Transformation · lines 1, 4, and 6

Success in Small Matters becomes Good Manners

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Fire glows at the foot of the mountain once three lines change, lighting what's close at hand. The two judgments are weighed equally. The starting hexagram makes room for modest results and none for grand ones, and warns against going beyond your means. The resulting hexagram, 22 Good Manners, asks for kindness, courtesy and good manners if you want good results; what might seem superficial at other times leads to success now, and it's a time for everyday matters, not great undertakings. The two agree closely. Pay attention to the details of how you deal with people. Keep your projects small and handle them gracefully. A considerate word or a careful gesture can do more than a bold move right now, and decisions of great weight can wait for another time.

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 22 Good Manners

    It's a time to be kind and courteous and to use good manners with others if you want good results in what you undertake. What might seem superficial at another time leads you to success now. It's a time to handle everyday matters, not great undertakings.

    Success. In small things, it is favorable to have somewhere to go.

  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 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 trigrams

Below Mountain Fire

The way back

22 Good Manners → 62 Success in Small Matters
lines 1, 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.

Toss the coins