小過 → 乾
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 1: The Creative
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 飛鳥以凶。
Six at the beginning means: The bird meets with misfortune through flying.
Line 2
六二 過其祖。遇其妣。不及其君。遇其臣。无咎。
Six in the second place means: She passes by her ancestor And meets her ancestress. He does not reach his prince And meets the official. No blame.
Line 5
六五 密雲不雨。自我西郊。公弋取彼在穴。
Six in the fifth place means: Dense clouds, No rain from our western territory. The prince shoots and hits him who is in the cave.
Line 6
上六 弗遇過之。飛鳥離之。凶。是謂災眚。
Six at the top means: He passes him by, not meeting him. The flying bird leaves him. Misfortune. This means bad luck and injury.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
積德累仁，靈祐順信，福祉日增。
Accumulating virtue and benevolence; the spirits grant protection and trust; blessings and fortune increase daily.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, and small acts exceed their station. Yet here the excess is virtuous: accumulated merit and benevolence invite spiritual protection, and blessings multiply daily. The verse distills an entire ethic into three phrases — store virtue, earn heaven's favor, watch fortune grow. No dramatic reversal, no named hero; just the quiet arithmetic of moral capital compounding over time. From Small Exceeding to the Creative, the mountain's cautious thunder transforms into heaven's self-generating power. What begins as modest overreach — doing slightly more than required — eventually becomes the sovereign initiative of one whose goodness has earned its own momentum. The small excess, faithfully sustained, graduates into creative authority.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store