鼎 → 小過
Hexagram 50: The Cauldron → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4).
Line 1
初六 鼎顛趾。利出否。得妾以其子。无咎。
Six at the beginning means: A ting with legs upturned. Furthers removal of stagnating stuff. One takes a concubine for the sake of her son. No blame.
Line 2
九二 鼎有實。我仇有疾。不我能即。吉。
Nine in the second place means: There is food in the ting. My comrades are envious, But they cannot harm me. Good fortune.
Line 3
九三 鼎耳革。其行塞。雉膏不食。方雨虧悔。終吉。
Nine in the third place means: The handle of the ting is altered. One is impeded in his way of life. The fat of the pheasant is not eaten. Once rain falls, remorse is spent. Good fortune comes in the end.
Line 4
九四 鼎折足。覆公餗。其形渥。凶。
Nine in the fourth place means: The legs of the ting are broken. The prince's meal is spilled And his person is soiled. Misfortune. A man has a difficult and responsible task to which he is not adequate. Moreover, he does not devote himself to it with all his strength but goes about with inferior people; therefore the execution of the work fails. In this way he also incurs personal opprobrium. Confucius says about this line: "Weak character coupled with honored place, meager knowledge with large plans, limited powers with heavy responsibility, will seldom escape disaster. "
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
蔡侯朝楚，留連江渚。踰時歷月，思其君后。
The Marquis of Cai pays court at Chu, lingering long upon the river shore. Months pass beyond the appointed time; he thinks of his lord and queen.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire over wind fills the cauldron; thunder echoes above the mountain in Small Exceeding. The Marquis of Cai pays court to Chu but is detained along the river's edge. Months pass beyond the appointed time, and he longs for his own lord and court. This references Marquis Zhao of Cai, who visited Chu and was held there — according to tradition, because he refused to surrender a prized fur robe to the Chu minister Zi Chang. Detained far from home, he ached with homesickness and political helplessness. From The Cauldron to Small Exceeding, the transformation reveals a minor transgression — a slight overstep in etiquette or pride — that generates disproportionate consequences. Thunder on the mountain: a small excess reverberates far beyond its size. The cauldron's guest became a prisoner because propriety was exceeded by just a fraction.
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