小過 → 隨
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 17: Following
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 4, 5, 6).
Line 4
九四 无咎。弗過遇之。往厲必戒。勿用永貞。
Nine in the fourth place means: No blame. He meets him without passing by. Going brings danger. One must be on guard. Do not act. Be constantly persevering.
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
雨師娶婦，黃巖季子。成禮既婚，相呼南上，膏我下土，年歲大有。
The Rain Master takes a bride, the maiden of Yellow Cliff; the rites complete, the wedding done, together they ascend south; their grace anoints my soil, and the year yields great abundance.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain as the Rain Master takes a bride — the daughter of Huangyan's youngest son. The wedding rites complete, the couple calls out to the south, rain irrigates the soil below, and the harvest is abundant. The Rain Master (雨師) is a deity controlling rainfall, sometimes identified with Chisongzi of Shennong's era. His marriage represents the cosmic union of heaven's moisture with earth's fertility. The wedding procession heading south follows the seasonal pattern of rain-bearing winds. From Small Exceeding to Following, thunder above the mountain becomes thunder resting within the lake — energy that yields to natural rhythm. The rain follows the season, the harvest follows the rain: abundance comes not from force but from aligning with the cycle willingly.
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