小过
GUA 62 · XIAO3 GUO
SMALLNESS IN EXCESS
Overall Image (大象)
Over the mountain there is thunder
Smallness in excess
The noble young one, accordingly,
in conduct will exceed in respect
In loss will exceed in sorrow
In practice will exceed in economy▼
Overall Image (大象)
Over the mountain there is thunder
Smallness in excess
The noble young one, accordingly,
in conduct will exceed in respect
In loss will exceed in sorrow
In practice will exceed in economy
Thunder out of the mountain. Whether this rumbling reminder has come from the climate or gravity, whether it settles or unsettles the mountain, the animals vanish, birds take flight, the insects are two thirds antennae. The ones who play this safely are favored to keep on playing. By adopting their postures according to the threat, by hiding deep in their niches, or whatever else it may take, and some extra just for good measure, small things add up to security, with margins of safety larger than margins for error. It’s an anticlimactic part of ambition that to seek greater worlds will shrink us; it’s an irony of soaring so high that success is found in the landing.
Main Judgment (Smallness in Excess) (卦辞)
Fulfillment
Worthwhile to persist
Appropriate for minor concerns,
Not suited to great concerns
The flying bird bequeaths this message:
If not adapted to heights, adapt to remaining below
Much promise▼
Main Judgment (Smallness in Excess) (卦辞)
Fulfillment
Worthwhile to persist
Appropriate for minor concerns,
Not suited to great concerns
The flying bird bequeaths this message:
If not adapted to heights, adapt to remaining below
Much promise
It might seem a little bit odd to hear the high-flying bird praised for a groundedness in its attitude. But birds do not conquer skies, and men do not conquer mountains. Once the mountain’s peak has been gained, the rest of the trail goes down, unless we want to leap from the cliffs with some delusion of grandeur. The potential energy so hard fought for and won here is only a loan, and must be returned as long as our nests and homes are below. In proportion to the numbers a form of life breeds, the long-term odds of survival oppose it. What looks like success should be humbling. Nature, of course, knows no fury or wrath. Natural law has its own kind of justice. For those who have gone too far, its enforcement must be thought of as voluntary. Survival will favor the humble. What squeaks will continue to squeak, what draws too much attention only gets hunted down. High-flying birds have their limits too: that steady force which brings them back home binds heaven’s behavior as well. The stars themselves obey this, a company noble enough to have some dignity left. If we accept these matters of fact with good cheer, we’ll be lucky to settle for less.
Key Words (关键词)
Laws of averages, averageness, many too many; mediocrity, anonymity, triviality▼
Key Words (关键词)
Laws of averages, averageness, many too many; mediocrity, anonymity, triviality
Overdevelopment, overpopulation, odds against one among many; self as a detail Humility, lowering expectations; settling for little or less; truth in scale, smallness Realism, ordinary reality, everyday suchness, nothing special, place in big picture Instinctual intelligence in species subject to predation, vulnerability, heedfulness, Watchfulness, vigilance, care(fulness), conscientiousness, awareness of finitude
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
No Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Capricorn Ascending, Cardinal Earth
element:Earth
Tarot
card:King of Pentacles
suit:Pentacles
Qabalah
note:Atziluth of Assiah
sphere:Atziluth
The Lines
11st • YangA flying bird on the way to misfortune▼
1
1st • YangA flying bird on the way to misfortune
62.1x A flying bird on the way to misfortune:
Seeming ill-suited to the task
The small who get by heed the timing of things. Clearly not all will succeed. Life has learned this, and brings forth the small in great numbers, that attrition might not take them all. Most of the young miss the fall migration, becoming statistics instead. The spare or extra young ones are not expendable though: most of these precious young things will be food. That even the small are now thriving is not an excuse to be heedless. But here we have a young raptor, perched on the edge of his nest, not fully fledged yet, but just dying to get out and ready to conquer those skies. A point of view from the future of raptors in general suggests now is the best time to fail, before he builds nests of his own. There are random events which could save him. The gravity will be lighter next week. A little distraction might buy him some time.
22nd • YangPassing by one’s ancestor
To meet with one’s grandmother
Wanting to reach one’s superior
But meeting another underling
Not wrong▼
2
2nd • YangPassing by one’s ancestor
To meet with one’s grandmother
Wanting to reach one’s superior
But meeting another underling
Not wrong
62.2x Not reaching one’s superior:
The underling does not allow bypassing
It seems like he stands in line for half the morning, mooing and bleating with all of the others. His one great ambition today was to spend some high quality time with the spirit tablets left by his ancestors. But he cannot get past grandmother’s diaries. Now he waits in a new line, to reach somebody in charge. But he can’t make it past the third minister. This will not do, he explains, and he even tries reasoning. I cannot allow this, he’s told, and no, you may not go around me, passing me by is against all my rules. Now if he can settle for less, he can still salvage part of the day, and have some success in his minor concerns. To be content with less is not always a failure and small successes do add up. But lack of humility here, not even suited to greater concerns, is an error of excess and asking for trouble all out of proportion to scale.
33rd • YangOne is never beyond defending oneself
From behind someone might attack here
Unlucky▼
3
3rd • YangOne is never beyond defending oneself
From behind someone might attack here
Unlucky
62.3x From behind someone might attack here:
Bad luck (only) seems responsible
So far he succeeds in every least thing and small detail. It seems as if nothing can stop him. Even those creatures smaller than he is enjoy their own small successes. He is ready to move beyond caution and fear, beyond the small, petty things. With confidence raised, he turns his back on the weak little threats, forgetting somehow that weak little threats do most of their dirtiest work from behind. Vigilance looks forward in time, but in space it means all directions. It is good that he looks ahead, to get an idea of where he is going, but turning his back and resting assured is not. Not even the heedful are guaranteed further existence, only that odds will improve. Some are indeed out to get him: there is a food chain here, full of useful predators. He now wants the eyes of a predator’s prey, to watch his own back and loose ends.
44th • YangMake no mistakes
Do not be beyond greeting others in passing
Difficult progress demands heedfulness
Do not rely on unrelenting persistence▼
4
4th • YangMake no mistakes
Do not be beyond greeting others in passing
Difficult progress demands heedfulness
Do not rely on unrelenting persistence
62.4x Do not be beyond greeting others (in passing):
The position is not appropriate
* Difficult progress demands heedfulness:
In the end there is nothing friendly to longevity
The earth seems far too prolific these days. It taxes the senses to take in all of those details. Even the mammals are swarming, and predators run in large packs. On the road to the market, anonymous throngs sweep past like a great river. The slow and the gifted, the depraved and the sane, all mix up well in the crowds. The wise must engage their wisdom, encountering something of each one in passing, catching the eyes and expressions, quick to underrate nothing. We would like our perceptions sketched in broad strokes, and human minds seem perfectly suited to this, judging quickly according to prejudice, using presumptions and profiles, the most data in the least time. To look all of this over, but overlook nothing, is out of our reach. Those who do the best become ancestors: they were ready to meet either patrons or thieves.
55th • YangThick clouds but no rain
From our western horizon
Even the prince hunts with tethered arrows
Preferring that quarry inside the cave▼
5
5th • YangThick clouds but no rain
From our western horizon
Even the prince hunts with tethered arrows
Preferring that quarry inside the cave
62.5x Thick clouds instead of rain:
(It is) finished up above
Dense, lazy clouds from the west collect overhead, and below the hopes rise in the small, thirsty creatures. But the clouds just continue their easterly drift, as though indolence stole all their thunder, and complacency put them to sleep. Too aloof to crash against mountains, even the weather cannot manage greatness this gray day. The victims wander about, claiming their special privileges. Lotus eaters continue developing no art. No champions, no predators. The gentle prince hunts birds hiding in the cave, from storms that will not be coming, with aim not that of an archer and less than consummate skill, in slow to no motion. Nothing great will be caught on this hunt. It is trifles, haze and dimness, without shadows to fear or bright rays to blind, and chicken for dinner again. But think of all those things chicken tastes like!
6Top • YangWith no acknowledgement in passing others by
The flying birds get distance from this one
Bad omen
Surely a sign of calamity and suffering▼
6
Top • YangWith no acknowledgement in passing others by
The flying birds get distance from this one
Bad omen
Surely a sign of calamity and suffering
62.6x With no acknowledgement (in) passing others by:
Beyond pretentiousness
He masters a dunghill but thinks it a summit, and calls himself master of mountains. He passes an elder, but thinks him a beggar, and tosses a coin without looking. Little success will come with excessive smallness, but this is less than that. The one way the heedless can master all they survey is to shrink their world to near nothing and survey as little as possible, to wrap themselves up in themselves, stay in an ignorant mind, and heed no omens or portents. See the small birds keeping clear of this path, sensing disaster to come. A huge amount of smallness is here. Humans think that creation is all about them, and all of those countless galaxies are placed there to light our way badly at night. So all alone in this world, the smallness we feel is nothing to how small we are. We make a huge impression here, largely a huge embarrassment.
Reference in Original Text & Resources
This content is derived from Bradford Hatcher's THE BOOK OF CHANGES: Yijing, Word By Word.
Original text for Hexagram 62 begins on Page 432-440.
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