小畜 → 大過
Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 復自道。何其咎。吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Return to the way. How could there be blame in this? Good fortune.
Line 4
六四 有孚。血去惕出。无咎。
Six in the fourth place means: If you are sincere, blood vanishes and fear gives way. No blame.
Line 6
上九 既雨既處。尚德載。婦貞厲。月幾望。君子征凶。
Nine at the top means: The rain comes, there is rest. This is due to the lasting effect of character. Perseverance brings the woman into danger. The moon is nearly full. If the superior man persists, Misfortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
中原有菽，以待饔食；飲御諸友，所求大得。
In the central plains there are beans, awaiting the morning and evening meals. Pouring drinks and hosting all friends; what is sought is greatly obtained.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind above heaven meets the lake submerging the trees — Great Exceeding's image of a structure pushed beyond its limits. Yet the verse is unexpectedly generous: in the central fields beans grow tall, ready for the evening meal. Wine is served to welcome friends, and every wish is greatly fulfilled. From Small Taming to Great Exceeding, the transformation crosses into territory where excess should spell danger. Da Guo's ridgepole bends under impossible weight. But here the excess is abundance itself — so much food, so much hospitality that the structure groans not from decay but from plenty. The verse suggests that when the right provisions fill the vessel, even exceeding can be a feast rather than a collapse.
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