小過 → 頤
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 27: Nourishment
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初六 飛鳥以凶。
Six at the beginning means: The bird meets with misfortune through flying.
Line 3
九三 弗過防之。從或戕之。凶。
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。
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
霄冥高山，道險峻難。王孫罷極，困於阪間。
Dark clouds shroud the high mountain; the road is steep and perilous; the noble son, utterly exhausted, is trapped between the slopes.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, and the clouds hang low over towering peaks where the road grows steep and treacherous. A nobleman (王孫) pushes on until utterly exhausted, trapped between the slopes with no way forward or back. The verse captures physical extremity in mountain terrain: mist obscures the summit, the path narrows to nothing, and the traveler's strength fails at the worst possible point. The nobleman's status offers no advantage against geography. From Small Exceeding to Nourishment, the mountain's thunder shifts to thunder beneath the mountain — the image of the open mouth, of feeding and sustaining. The exhausted traveler needs what Nourishment provides: rest, food, and the wisdom to stop climbing when the body has nothing left to give.
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