Hexagram 57 巽 changing to hexagram 62 小過
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 4, 5, 6.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 62 小過, line 1
飛鳥以凶。
The first line, divided, suggests (the idea of) a bird flying, (and ascending) till the issue is evil.
Hexagram 62 小過, line 3
弗過防之，從或戕之，凶。
The third line, undivided, shows its subject taking no extraordinary precautions against danger; and some in consequence finding opportunity to assail and injure him. There will be evil.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 57 巽 — judgment
小亨。利有攸往。利見大人。
Sun intimates that (under the conditions which it denotes) there will be some little attainment and progress. There will be advantage in movement onward in whatever direction. It will be advantageous (also) to see the great man.
Hexagram 62 小過 — judgment
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.
The changing lines of hexagram 57
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 巽在牀下，用史巫紛若，吉无咎。 | The second line, undivided, shows the representative of Sun beneath a couch, and employing diviners and exorcists in a way bordering on confusion. There will be good fortune and no error. |
| 4 | 悔亡，田獲三品。 | The fourth line, divided, shows all occasion for repentance (in its subject) passed away. He takes game for its threefold use in his hunting. |
| 5 | 貞吉悔亡，无不利。无初有終，先庚三日，後庚三日，吉。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows that with firm correctness there will be good fortune (to its subject). All occasion for repentance will disappear, and all his movements will be advantageous. There may have been no (good) beginning, but there will be a (good) end. Three days before making any changes, (let him give notice of them); and three days after, (let him reconsider them). There will (thus) be good fortune. |
| 6 | 巽在牀下，喪其資斧，貞凶。 | The sixth line, undivided, shows the representative of penetration beneath a couch, and having lost the axe with which he executed his decisions. However firm and correct he may (try to) be, there will be evil. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.