睽 → 小過
Hexagram 38: Opposition → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 4).
Line 2
九二 遇主于巷。无咎。
Nine in the second place means: One meets his lord in a narrow street. No blame.
Line 4
九四 睽孤。遇元夫。交孚。厲无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Isolated through opposition, One meets a like-minded man With whom one can associate in good faith. Despite the danger, no blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
采薇出車，魚麗思初。上下促急，君子懷憂。
Gathering bracken, sending forth chariots; the fish-scale ranks recall the beginning. Above and below press urgently; the gentleman harbors worry.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire above the lake, and the Shijing's military odes echo through the verse. 'Caiwei' names the soldiers gathering ferns on the frontier as they wait to fight the Xianyun; 'Chu Che' sends war chariots rolling out in defense; 'Yu Li' recalls the feast of fish after a successful campaign. The verse compresses these poetic memories into a single urgent frame: superiors and subordinates press each other anxiously, and the gentleman's heart fills with worry. These odes, from the Xiao Ya section, chronicle the cycle of war — mobilization, hardship, and the longing for peace. From Opposition to Small Exceeding, thunder rumbles above the mountain, and the gentleman practices excessive reverence, excessive grief, and excessive frugality. The transformation counsels that in times of military anxiety, one should err on the side of too much caution rather than too little.
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