Transformation · lines 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6
Small Things becomes Success in Small Matters
What this change means
Thunder on the mountain, birds flying low: five lines move, and only the third line remains the same. In 62 Success in Small Matters, that still line says it plainly: carelessness and excess bring trouble. Small Things already pointed toward modest steps, and the change confirms it. This isn't a time for great things but for small achievements, and seeing that clearly keeps you in tune with the moment. Reaching past your current means wastes your effort and leads you astray. So keep your aims scaled to your resources. Be careful in details, frugal in spending, and modest in ambition for now. The danger in this reading is overreach, often born of impatience. Doing small things well, without excess, is the real success available, and it's enough to build on.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 3 of 62 Success in Small Matters, which stays still
Carelessness and excess bring trouble.
Unless one goes beyond in guarding oneself, someone following will do harm. Misfortune.
- The judgment of 9 Small Things
You're facing a situation that promises success, but it isn't time yet. There are still obstacles on the way that you need to resolve. For now you can take small actions and wait for the right moment to act on a large scale.
Success. Dense clouds and no rain, from my western outskirts.
- Line 1 of 9 Small Things
What's called for now is to fall back to situations where you have more control. This isn't a loss: it's a smart move.
Returning by its own way. What fault could there be? Good fortune.
- Line 2 of 9 Small Things
Even though circumstances push you to advance, for now it's time to go back and prepare to act at a better moment.
Led back. Good fortune.
- Line 4 of 9 Small Things
If you act fairly, you may meet difficulties at first, but little by little the obstacles will fade until you reach your goal.
There is sincere trust. The blood goes, the fear leaves. No fault.
- Line 5 of 9 Small Things
Allying with others and being loyal in that alliance will bring success.
There is sincere trust, bound together as by a cord. Growing rich alongside the neighbor.
- Line 6 of 9 Small Things
You get what you want thanks to step-by-step work. Still, don't rest on your laurels: you have to stay constant and keep working little by little.
The rain has come, the rest has come. Virtue has piled up like a load. The wife's constancy is in danger. The moon is nearly full. For the noble person, setting out brings misfortune.
- The judgment of 62 Success in Small Matters
This isn't a time for great things; it's a time for small achievements. Recognizing that will help you live in step with the moment. Trying to go beyond your present means and resources will lead you astray and waste your efforts.
Success. Constancy is favorable. Small things can be done, not great ones. The flying bird leaves its call behind: it is not fitting to rise, it is fitting to descend. Great good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
62 Success in Small Matters → 9 Small Thingslines 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6
Other transformations of Small Things
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.