既濟 → 小過
Hexagram 63: After Completion → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 5, 6).
Line 3
九三 高宗伐鬼方。三年克之。小人勿用。
Nine in the third place means: The Illustrious Ancestor Disciplines the Devil's Country. After three years he conquers it. Inferior people must not be employed.
Line 5
九五 東鄰殺牛。不如西鄰之禴祭。實受其福。
Nine in the fifth place means: The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox Does not attain as much real happiness As the neighbor in the west With his small offering.
Line 6
上六 濡其首。厲。
Six at the top means: He gets his head in the water. Danger.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
兩輪日轉，南上大阪。四馬共轅，无有險難，與禹笑言。
Two wheels turn daily, climbing south to the great slope. Four horses share one shaft; there is no danger or difficulty. Sharing laughter and words with Yu.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water sits above fire, and two wheels turn daily as the carriage climbs the great slope heading south. Four horses share a single yoke; there are no dangers or difficulties on the road. One converses and laughs with Yu the Great himself. The verse is an idealized journey: matched horses, smooth ascent, and the companionship of the greatest sage-hero of flood control. From After Completion to Small Exceeding, fire-and-water balance yields to thunder above the mountain — the small bird that must not fly too high. Small Exceeding counsels modesty in action, exceeding only in small ways. The verse embodies this: the journey succeeds not through daring but through steady teamwork, and the greatest company is found not in heaven but on the road, laughing with a fellow traveler.
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