小過

Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 6: Conflict

小過
Small Exceeding
Thunder / Mountain
Conflict
Heaven / Water
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).

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 3

九三 弗過防之。從或戕之。凶。

it
guògo beyond
fángto defend
zhīoneself
cóngfrom behind
huòsomebody
qiāngassault
zhīthis one
xiōngunfortunate

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。

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 TrigramThunder HeavenThe Arousing → The Creative
Lower TrigramMountain WaterKeeping Still → The Deep

Yilin Verse

手足易處,頭尾顛倒。公為雌嫗,亂其蚕織。

Shoes worn backwards, left and right reversed. Reading the book from the end to the beginning. The general wields a pestle while the soldier holds the seal — the whole hall in uproar, no one's word is master.

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

Commentary

Thunder rumbles above the mountain, but all order is inverted. The original verse reads: hands and feet swap places, head and tail are reversed; the lord becomes a crone spinning silk, tangling the weaving. Shoes are worn backward, books read from end to beginning, the general wields a pestle while the soldier holds the seal of command. The imagery is systematic inversion — every hierarchy upended, every role misassigned. Authority disintegrates not through rebellion but through absurd misplacement: those with power lack competence, those with skill lack authority. From Small Exceeding to Conflict, the mountain's excess thunder becomes heaven and water moving in opposite directions. Disorder here is not chaotic violence but structural contradiction — each element pulling away from its proper alignment.

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