小過 → 師
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 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 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
匠卿操斧，豫章危殆。袍衣脫剝，祿命訖已。
The master carpenter wields his axe; the great camphor tree is imperiled; robes are stripped away; salary and fate have reached their end.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder rumbles above the mountain as the master carpenter raises his axe, and the great camphor tree stands in mortal danger. Robes are stripped away; salary and destiny reach their end. The camphor (豫章) was among the most prized timbers of ancient China — its felling signals the destruction of something magnificent for utilitarian purposes. The carpenter-minister (匠卿) wields his authority like a blade, and what took centuries to grow falls in an afternoon. From Small Exceeding to the Army, the mountain's thunder descends into water hidden within the earth — disciplined force concealed beneath the surface. The verse warns that institutional power, once mobilized against the exceptional, operates with military efficiency: the axe falls, the robes are stripped, and the matter is finished.
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