升 → 小過
Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 6).
Line 1
初六 允升大吉。
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。
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。
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。
Six at the top means: Pushing upward in darkness. It furthers one To be unremittingly persevering.
Trigram Changes
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.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store