小過 → 升
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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
義不勝情，以欲自營。覩利危躬，折角摧頸。
Duty cannot overcome desire; with greed he serves himself; seeing profit, he endangers his body; horns broken, neck snapped.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but righteousness cannot overcome desire — one manages affairs purely for self-interest. Seeing profit, one endangers oneself; horns are snapped and necks are broken. The verse anatomizes greed's mechanics: moral principle exists but cannot restrain appetite, and the pursuit of visible gain leads directly to physical destruction. The broken horns and crushed neck suggest a charging animal that runs headlong into a wall — force without wisdom. From Small Exceeding to Pushing Upward, the mountain's thunder descends into wood growing slowly within the earth — patient, incremental ascent. The verse inverts Pushing Upward's wisdom: instead of rising gradually through accumulated small steps, the greedy one lunges for the prize and shatters against what stands between.
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