震 → 小過
Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 4, 6).
Line 4
九四 震遂泥。
Nine in the fourth place means: Shock is mired.
Line 6
上六 震索索。視矍矍。征凶。震不于其躬。于其鄰。无咎。婚媾有言。
Six at the top means: Shock brings ruin and terrified gazing around. Going ahead brings misfortune. If it has not yet touched one's own body But has reached one's neighbor first, There is no blame. One's comrades have something to talk about.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
石門晨啟，荷蕢疾貧。遁世隱居，竟不逢時。
The stone gate opens at dawn; the basket-bearer grieves his poverty. Withdrawing from the world, dwelling in seclusion; in the end, he never meets his time.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder doubled meets thunder over mountain: shock exceeding slightly into Small Exceeding. The stone gate opens at dawn; the basket-carrier laments poverty. Withdrawing from the world to live in seclusion, he ultimately never meets his time. The verse alludes to two Analerta passages from the Xianwen chapter: the gatekeeper at the Stone Gate (石門) who recognizes Confucius as 'the one who knows it cannot be done but does it anyway,' and the man carrying a basket (荷蕢) who hears Confucius playing the chiming stone and perceives his frustrated ambition. Both are recluses who chose withdrawal over futile engagement. From The Arousing to Small Exceeding, thunder above mountain, the small bird should not fly too high. The verse embodies the recluse's judgment: better to exceed in humility than to persist in a world that refuses to listen.
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