Hexagram 62 of 64
Small Excess
小過 Xiǎo Guò
Upper trigram: 震 Zhèn, thunder
Lower trigram: 艮 Gèn, mountain
The judgment
亨。利貞。可小事，不可大事。飛鳥遺之音，不宜上宜下，大吉。
Success. It is fitting to hold firm. Small affairs can be done. Great affairs cannot be done. A flying bird leaves behind its sound. Going up is unsuitable and going down is suitable. Great good fortune.
The Great Image
山上有雷，小過；君子以行過乎恭，喪過乎哀，用過乎儉。
Above the mountain there is thunder: this is Small Excess. In the same way, the noble person in conduct goes too far in respect, in mourning goes too far in grief, and in spending goes too far in thrift.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初六
飛鳥以凶。
A flying bird, and with it misfortune.
The bird is up in the air from the very first line, before it has anywhere to land. Ask whether you are moving faster than your footing allows.
Line 2 六二
過其祖，遇其妣；不及其君，遇其臣；无咎。
Passing the grandfather, meeting the grandmother. Not reaching the ruler, meeting the minister. No blame.
You pass one person and meet another, and you stop short of the top. Consider whether someone one rank down may be the right person to talk to.
Line 3 九三
弗過防之，從或戕之，凶。
Without going too far, guard against it. If you follow, someone may strike you down. Misfortune.
A danger is close by and the line asks for a guard against it. Ask where you are going along with something you have reason to distrust.
Line 4 九四
无咎，弗過遇之。往厲必戒，勿用永貞。
No blame. Without going too far, meet it. Going is dangerous and one must be on guard. Do not hold firm for the long term.
Here you meet the thing without overstepping, and a warning comes with it. Consider what you could do for now without committing to it as a permanent stance.
Line 5 六五
密雲不雨，自我西郊，公弋取彼在穴。
Clouds pile thick and no rain falls, from our western outskirts. The duke shoots a corded arrow and takes the one in the cave.
Clouds build with no rain, and the duke gets what he wants by reaching into a hole with a line. Consider what modest, patient means could bring in what a grand effort has failed to reach.
Line 6 上六
弗遇過之，飛鳥離之，凶，是謂災眚。
Not meeting it, going past it. The flying bird is caught. Misfortune. This is called disaster and calamity.
The bird that has gone past every stopping place is caught at last. Ask where a little farther has become your habit, and where you could set a point to stop.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is mountain below and thunder above, with four broken lines around two solid ones at the center. The yielding lines outnumber the strong ones. It stands for times when small matters, done with a little too much care, are what the moment allows.
The judgment allows small affairs and rules out great ones. It pictures a bird leaving only its sound behind and says that going down suits the moment and going up does not. Ask what you would do if you aimed lower this once.
If your question is about a promotion, a move or a bold plan, tradition reads this as a time for modest steps and extra care. The image is content with a little too much respect, grief or thrift. The lines caution against the bird that climbs too high and will not land.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/小過), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.