乾 → 小過
Hexagram 1: The Creative → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5).
Line 2
九二 見龍在田。利見大人。
Nine in the second place means: Dragon appearing in the field. It furthers one to see the great man.
Line 3
九三 君子終日乾乾。夕惕若厲。无咎。
Nine in the third place means: All day long the superior man is creatively active. At nightfall his mind is still beset with cares. Danger. No blame.
Line 4
九四 或躍在淵。无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Wavering flight over the depths. No blame.
Line 5
九五 飛龍在天。利見大人。
Nine in the fifth place means: Flying dragon in the heavens. It furthers one to see the great man.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
從風放火，荻芝俱死。三害集房，叔子中傷。
Setting fire with the wind; rushes and angelica all die. Three harms gather in the house; the young uncle is wounded.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire is set downwind and spreads rapidly — reeds and lingzhi mushrooms alike perish in the blaze. Three calamities converge upon the household; the youngest son is struck and wounded. From Creative to Small Exceeding, thunder rumbles atop the mountain — the small bird that should not climb too high nor descend too low. The verse shows what happens when a small fire exceeds its proper scope: driven by wind, it consumes indiscriminately, destroying the precious lingzhi along with common reeds. Xiao Guo warns against overstepping in small matters; here, a modest flame, carelessly directed, escalates into compound disaster. The youngest son's injury suggests that it is the most vulnerable who suffer most when small transgressions are left unchecked.
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