Hexagram 62 for work
Hexagram 62 Small Excess for work and career
At work Xiao Guo is the time for detail, not for the big launch. The Judgment is explicit — 'small affairs may be done, great affairs may not' — and the Tuan explains why: the weak lines hold the centres and the strong are out of place, so modest tasks succeed and ambitious ones lack support. The Great Image's threefold excess, in humility, in mourning, in economy, translates at work as over-delivering on courtesy, on acknowledging what has been lost, and on thrift with claims.
The lines show the strong learning to bend. Line three refuses extra precautions and is undermined from behind; line four fits the moment and keeps its firmness temporary. Line five is the leader who cannot make the big thing happen but can recruit one good helper. Lines one and six are the bird that takes off too early and the bird that will not come down. A changing line in the lower trigram usually means the initiative is premature; one in the upper means the scope has outgrown the time and should be cut back.
The hexagram in brief
Thunder on the mountain: the flying bird leaves its call behind. Success in small things, not great; better to come down than to go up — overdo the small virtues of respect, grief and thrift rather than attempt grand moves.
Keep it small, careful and humble; this is not the time for the big flight.
The judgment
小過：亨，利貞，可小事，不可大事。飛鳥遺之音，不宜上，宜下，大吉。Hsiâo Kwo indicates that (in the circumstances which it implies) there will be progress and attainment. But it will be advantageous to be firm and correct. (What the name denotes) may be done in small affairs, but not in great affairs. (It is like) the notes that come down from a bird on the wing;—to descend is better than to ascend. There will (in this way) be great good fortune.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 小過 Small Excess has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginningflying too soon · the bird rises · nothing to be done
- 六二Six in the second placepassing the grandfather · meeting the minister · keeping distance
- 九三Nine in the third placeno extra guard · attacked from behind · evil
- 九四Nine in the fourth placemeeting without exceeding · going on is dangerous · do not fix forever
- 六五Six in the fifth placeclouds without rain · too high · the bird in the hole
- 上六Six at the topovershooting · the bird flies off · self-made calamity
The same hexagram for
Questions
- What does hexagram 62, Small Excess, mean for a career question?
- At work Xiao Guo is the time for detail, not for the big launch. The Judgment is explicit — 'small affairs may be done, great affairs may not' — and the Tuan explains why: the weak lines hold the centres and the strong are out of place, so modest tasks succeed and ambitious ones lack support. The Great Image's threefold excess, in humility, in mourning, in economy, translates at work as over-delivering on courtesy, on acknowledging what has been lost, and on thrift with claims.
- What does Hexagram 62, 小過 Small Excess, mean?
- Thunder on the mountain: the flying bird leaves its call behind. Success in small things, not great; better to come down than to go up — overdo the small virtues of respect, grief and thrift rather than attempt grand moves.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).