Hexagram 62 for love
Hexagram 62 Small Excess in love and relationships
Xiao Guo is thunder over the mountain: a sound loud up close that fades with height, the figure of a bird whose call is left behind as it climbs. The Judgment allows small things, not great, and says it is 'fitting to go down, not up'. In a relationship this is a season for the small attentions the Great Image names — excess in courtesy, in feeling for a loss, in simplicity — rather than for declarations or grand resolutions. Two strong lines hemmed in by four weak ones is firmness that has to bend.
The lines are mostly about overreaching. Line one flies at the first chance and falls; line three trusts its rightness and is hurt from behind; the top line overshoots and departs. The good positions are two, which goes one small step past the usual to find its kind, and four, which fits the moment and keeps its firmness provisional. A changing line in the lower trigram asks whether you are rising too early; one in the upper, whether you have already gone too far.
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
- Is hexagram 62, Small Excess, a good sign for love?
- Xiao Guo is thunder over the mountain: a sound loud up close that fades with height, the figure of a bird whose call is left behind as it climbs. The Judgment allows small things, not great, and says it is 'fitting to go down, not up'. In a relationship this is a season for the small attentions the Great Image names — excess in courtesy, in feeling for a loss, in simplicity — rather than for declarations or grand resolutions. Two strong lines hemmed in by four weak ones is firmness that has to bend.
- 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).