小過 → 坎
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 29: The Abysmal Water
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
虞君好神，惠我老親。恭承宗廟，雖慍不去，復我內事。
The Lord of Yu honors the spirits, blessing my aged parents; reverently serving the ancestral temple; though vexed, he does not leave; he restores my household affairs.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, and the lord of Yu is devoted to the spirits, honoring his aged kin. He reverently maintains the ancestral temple, and though displeasure arises, he does not depart but continues managing internal affairs. The verse portrays a ruler whose piety anchors him to his duties despite adversity. The lord of Yu (虞君) maintains temple rites and family obligations even when pressured or provoked — his devotion to the spirits keeps him in place when political wisdom might counsel flight. From Small Exceeding to the Abysmal, the mountain's thunder becomes doubled water — peril upon peril. Yet the lord's refusal to abandon his post mirrors the Abysmal's teaching: when danger is constant, one survives not by fleeing but by maintaining inner sincerity through repeated trials.
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