歸妹 → 小過
Hexagram 54: The Marrying Maiden → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 4, 6).
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 4
九四 歸妹愆期。遲歸有時。
Nine in the fourth place means: The marrying maiden draws out the allotted time. A late marriage comes in due course.
Line 6
上六 女承筐无實。士刲羊无血。无攸利。
Six at the top means: The woman holds the basket, but there are no fruits in it. The man stabs the sheep, but no blood flows. Nothing that acts to further.
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.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store