小過 Xiǎo Guò · Small Exceeding

Judgment text 小過：亨，利貞，可小事，不可大事。飛鳥遺之音，不宜上，宜下，大吉。

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, judgment. English translation in preparation.

Image text 山上有雷，小過；君子以行過乎恭，喪過乎哀，用過乎儉。

In short: thunder on the mountain.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, Great Image. Short gloss by Koyonari; full translation in preparation.

初六 初六：飛鳥以凶。

“The flying bird brings misfortune.” A bird flies upward and thereby meets misfortune, meaning an unfavorable outcome. Six in the first place rashly flies high at the very beginning of Xiǎoguò. The image of the bird illustrates action that goes beyond the appropriate limit.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 1. Koyonari translation.

小象 小象：飛鳥以凶，不可如何也。

“The flying bird brings misfortune thereby: nothing can be done about it.” The Lesser Image Commentary explains Six at the beginning: the bird brings misfortune by flying high, and nothing can remedy it.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 2. Koyonari translation.

六二 六二：過其祖，遇其妣；不及其君，遇其臣；无咎。

“Passing by his grandfather, meeting his grandmother; falling short of his prince, meeting the minister: no blame.” One passes beyond the “zǔ” and meets the “bǐ”; without reaching the ruler’s position, one fits the station of a minister. Wáng Bì and Kǒng Yǐdá take zǔ as “beginning,” meaning the first line, and bǐ as a term for mother, meaning the Six in the second place, central and correctly placed; Chéng Yí and Zhū Xī read it as passing beyond yang lines to meet a yin line. No blame means no fault. Although Six in the second place oversteps slightly, it still keeps to a minister’s proper role.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 3. Koyonari translation.

小象 小象：不及其君，臣不可過也。

“Not reaching its ruler: a subject must not overstep.” The Lesser Image Commentary explains Six in the Second Place: "not reaching its ruler" means a subject must not overstep the sovereign.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 4. Koyonari translation.

九三 九三：弗過防之，從或戕之，凶。

“If one fails to take extra precautions, someone may follow and inflict harm: misfortune.” If precautions are not thorough enough, someone may take advantage and inflict harm. The line judges this as misfortune, meaning an unfavorable outcome; qiāng means to harm. Nine in the third place relies on its own strength and lacks vigilance. The emphasis here is that even a small gap in precautions leaves an opening for others to exploit.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 5. Koyonari translation.

小象 小象：從或戕之，凶如何也。

“Followed, someone may harm him: how severe is the misfortune.” The Lesser Image Commentary explains Nine in the Third Place: taking no precautions while someone follows to harm him brings grave misfortune.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 6. Koyonari translation.

九四 九四：无咎，弗過遇之。往厲必戒，勿用永貞。

“No blame: without exceeding, meeting it. Advancing brings danger, must be cautious; do not act in lasting perseverance.” There is no fault: by avoiding a show of strength that oversteps the bounds, one can act appropriately for the circumstances. Continuing onward brings danger and calls for vigilance; the present approach should not be held to indefinitely either. The injunction against lasting steadfastness recalls that circumstances change, so what suits one moment cannot become a fixed attachment.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 7. Koyonari translation.

小象 小象：弗過遇之，位不當也。往厲必戒，終不可長也。

“Not exceeding, one meets him: the position is inappropriate. Going forward brings danger; one must be cautious: in the end, it cannot endure.” The Lesser Image Commentary explains Nine in the Fourth Place: "not exceeding, one meets him" means that because yang occupies a yin position, which is inappropriate, it avoids excessive firmness and suits the time; "going forward brings danger, one must be cautious" means advancing entails danger and requires vigilance, for it cannot endure long.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 8. Koyonari translation.

六五 六五：密雲不雨，自我西郊，公弋取彼在穴。

“Dense clouds, no rain from our western outskirts. The prince shoots an arrow to take what is in the cave.” Dense clouds come from the speaker's western outskirts but bring no rain; a duke uses a corded arrow to shoot and capture what hides in a hole. Clouds without rain signify that forces have gathered but cannot yet be put to use. Taking what is in the hole represents Six in the fifth place seeking help below, though the helper is also rather yielding and weak, making great achievements difficult.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 9. Koyonari translation.

小象 小象：密云不雨，已上也。

“Dense clouds, no rain: it has already ascended.” The Lesser Image Commentary explains Six in the Fifth Place: dense clouds yielding no rain occurs because yin energy has risen above without joining yang energy to make rain (Wáng Bì explains this as yang having ascended and halted, likewise meaning yin and yang do not join).

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 10. Koyonari translation.

上六 上六：弗遇過之，飛鳥離之，凶，是謂災眚。

“Not meeting it but exceeding it; the flying bird meets with disaster: misfortune, this is called calamity.” Instead of keeping within appropriate bounds, one goes too far, like a bird flying too far and meeting calamity (the character lí is read here as interchangeable with another lí, meaning to encounter). Misfortune means an unfavorable outcome; zāi shěng refers to calamity and harm caused by faults. At Xiǎoguò's extreme, even a small overstep has lost its limits.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 11. Koyonari translation.

小象 小象：弗遇過之，已亢也。

“Not meeting, one passes by: already at the extreme height.” The Lesser Image Commentary explains Six at the top: passing by without meeting occurs because Six at the top is at the summit and has reached an extreme.

Zhouyi, hexagram 62, line 12. Koyonari translation.