萃 → 小過
Hexagram 45: Gathering Together → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 有孚不終。乃亂乃萃。若號一握為笑。勿恤。往无咎。
Six at the beginning means: If you are sincere, but not to the end, There will sometimes be confusion, sometimes gathering together. If you call out, Then after one grasp of the hand you can laugh again. Regret not. Going is without blame.
Line 4
九四 大吉无咎。
Nine in the fourth place means: Great good fortune. No blame.
Line 5
九五 萃有位。无咎匪孚。元永貞。悔亡。
Nine in the fifth place means: If in gathering together one has position, This brings no blame. If there are some who are not yet sincerely in the work, Sublime and enduring perseverance is needed. Then remorse disappears.
Line 6
上六 齎咨涕洟。无咎。
Six at the top means: Lamenting and sighing, floods of tears. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
故室舊廬,消散无餘。不如新創,可以樂居。
The old house, the former dwelling; dissolved and scattered, nothing remains. Better to build anew; a fit place for joyful habitation.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Lake upon earth transforms into thunder above the mountain, the modest Small Exceeding. The old house and former dwelling have dissolved and nothing remains. Better to build anew, creating a place fit for happy habitation. The verse is pragmatic rather than nostalgic: the ancestral home is beyond repair, and clinging to it only delays the necessary fresh start. The counsel is to exceed the small, to go slightly beyond the conventional attachment to old structures and create something that actually works. From Gathering to Small Exceeding, the transformation acknowledges that sometimes what has been gathered must be released. The thunder above the mountain calls for action that slightly exceeds the norm: not revolutionary overthrow but practical rebuilding, letting go of what is irrecoverable in favor of something livable.
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