小過

Hexagram 5: Waiting → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding

Waiting
Water / Heaven
小過
Small Exceeding
Thunder / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5).

Line 1

初九 需于郊。利用恆。无咎。

waiting
on
jiāothe outskirts
worthwhile
yònguseful
héngwhat endures
no
jiùblame

Nine at the beginning means: Waiting in the meadow. It furthers one to abide in what endures. No blame.

Line 2

九二 需于沙。小有言。終吉。

waiting
on
shāthe sand
xiǎothe small
yǒuhave
yánthings to say
zhōngin the end
auspicious

Nine in the second place means: Waiting on the sand. There is some gossip. The end brings good fortune.

Line 4

六四 需于血。出自穴。

waiting
in
xuèblood
chūemerge
from
xuéthat

Six in the fourth place means: Waiting in blood. Get out of the pit.

Line 5

九五 需于酒食。貞吉。

waiting
amidst
jiǔwine
shífood
zhēnpersistence
promising

Nine in the fifth place means: Waiting at meat and drink. Perseverance brings good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWater ThunderThe Deep → The Arousing
Lower TrigramHeaven MountainThe Creative → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

焱風忽起,車馳揭揭。棄名追亡,失其和節,憂心惙惙。

A sudden storm erupts; the carriage races, rattling and swaying. Abandoning reputation to chase what is lost; harmony and rhythm are broken. The heart aches with anxious dread.

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

Commentary

Clouds above heaven descend to thunder atop the mountain — Small Exceeding's bird that should fly low, not high. A violent windstorm erupts; chariots race wildly, wheels rattling. One abandons reputation to pursue the fleeing, losing harmony and proper rhythm, the heart fluttering in distress. Everything about this scene is out of measure: the wind too sudden, the pursuit too reckless, the cost too great. The verse enacts the very excess that Small Exceeding warns against — going beyond what is appropriate in small matters until everything unravels. From Waiting to Small Exceeding, patience snaps into overreaction: the small bird overshoots its mark, and what began as minor urgency becomes a full-scale loss of composure and purpose.

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