Transformation · lines 2 and 6
Success in Small Matters becomes The Vessel of Nourishment
What this change means
Fire burns over wood as the second and top lines change, and the situation starts to cook. The top line leads with a hard warning: pressing toward aims you can't reach yet will cost what you put into them, like the bird that overshoots and lands in the net. The second line offers the alternative: know your limits, accept the minister when you can't reach the lord, and small achievements will bear fruit. The resulting hexagram, 50 The Vessel of Nourishment, describes a change that happens naturally and gradually, the way food cooks; keep the flame of enthusiasm lit and be clear about the resources you have. The choice is between overreaching and steady preparation. Let go of the distant aim, work with the ingredients at hand, and let things transform little by little.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 judgment of 50 The Vessel of Nourishment
It's a time of change and adjustment, and it will happen naturally, without great upheaval, the way food cooks. Keep the flame lit: it's the enthusiasm that gives you the strength to keep going. And be clear about the resources you have, the way a cook chooses the ingredients. The change will come about little by little.
Great good fortune. Success.
The trigrams
The way back
50 The Vessel of Nourishment → 62 Success in Small Matterslines 2 and 6
Other transformations of Success in Small Matters
- 34Great Manifestationlines 1 and 2
- 51Shocklines 1 and 3
- 40Clearing Obstacleslines 2 and 3
- 36Darknesslines 1 and 4
- 46Going Uplines 2 and 4
- 2Passivitylines 3 and 4
- 49Renewallines 1 and 5
- 28Excesseslines 2 and 5
- 45Meetinglines 3 and 5
- 39Held Backlines 4 and 5
- 30The Flamelines 1 and 6
- 35Advancelines 3 and 6
- 52Abidinglines 4 and 6
- 33Leaving Behindlines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.