小過

Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 22: Grace

小過
Small Exceeding
Thunder / Mountain
Grace
Mountain / Fire
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 6).

Line 1

初六 飛鳥以凶。

fēiflies
niǎobird
is on the way to
xiōngadversity

Six at the beginning means: The bird meets with misfortune through flying.

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 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 MountainThe Arousing → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramMountain FireKeeping Still → The Clinging

Yilin Verse

忠信輔成,王政不傾。公劉肇舉,文武綏之。

Loyalty and trust assist completion; the king's rule does not falter; Duke Liu began the work; Wen and Wu brought peace.

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

Commentary

Thunder rumbles above the mountain, and loyalty and trustworthiness support the throne — the king's governance does not topple. Duke Liu (公劉) initiated the Zhou people's rise, and Kings Wen and Wu brought it to completion. The verse traces the Zhou dynasty's foundational arc: from Duke Liu's establishment of the agricultural settlement at Bin, through generations of accumulated virtue, to the martial and cultural perfection of Wen and Wu. Loyalty and trust (忠信) are the structural pillars that keep the edifice standing. From Small Exceeding to Grace, the mountain's thunder transforms into fire glowing beneath the mountain — beauty that illuminates without consuming. The Zhou achievement is presented as adornment of substance: power refined into culture, raw virtue polished into lasting civilization.

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