益 → 小過
Hexagram 42: Increase → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 利用為大作。元吉无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: It furthers one to accomplish great deeds. Supreme good fortune. No blame.
Line 3
六三 益之用凶事。无咎。有孚中行。告公用圭。
Six in the third place means: One is enriched through unfortunate events. No blame, if you are sincere And walk in the middle, And report with a seal to the prince.
Line 4
六四 中行。告公從。利用為依遷國。
Six in the fourth place means: If you walk in the middle And report the prince, He will follow. It furthers one to be used In the removal of the capital.
Line 5
九五 有孚惠心。勿問元吉。有孚惠我德。
Nine in the fifth place means: If in truth you have a kind heart, ask not. Supreme good fortune. Truly, kindness will be recognized as your virtue.
Line 6
上九 莫益之。或擊之。立心勿恆。凶。
Nine at the top means: He brings increase to no one. Indeed, someone even strikes him. He does not keep his heart constantly steady. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
月削日衰，工女下機。宇宙滅明，不見三光。
The moon wanes and the sun declines; the weaving woman steps down from her loom. The cosmos dims and loses brightness; the three luminaries are seen no more.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind and thunder bestow increase, but the transformation leads to thunder above the mountain — the cautious smallness of Small Exceeding. The moon wanes and dims day by day; the weaving woman descends from her loom. The cosmos loses its light, and the Three Luminaries — sun, moon, and stars — can no longer be seen. Every image speaks of diminishment: the moon shrinking, the industrious woman ceasing her work, the heavens themselves going dark. The Three Luminaries were the fundamental markers of cosmic order; their disappearance signals not merely bad fortune but ontological crisis. From Increase to Small Exceeding, the dynamic inverts the hexagram's counsel of modest, careful action. Here, the smallness is not prudent restraint but systemic collapse — everything that once shone is fading, and even the most diligent worker cannot continue when the light itself has failed.
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