歸妹 → 小過
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3).
Line 1
初九 歸妹以娣。跛能履。征吉。
Nine at the beginning means: The marrying maiden as a concubine. A lame man who is able to tread. Undertakings bring good fortune.
Line 2
九二 眇能視。利幽人之貞。
Nine in the second place means: A one-eyed man who is able to see. The perseverance of a solitary man furthers.
Line 3
六三 歸妹以須。反歸以娣。
Six in the third place means: The marrying maiden as a slave. She marries as a concubine.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
然諾不行，欺紿誤人。使我露宿，夜歸溫室。神怒不直，鬼欲求獨。刺擊其目，反言自賊。
Promises unfulfilled, deceit misleads. I am made to sleep in the open; at night I return to the warm room. The spirits rage at injustice; the ghosts seek solitude. They strike at his eyes; his own words become his undoing.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder over lake rises into thunder over mountain: the maiden's unstable bond encounters Small Exceeding's warning against overstepping. Promises are made but never honored; deception misleads and harms. One is forced to sleep outdoors, returning at night to a warm room. The gods are angered by dishonesty; the spirits seek to punish the solitary offender. They strike at his eyes, and his own false words recoil upon him. The verse is a comprehensive study in broken faith: vows abandoned, trust exploited, divine retribution exacted. From the Marrying Maiden to Small Exceeding, thunder atop the mountain creates a sound that carries too far for its source. Small Exceeding demands exceeding reverence, exceeding grief, exceeding frugality. The liar who exceeds in the wrong direction invites heaven's judgment.
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