坎 → 小過
Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5).
Line 2
九二 坎有險。求小得。
Nine in the second place means: The abyss is dangerous. One should strive to attain small things only.
Line 3
六三 來之坎坎。險且枕。入于坎窞。勿用。
Six in the third place means: Forward and backward, abyss on abyss. In danger like this, pause at first and wait, Otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss. Do not act this way.
Line 4
六四 樽酒簋貳。用缶。納約自牖。終无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: A jug of wine, a bowl of rice with it; Earthen vessels Simply handed in through the Window. There is certainly no blame in this.
Line 5
九五 坎不盈。祗既平。无咎。
Nine in the fifth place means: The abyss is not filled to overflowing, It is filled only to the rim. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
求鹿過山，與利為怨，闇聾不言，誰知其懽。
Seeking deer, one crosses the mountain; gain turns to grievance. Dim and deaf, none will speak; who knows their joy?
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon water, the hunter's quest goes awry. Pursuing deer beyond the mountain, the search for profit turns into resentment — what was desired becomes a source of bitterness. Deaf and blind to one's surroundings, unable to speak, who can know if there was ever any joy? The verse is about pursuit that blinds: so fixated on the quarry that all other perception shuts down, the hunter cannot hear, see, or communicate, and pleasure itself becomes unrecognizable. From The Abysmal to Small Exceeding, thunder rumbles above the mountain — the small bird that should not fly too high. Exceeding one's proper range in pursuit of gain produces exactly this: sensory shutdown and joyless acquisition.
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