小過

Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 20: Contemplation

小過
Small Exceeding
Thunder / Mountain
Contemplation
Wind / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 5, 6).

Line 3

九三 弗過防之。從或戕之。凶。

it
guògo beyond
fángto defend
zhīoneself
cóngfrom behind
huòsomebody
qiāngassault
zhīthis one
xiōngunfortunate

Nine in the third place means: If one is not extremely careful, Somebody may come up from behind and strike him. Misfortune.

Line 4

九四 无咎。弗過遇之。往厲必戒。勿用永貞。

avoid
jiùharm
it
guògo beyond
to greet
zhīanother
wǎnggoing
difficult
and require
jièprecaution
do not
yòngpractice
yǒnglasting
zhēnpersistence

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。

thick
yúnclouds
but
rain
coming from
our
西western
jiāohorizon
gōngeven a duke
bowhunts with tethered/harpoon arrows
preferring
that
zàiin
xuécave

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。

without
greeting
guòin
zhīthem
fēiflying
niǎobirds
abandon
zhīthis
xiōngill-omened
shìtrue
wèisignalling
zāiof calamity
shěngand harm

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

Upper TrigramThunder WindThe Arousing → The Gentle
Lower TrigramMountain EarthKeeping Still → The Receptive

Yilin Verse

攘臂反肘,怒不可二。佷戾腹心,无以為市。

Baring arms and thrusting elbows, rage that cannot be shared; a perverse and stubborn heart leaves no one to trade with.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Thunder rumbles above the mountain, and an arm swings back with elbow reversed in violent gesture — rage that cannot be duplicated or shared. A ruthless, perverse heart festers within, and no marketplace can function under such conditions. The verse captures the anatomy of tyrannical anger: the reversed elbow (反肘) suggests force turned inward or misdirected, while the destroyed marketplace signals the collapse of civil exchange. When the ruler's fury becomes ungovernable, commerce — the baseline of social cooperation — ceases. From Small Exceeding to Contemplation, the mountain's thunder transforms into wind moving across the earth, surveying all from above. The shift is from blind rage to panoramic vision: Contemplation offers the perspective that fury forecloses, seeing the whole where anger saw only the provocation.

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