Judgment
Approach has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. When the eighth month comes, there will be misfortune. Use spring energy wisely—document, share, build systems. The garage won't stay open forever.
Image
The earth above the lake: the image of Approach. Thus the superior man is inexhaustible in his will to teach and without limits in his tolerance and protection of the people. The open-source maintainer, the garage mentor, the newsletter writer who says 'come build with us'—this is the pattern.
Countercultural Tech Movement

Homebrew Computer Club — First Meeting in Gordon French's Garage
Gordon French & Fred Moore (1975)
March 5, 1975: Gordon French opens his garage in Menlo Park. Thirty-two people show up—engineers, students, hobbyists—to see an Altair 8800 kit computer. Fred Moore writes the newsletter: "Are you building your own computer? If so, you might like to come." This is lin rendered in silicon: approach without condescension. No credentials required, no tuition, no gatekeeping. Lake below (joyous communication), Earth above (boundless receptivity). The club didn't teach from on high—it met people where they were, shared schematics freely, debugged together. Two yang lines rising from below. Steve Jobs attended. Steve Wozniak showed the Apple I there. But also: Tom Pittman, Lee Felsenstein, ordinary people building extraordinary things. The energy was spring—light returning after institutional winter, knowledge approaching those who'd been locked out. The eighth month came. By 1986, the club dissolved. Personal computers went commercial, garages became corporations, free sharing became proprietary. Nothing lasts. But while it lasted: the homebrew ethic seeded everything.
Historical Context
- Period
- Zhou Dynasty
- Oracle Bone Etymology
- Lake (☱) below, Earth (☷) above—joyous waters rising through receptive soil.
- Traditional Use
- Lin means approach, becoming great. Two strong lines grow from below—light-giving power expands. Linked to the twelfth month when, after winter solstice, light begins to ascend. But the text warns: by the eighth month, there will be misfortune. Growth has seasons.
Lines
Line 1: 咸臨貞吉
Line 2: 咸臨吉無不利
Line 3: 甘臨無攸利既憂之無咎
Line 4: 至臨無咎
Line 5: 知臨大君之宜吉
Line 6: 敦臨吉無咎
Practical Guidance
Transformations
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