小過

Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding

Youthful Folly
Mountain / Water
小過
Small Exceeding
Mountain / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 2).

Line 1

初六 發蒙。利用刑人。用說桎梏。以往吝。

educating
méngthe inexperienced
worthwhile
yòngand useful
xíngto sanction
rénanother
yòngif used
shuōto remove
zhìshackles
handcuffs
but for this
wǎngto continue
lìndisgrace

Six at the beginning means: To make a fool develop It furthers one to apply discipline. The fetters should be removed. To go on in this way bring humiliation.

Line 2

九二 包蒙吉。納婦吉。子克家。

bāoincluding
méngthe inexperienced
promising
accepting
woman
promising
young one
can manage
jiāfamily

Nine in the second place means: To bear with fools in kindliness brings good fortune. To know how to take women Brings good fortune. The son is capable of taking charge of the household.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain Mountain
Lower TrigramWater ThunderThe Deep → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

雉兔之東,狼虎所從。貪叨凶惡,不可止息。

Where pheasant and rabbit head east, wolf and tiger follow. Greedy, violent, and cruel; they cannot be stopped.

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

Commentary

A spring beneath the mountain runs into predator country. Pheasants and hares head east, but wolves and tigers follow in their tracks. Greed and cruelty rage without restraint, impossible to stop. The prey animals move first; the predators trail behind, turning the same path into a killing ground. The verse is pure menace — no rescue, no moral, only the relentless logic of pursuit. From Youthful Folly to Small Exceeding, thunder atop the mountain should counsel excessive caution — going too far in humility, in mourning, in frugality. Yet here excess takes the form of unchecked predation. The naif discovers that smallness offers no protection when the pursuer exceeds all bounds. In a world where wolves know no limit, even small exceeding becomes existential.

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