Transformation · lines 1, 4, and 5

Success in Small Matters becomes After the End

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Three lines shift, and water comes to stand above fire: everything settles into place, at least for now. The two judgments are weighed evenly. The starting one asks for modest gains, not great ones, and warns against reaching beyond your means. The resulting hexagram, 63 After the End, describes a passing success where everything seems to favor you, followed by a period of stagnation that you can soften if you prepare in advance. Together they suggest that a modest success is within reach, and that the right response to it is foresight rather than expansion. Enjoy what comes, but don't build plans on the idea that it will last. Save energy and resources, look ahead to the slower time that tends to follow, and keep your steps small enough that you can adjust when conditions turn.

What to read, in order

Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.

  1. 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.

  2. The judgment of 63 After the End

    You're in a situation where you'll have a passing success: everything seems to be in your favor, and at the end comes a period of stagnation. If you prepare for it ahead of time, you'll be able to soften its effects.

    Success in small things. Constancy is favorable. At first, good fortune; in the end, disorder.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Line 5 of 62 Success in Small Matters

    Your humility will help you find people who will act on your behalf.

    Thick clouds, yet no rain, out of our western fields. The prince shoots a corded arrow and takes what is in the cave.

The trigrams

Below Mountain Fire
Above Thunder Water

The way back

63 After the End → 62 Success in Small Matters
lines 1, 4, and 5

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.

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