Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6
Success in Small Matters becomes Decrease
What this change means
Only the fifth line holds still while the other five change, and the figure becomes a lake at the foot of the mountain. That single still line of 41 Decrease carries the reading: good chances arrive when you least expect them, like a gift from heaven, because you've earned them. The hexagram itself speaks of moderation and saving, conserving resources and energy and avoiding every kind of excess, while a later period of growth is prepared. Coming from a time of small means, this is an encouraging turn. The discipline you've kept, the refusal to overreach, is what tends to make room for good fortune. Keep living within your means, cut what is excessive, and stay ready. When an unexpected opportunity appears, you'll be in a position to receive it, precisely because you didn't spend yourself before it came.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 5 of 41 Decrease, which stays still
Lucky chances will come unexpectedly, like a gift from heaven, because you've earned them.
Someone adds to it: a tortoise worth ten strings of shells cannot go against it. Great good fortune.
- 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.
- Line 1 of 62 Success in Small Matters
Failing to recognize your limits and trying to go beyond what you can do right now will bring you loss.
The bird in flight: so, misfortune.
- Line 2 of 62 Success in Small Matters
Recognizing your limitations right now and focusing on small achievements will bear fruit.
Passes the grandfather and meets the grandmother; does not reach the lord and meets the minister. No fault.
- Line 3 of 62 Success in Small Matters
Carelessness and excess bring trouble.
Unless one goes beyond in guarding oneself, someone following will do harm. Misfortune.
- Line 4 of 62 Success in Small Matters
It's not the time to act, but it is the time to stand firm, without straying from your purposes, until the time to act arrives.
No fault. Without going beyond, it meets it. Going is dangerous: be on guard. Do not act with lasting constancy.
- Line 6 of 62 Success in Small Matters
If you insist on chasing goals that are out of reach for now, you'll lose whatever you put into them.
Not meeting it, goes past it. The bird in flight falls into the net. Misfortune. This is called calamity and ruin.
- The judgment of 41 Decrease
It's a time for moderation and saving: conserving your resources and energy matters a great deal now. A period of growth will follow, but for now you need to stay aware and avoid excess of every kind while you get ready to take on big projects.
There is sincere trust. Great good fortune. No fault. Constancy is possible. It is favorable to have somewhere to go. What to offer? Two bowls will do for the offering.
The trigrams
The way back
41 Decrease → 62 Success in Small Matterslines 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6
Other transformations of Success in Small Matters
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.