Upper Trigram
艮 Gèn
Mountain — Stillness
Lower Trigram
震 Zhèn
Thunder — Arousing
Classical Texts
The Judgment
Success. Persistence furthers. Small things may be done; great things should not be done. The flying bird brings the message: It is not well to strive upward, it is well to remain below. Great good fortune. Exceptional modesty and conscientiousness are sure to be rewarded with success; however, it is important that they should not become empty form and subservience but be combined always with correct dignity in personal behavior. We must understand the demands of the time to find the necessary offset for its deficiencies. We must not count on great success, since the requisite strength is lacking. A bird should not try to surpass itself and fly into the sun; it should descend to the earth, where its nest is.
The Lines
Line 1
The bird meets with misfortune through flying. A bird ought to remain in the nest until it is fledged. If it tries to fly before this, it invites misfortune. Extraordinary measures should be resorted to only when all else fails. At first, put up with traditional ways as long as possible; otherwise you exhaust yourself and still achieve nothing.
Line 2
She passes by her ancestor and meets her ancestress. He does not reach his prince and meets the official. No blame. This unusual behavior is an expression of modesty. She ventures to approach the ancestress, for she feels related to her by common sex. Hence here deviation from the rule is not a mistake. Another image: the official who conscientiously fulfills duty, taking place among other officials. This extraordinary restraint is likewise not a mistake in exceptional times.
Line 3
If one is not extremely careful, somebody may come up from behind and strike. Misfortune. At certain times extraordinary caution is absolutely necessary. But upright and strong personalities who are conscious of being in the right disdain to hold themselves on guard because they consider it petty. This self-confidence deludes them. There are dangers lurking for which they are unprepared. Such danger is not unavoidable; one can escape it if one understands that the time demands attention to small and insignificant things.
Line 4
No blame. He meets him without passing by. Going brings danger. One must be on guard. Do not act. Be constantly persevering. Hardness of character is tempered by yielding position so that no mistakes are made. The situation calls for extreme caution; one must make no attempt of one's own initiative to reach the desired end. Going on would bring danger. Therefore, be on guard and not act but continue inwardly to persevere.
Line 5
Dense clouds, no rain from our western territory. The prince shoots and hits him who is in the cave. In exceptional times there may be a born ruler qualified to set the world in order, but who cannot achieve anything or confer blessing because they stand alone and have no helpers. In such times you must seek out helpers with whose aid you can carry out the task. But these helpers must be modestly sought out in the retirement to which they have withdrawn. It is not their fame but their genuine achievements that are important.
Line 6
He passes him by, not meeting him. The flying bird leaves him. Misfortune. This means bad luck and injury. If one overshoots the goal, one cannot hit it. If a bird will not come to its nest but flies higher and higher, it eventually falls into the hunter's net. He who in times of preponderance of small things does not know how to call a halt, but restlessly seeks to press on and on, draws upon himself misfortune at the hands of gods and men, because he deviates from the order of nature.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 62 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.
初雖驚惶，後反无傷，受其福慶。
At first, though alarmed and frightened; afterward, no harm comes; receiving blessings and good fortune.
Read full commentary ↓
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, returning to itself. At first there is alarm and fright, but afterward no harm comes — blessings and good fortune are received. The verse captures Small Exceeding's own nature in its purest form: the initial shock of exceeding one's proper bounds, followed by the discovery that the excess was benign all along. The thunder startles but does not strike; the mountain shakes but does not fall. When source and target are identical, the hexagram speaks to itself, revealing its core teaching: small transgressions, handled with humility, resolve into benefit rather than punishment. The bird that flies slightly too high discovers it can see farther. The one who bows too deeply earns unexpected respect. Excess in the direction of caution becomes its own reward.
中文注释
山上有雷，小過復歸自身。初雖驚惶——起初驚恐不安，雷動山搖之際難免恐懼。後反无傷——然而事後發現並無損傷。受其福慶——反而得到福澤慶祥。此為小過之本義以最純粹之形式呈現：稍逾其分之初始驚恐，繼而發現此過本為善意。雷驚而不擊，山搖而不崩。源卦與變卦相同，卦自言其道：小小之逾越，以謙卑處之，化罰為福。飛略高之鳥發現望更遠，鞠過深之人反得意外敬重。朝謹慎方向之過度，本身即為獎賞。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Mountain (艮)
Same lower trigram: Thunder (震)