否 → 小過
Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
六三 包羞。
Six in the third place means: They bear shame.
Line 5
九五 休否。大人吉。其亡其亡。繫于苞桑。
Nine in the fifth place means: Standstill is giving way. Good fortune for the great man. "What if it should fail, what if it should fail?" In this way he ties it to a cluster of mulberry shoots.
Line 6
上九 傾否。先否後喜。
Nine at the top means: The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
乘龍吐光，使陰復明，燎獵載聖，六師以昌。
Riding the dragon, it emits radiance, making the dark bright once more. A blazing hunt carries the sage; the six armies thereby prosper.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and earth stand sealed, yet one rides a dragon that breathes radiance, causing darkness to turn bright once more. A great hunt blazes forth bearing a sage, and the six armies flourish. From Standstill to Small Exceeding, Pi's total blockage is overwhelmed by an eruption of luminous power — a dragon-rider who restores light to the world. The dragon breathing light evokes the omens of dynastic founding: the dragon-horse, the sage-king, the legitimating hunt that demonstrates heaven's favor. Xiao Guo is thunder above the mountain — small things exceeding their usual bounds. Here the 'small exceeding' is inverted: the sage's radiance exceeds all expectations, and what should be modest bursts into cosmic restoration. Excess in service of the Way is no transgression.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store