小過 → 需
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 5: Waiting
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5).
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 4
九四 无咎。弗過遇之。往厲必戒。勿用永貞。
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。
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
使伯東求，拒不肯行。與叔爭訟，更相毀傷。
The elder brother was sent east on a mission, but refused to go; with the younger brother he entered into litigation, and they wounded each other.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but the envoy refuses his mission. Ordered to send the elder brother east on a diplomatic errand, the younger brother resists and will not go. The siblings then fall into litigation, each inflicting harm upon the other. What should be cooperative governance — one brother dispatched, another managing affairs at home — collapses into fraternal rivalry. The verse portrays authority that cannot command obedience even within a household. From Small Exceeding to Waiting, the mountain's thunder transforms into water suspended above heaven — danger that has not yet fallen. The brothers' mutual destruction is not yet complete; it hangs overhead like gathering clouds, each party waiting for the other to break first.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store