小過

Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 47: Oppression

小過
Small Exceeding
Mountain / Thunder
Oppression
Lake / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6).

Line 1

初六 飛鳥以凶。

fēiflies
niǎobird
is on the way to
xiōngadversity

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。

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 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 WaterThe Arousing → The Deep

Yilin Verse

騷騷擾擾,不安其類。疾在頸項,凶危為憂。

Agitation upon agitation, no peace among its kind; illness lodged in neck and throat; peril and danger bring sorrow.

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

Commentary

Thunder rumbles above the mountain, and everything is turmoil — restless, agitated, nothing settling among its kind. The ailment lodges in the neck and throat, and danger presses in from all sides. The throat is the body's chokepoint: when disease strikes there, breath and sustenance are both threatened simultaneously. The verse connects social disorder (騷騷擾擾, nothing at peace in its proper category) to physical vulnerability (the neck ailment) — as if the body and the body politic suffer from the same constriction. From Small Exceeding to Oppression, the mountain's thunder sinks into a lake drained of water — exhaustion, resources spent, nowhere to draw from. The throat that cannot swallow mirrors the well that cannot give water: the system is blocked at its most vital juncture.

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