School sector mapping, reads the hexagram alongside the chart. Master Wei Lin's Master Reading section synthesizes the Book of Changes alongside BaZi and the other Chinese metaphysics traditions.