大過

Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding

Standstill
Heaven / Earth
大過
Great Exceeding
Lake / Wind
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 6).

Line 2

六二 包承。小人吉。大人否。亨。

bāoembrace
chéngassignments
xiǎolesser
rénone's
promise
mature
rénhuman being's
negated
hēngfulfillment

Six in the second place means: They bear and endure; This means good fortune for inferior people. The standstill serves to help the great man to attain success.

Line 3

六三 包羞。

bāoembracing
xiūthe shame

Six in the third place means: They bear shame.

Line 6

上九 傾否。先否後喜。

qīngoverturn
the separation
xiānbefore
separation
hòuafter
rejoicing

Nine at the top means: The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramHeaven LakeThe Creative → The Joyous
Lower TrigramEarth WindThe Receptive → The Gentle

Yilin Verse

雄聖伏名,人匿麟遠;走鳳飛北,擾亂未息。

The heroic sage hides his name; the qilin flees from men. The fleeing phoenix flies north; turmoil has not yet ceased.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Heaven and earth stand apart as the heroic sage conceals his name and the people hide the qilin away. The phoenix flees north in disarray, and the turmoil has not ceased. When sages withdraw their presence and auspicious beasts are hidden, the cosmic order itself is in retreat. The qilin captured and the phoenix in flight echo the tradition of the western hunt — when such creatures appear out of season, they signal the exhaustion of the Way. From Standstill to Great Exceeding, Pi's stagnation transforms into the lake submerging the trees — an extraordinary crisis where the ridgepole sags under unbearable weight. The verse captures this moment of structural failure: when both sage and phoenix have fled, the beam cannot hold.

The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store

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