Hexagram 62: Preponderance of the Small (Xiao Guo)

Master Ưng Khiêm's Commentary: You are at the opening of the hexagram Xiao Guo (Preponderance of the Small), the time of small things, when to exceed the usual measure only a little is what accords with the way; but to soar up at once, like a fledgling whose feathers are not yet grown, brings nothing but misfortune. I have seen this line admonish anyone at the start of an undertaking to accumulate gradually and not to make a display or set ambitions too large at the first steps. Humility and unhurried patience at the beginning are precisely how you avoid a calamity you need never have met.\n

Master Ưng Khiêm's Commentary: You are at the second line, yielding, both central and correct, and you keep the right measure in a time when things run a little beyond the usual. The image of passing the grandfather to meet the grandmother, of not reaching the ruler and meeting the minister, shows that you choose those close at hand and suited to your station, without ambition for what is out of reach and far above you. I have seen this to be the wisdom of the time of Xiao Guo (Preponderance of the Small): to know yourself and to know others, to want neither perfection nor high distance but to take the road within your strength and in keeping with what is right, which is how you stay without blame.\n

Master Ưng Khiêm's Commentary: You are at the third line, firm and yang, yet in the time of Xiao Guo (Preponderance of the Small), which calls for softness and care rather than hardness and confidence in oneself. I have seen this line give a very plain warning: in a time when everything needs a little more than the usual precaution, if you are careless and do not guard yourself well, ill-intentioned people or hidden dangers will take the opening and do you harm. This line is a reminder of the vigilance the time requires, especially since your firm nature makes it easy for you to make light of the small risks around you.\n

Master Ưng Khiêm's Commentary: You are at the fourth line, firm and yang in a yielding place: your nature is hard while your position asks for suppleness, and if you know where to stop and do not go too far you can still come into accord with your circumstances. I have seen this line remind us that flexibility has its limits, that you must know when to advance and when to halt, and it warns at the same time against clinging forever to one rigid way of doing things, since circumstances are always changing. Caution and the ability to adapt to the moment are the key to avoiding danger in a time like this.\n

Master Ưng Khiêm's Commentary: You are at the fifth place, yielding in an honoured seat but without an answering line below, since the second is yielding as well; it is like clouds crowding the whole sky while the rain still will not fall, a great work not yet accomplished although the conditions are partly met. I have seen in the image of the ruler shooting the bird still hidden in its hole that in hard circumstances a leader must still take the initiative and put the right person to the right task, even when that person is hidden and has not yet shown himself. This is a time to be patient and to wait, and also a time to seek out your chance actively rather than sitting still.\n

Master Ưng Khiêm's Commentary: You have come to the end of the hexagram Xiao Guo (Preponderance of the Small), where the exceeding that should have stayed small has been pushed to its extreme, like a bird that flies so far it leaves the flock, loses its bearings and has nowhere left to rest. I have seen this to be the consequence of ambition grown too large, of not taking one's own measure and not knowing where to stop, so that the calamity one bears is of one's own making and cannot be laid wholly on circumstance. This is a costly lesson about knowing your own limits in every situation.\n