小過

Hexagram 41: Decrease → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding

Decrease
Mountain / Lake
小過
Small Exceeding
Mountain / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 1 changing line (line 2).

Line 2

九二 利貞。征凶。弗損益之。

(it is) worthwhile
zhēnto persist
zhēng(but) to expedite
xiōng(is) ill-omened
(there is) neither
sǔn(of
(nor
zhīhere

Nine in the second place means: Perseverance furthers. To undertake something brings misfortune. Without decreasing oneself, One is able to bring increase to others.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramMountain Mountain
Lower TrigramLake ThunderThe Joyous → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

涸旱不雨,澤竭无流。魚鱉乾口,皇天不憂。

Parched drought without rain; the marshes dry, no water flows. Fish and turtles gasp with parched mouths; august Heaven shows no concern.

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

Commentary

Mountain above lake transforms into thunder above mountain — Small Exceeding, where the small bird flies too high and loses its way. Drought grips the land without rain; the marsh dries up and streams cease to flow. Fish and turtles gasp with parched mouths, yet heaven shows no concern. The verse describes ecological catastrophe with theological silence: the creatures suffer, and the sky offers nothing. From Decrease to Small Exceeding, the lake evaporates into thunder that rumbles above the mountain without releasing rain — sound without substance, excess without effect. Small Exceeding warns against overreach in small matters; here even the small is denied. Decrease has emptied the reservoir, and the thunder's empty promise only mocks the drought below. Heaven's indifference is the final cruelty: the pattern decreases, and no one intervenes.

The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store

Related Pages