小過

Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 43: Breakthrough

小過
Small Exceeding
Mountain / Thunder
Breakthrough
Lake / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

Line 2

六二 過其祖。遇其妣。不及其君。遇其臣。无咎。

guòbypassing
one's own
ancestor
to meet with
one's own
grandmother
not
to reach
one's own
jūnleader
but meeting with
that
chénminister
no
jiùblame

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。

it
guògo beyond
fángto defend
zhīoneself
cóngfrom behind
huòsomebody
qiāngassault
zhīthis one
xiōngunfortunate

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。

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 5

六五 密雲不雨。自我西郊。公弋取彼在穴。

thick
yúnclouds
but
rain
coming from
our
西western
jiāohorizon
gōngeven a duke
bowhunts with tethered/harpoon arrows
preferring
that
zàiin
xuécave

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。

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 TrigramMountain LakeKeeping Still → The Joyous
Lower TrigramThunder HeavenThe Arousing → The Creative

Yilin Verse

六疾生狂,癡走妄行。北入患門,與禍為鄰。

Six ailments breed madness; deranged, he walks and wanders wildly; north through the gate of calamity, becoming neighbor to disaster.

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

Commentary

Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but six afflictions breed madness — one rushes about in delusion, acting without reason. Heading north, one enters the gate of calamity and becomes disaster's neighbor. The 'six ailments' (六疾) may refer to the six pathogenic factors of classical medicine or six accumulated errors of governance. The northward movement is ominous: north in traditional cosmology is the direction of darkness and water, associated with danger and the dead. From Small Exceeding to Breakthrough, the mountain's thunder becomes the lake rising to heaven — decisive rupture that sweeps away what is rotten. But the verse shows someone who breaks through in the wrong direction: instead of clearing away evil, the madman breaks through into disaster, mistaking the gate of ruin for the path of liberation.

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