小過 → 大畜
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 26: Great Taming
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 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 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 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
陰淫所居,盈溢過度,傷害禾稼。
Yin excess pervades the land; overflow and surfeit beyond measure; crops and grain lie ruined.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but excessive yin moisture saturates the dwelling, overflowing beyond all measure and damaging the crops. The verse is a compressed agricultural disaster: too much of what nourishes becomes destructive when it exceeds proper limits. Rain that should sustain the grain instead drowns it; moisture that should keep the house cool instead rots the foundation. The imagery perfectly embodies Small Exceeding's core warning — the small thing that goes slightly too far. From Small Exceeding to Great Taming, the mountain's thunder transforms into heaven stored within the mountain. What overflows here needs containment, and Great Taming offers exactly that: the mountain's capacity to hold heaven's energy without letting it spill. The cure for excess is not elimination but proper restraint.
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