小過

Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding

Pushing Upward
Earth / Wind
小過
Small Exceeding
Mountain / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).

Line 1

初六 允升大吉。

yǔnwelcome
shēngadvance
much
promise

Six at the beginning means: Pushing upward that meets with confidence Brings great good fortune.

Line 2

九二 孚乃利用禴。无咎。

sincerity
nǎiis
the real worth
yòngin
yuèthe modest

Nine in the second place means: If one is sincere, It furthers one to bring even a small offering. No blame.

Line 3

九三 升虛邑。

shēngadvancing on
empty
town

Nine in the third place means: One pushes upward into an empty city.

Line 6

上六 冥升。利于不息之貞。

míngthe blind
shēngadvance
worthwhile
to
not being
laxity
zhīin
zhēnpersistence

Six at the top means: Pushing upward in darkness. It furthers one To be unremittingly persevering.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth MountainThe Receptive → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramWind ThunderThe Gentle → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

天所佑助,萬國日有。福至禍去,壽命長久。

What heaven aids and sustains, the ten thousand states receive day by day. Blessings arrive, misfortune departs; life and longevity endure long.

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

Commentary

Wood grows within the earth, and heaven itself extends its protecting aid to the realm below. The ten thousand states flourish with each passing day; blessings arrive steadily while misfortune departs, and life extends long and full toward a natural completion. The verse reads as an unambiguous benediction from the cosmos: divine favor, universal prosperity, and the steady replacement of ill fortune with good across the whole world. Thunder over mountain, the image of Small Exceeding, counsels actions that slightly exceed convention — humility pressed a degree beyond custom, frugality taken one step further than expected. From Pushing Upward to Small Exceeding, the ascending impulse is tempered by modesty. Heaven's aid comes precisely to those who do a little more than required in virtue, never in ambition.

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