小過 → 師
Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding → Hexagram 7: The Army
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).
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 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.
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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