| Name | 小过 Xiǎo Guò, “Small Preponderance” |
|---|---|
| Upper trigram | ☳ 震 Thunder: sudden movement |
| Lower trigram | ☶ 艮 Mountain: stillness and limits |
The Judgment
亨，利贞。可小事，不可大事。飞鸟遗之音，不宜上，宜下，大吉。
Success. Wise to stay true. Small things can be done. Great things cannot be done. The flying bird brings the message: not wise to climb; wise to remain below. Great fortune.
Stay modest. Small moves only. Don't try to rise above your moment — settle into it. That's where fortune lives.
The Image
山上有雷，小过；君子以行过乎恭，丧过乎哀，用过乎俭。
Thunder on the mountain — Small Preponderance. The wise are over-respectful in conduct, over-sorrowful in mourning, and over-frugal in spending.
Slight exaggeration in the right direction. Be a little more polite, a little more careful with money, a little more honoring of grief than seems necessary.
The six lines
If a line changes in your cast, read its text below. Lines are numbered from the bottom.
Line 1 · first (bottom) · Yin
飞鸟以凶。
The bird meets misfortune through flying.
Tried to soar too early. Crashed. Stay grounded next time.
Line 2 · second · Yin
过其祖，遇其妣，不及其君，遇其臣，无咎。
She passes by her ancestor and meets her ancestress. He does not reach his prince — he meets the servant. No blame.
Connect at the level you can actually reach. Skipping levels doesn't work. Honest local connection counts.
Line 3 · third · Yang
弗过，防之，从或戕之，凶。
If one is not extremely careful, someone may come up from behind and strike him. Misfortune.
Casual posture in a dangerous environment. You can get blindsided. Stay alert.
Line 4 · fourth · Yang
无咎，弗过，遇之。往厉，必戒。勿用，永贞。
No blame. He meets him without passing by. Going forward — danger. One must be careful. Do not act. Be constantly persevering.
Connection lands at exactly the right level. Don't push past it. Just stay consistent — that's enough.
Line 5 · fifth · Yin
密云不雨，自我西郊。公弋取彼在穴。
Dense clouds, no rain from our western fields. The prince shoots and takes the bird in the cave.
Tension that doesn't release big — only a small precise win. Take it. Don't wait for the storm.
Line 6 · top · Yin
弗遇过之，飞鸟离之，凶，是谓灾眚。
He passes him by, not meeting him. The flying bird leaves him. Misfortune. This means bad luck and harm.
Overshooting. Missed the connection. The chance flies past you. Recognize the cost.
Related hexagrams
- Complement (every line reversed): Hexagram 61, Inner Truth