小畜小過

Hexagram 9: Small Taming → Hexagram 62: Small Exceeding

小畜
Small Taming
Wind / Heaven
小過
Small Exceeding
Mountain / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

Line 2

九二 牽復。吉。

qiāndrawn
to return
promising

Nine in the second place means: He allows himself to be drawn into returning. Good fortune.

Line 3

九三 輿說輻。夫妻反目。

輿the carriage
shuōthrows off
its wheel's spokes
husband
and wife
fǎnare wild-
eyed

Nine in the third place means: The spokes burst out of the wagon wheels. Man and wife roll their eyes.

Line 5

九五 有孚攣如。富以其鄰。

yǒuhave
true
luánto confuse
like
enriched
by
one's
línneighbors

Nine in the fifth place means: If you are sincere and loyally attached, You are rich in your neighbor.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind MountainThe Gentle → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramHeaven ThunderThe Creative → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

關雎淑女,配我君子;少妻在門,君子嘉喜。

The osprey cries for a virtuous maiden, a fit match for my lord. The young wife stands at the gate; the noble man rejoices.

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

Commentary

Wind above heaven meets thunder resting above the mountain — Small Exceeding's modest overstepping. The verse quotes the Shijing's opening ode 'Guan Ju': ospreys cry on the river islet, and the gentle maiden is a worthy match for the gentleman. A young bride stands at the gate; the gentleman rejoices. From Small Taming to Small Exceeding, the verse finds in Xiao Guo's cautious overreach the courage to make a match. The poem's restraint is the key: this is not Great Exceeding's structural strain but a small, appropriate step beyond propriety's usual boundaries — the heart's quiet boldness in declaring its intent. The osprey's cry announces that even modest initiative, rightly timed, brings the match that fulfills both partners.

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