小過 → 井
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 48: The Well
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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
三河俱合，水怒湧躍。壞我王屋，民困於食。
Three rivers merge as one; water rages and surges; it destroys the royal house; the people starve for food.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain as three rivers converge, their waters surging in furious unison. The royal residence is destroyed, and the people are left without food. The 'three rivers' (三河) may refer to the confluence of the Yellow River, Luo, and Wei — a region historically prone to catastrophic flooding. When multiple waterways merge and rage together, no structure can withstand their combined force. The royal palace's destruction signals that even sovereign power cannot resist natural catastrophe at this scale. From Small Exceeding to the Well, the mountain's thunder transforms into water rising through wood — the ordered, communal sharing of a vital resource. The verse is the Well's nightmare: water that should sustain the community instead destroys it, abundance turned apocalyptic.
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