小過 → 大過
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 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 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 5
六五 密雲不雨。自我西郊。公弋取彼在穴。
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。
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
和璧隋珠，為火所燒。冥昧失明，奪精无光，棄於道傍。
The jade disc of He and pearl of Sui, consumed by fire; darkened and blind, losing their light; their brilliance gone, discarded by the roadside.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but the He Shi jade disc and the Marquis of Sui's pearl — two of antiquity's most legendary treasures — are consumed by fire. Brilliance is extinguished, essence is stolen, and the priceless objects are discarded by the roadside. The He Shi Bi (和氏璧) was the jade disc for which Bian He lost both feet, and the Sui pearl (隋珠) was said to have been given by a grateful serpent. Together they represent irreplaceable value, and their burning is an act of cosmic waste. From Small Exceeding to Great Exceeding, thunder above the mountain transforms into the lake submerging the trees — excess compounded. Small excess becomes catastrophic: what began as a minor overstepping ends in the destruction of things that can never be remade.
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