謙 → 小過
Hexagram 15: Modesty → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 4).
Line 4
六四 无不利撝謙。
Six in the fourth place means: Nothing that would not further modesty In movement.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
梅李冬實,國多賊盜;擾亂並作,王不能制。
Plum and apricot bear fruit in winter; the state swarms with thieves and bandits. Turmoil erupts on every side; the king cannot control it.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Earth holds the mountain, but plum and pear trees fruit in winter — a portentous inversion of natural order. The state is overrun with bandits; disorder erupts on all sides, and the king cannot control it. Trees bearing fruit out of season is a traditional omen of political chaos: nature's calendar disrupted mirrors governance gone awry. From Modesty to Small Exceeding, thunder rumbles atop the mountain, a small creature flying too high. Small Exceeding counsels humility in action — 'err on the side of deference, grief, and frugality.' Yet the verse shows a kingdom where even these modest correctives have failed: the king's authority is insufficient, and the bandits exceed all bounds. When seasonal order collapses, small excesses compound into uncontrollable disorder.
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