小過 → 坤
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 2: The Receptive
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 6).
Line 1
初六 飛鳥以凶。
Six at the beginning means: The bird meets with misfortune through flying.
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
謹慎重言，不幸遭患。周邵述職，脫免牢開。
Cautious and measured in speech, yet misfortune still befalls; Zhou Shao fulfilled his duties, and was released from prison, set free.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but words spoken too carefully still invite misfortune. One guards one's speech with utmost caution, yet disaster falls regardless. Then the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao fulfill their duties, and the prisoner is released from confinement. The verse traces an arc from unjust suffering to institutional deliverance: careful conduct cannot prevent false accusation, but righteous officials can undo the damage. Zhou Gong and Shao Gong, the twin pillars of early Zhou governance, represent administrative justice that corrects what individual prudence could not prevent. From Small Exceeding to the Receptive, thunder's agitation settles into earth's vast acceptance. The crisis passes not through resistance but through yielding to a greater order that absorbs and resolves injustice.
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