小過 → 巽
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
飛不遠去，還歸故處，興事多悔。
Flight does not go far; returning to the old place; undertakings bring much regret.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but the bird does not fly far — it circles back to its original perch. Undertaking ventures only brings regret. The verse is a warning against restless initiative: the bird that cannot commit to its departure wastes energy returning to where it started, and every project launched from this position generates remorse rather than results. The circling flight pattern embodies futile ambition — motion without progress, departure without arrival. From Small Exceeding to the Gentle, the mountain's thunder subsides into doubled wind — penetrating, persistent, but without thunderous force. The Gentle counsels patient infiltration rather than dramatic departure. The bird's error was trying to thunder when it should have been breeze: small, steady influence succeeds where grand exits fail.
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