Transformation · lines 3 and 4
Success in Small Matters becomes Passivity
What this change means
The two middle lines move, the third and the fourth, and both trigrams dissolve into Earth: the mountain and the thunder go quiet, and all that's left is open, yielding ground. The fourth line leads: don't act now; stand firm, keep your purposes, and stay on guard, because going ahead is dangerous. The third line warns that a careless, excessive step invites harm, possibly from behind, unless you take precautions. The resulting hexagram, 2 Passivity, says this is not the moment to take the initiative. Let others lead for now, and keep working on your projects with patience. Everything here points the same way. Hold back, protect what you have, and let someone else set the pace for a while. Patience isn't surrender; it keeps your aim alive until the ground is ready.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- 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 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.
- 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 2 Passivity
This is not the time to take the initiative to achieve things. It's better to let others guide you and to keep at your projects with patience.
Great success. The constancy of a mare is favorable. The noble person has somewhere to go: going ahead, they lose the way; following behind, they find someone to guide them. It is favorable to find friends in the southwest and to lose them in the northeast. Calm constancy brings good fortune.
The trigrams
The way back
2 Passivity → 62 Success in Small Matterslines 3 and 4
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
- 49Renewallines 1 and 5
- 28Excesseslines 2 and 5
- 45Meetinglines 3 and 5
- 39Held Backlines 4 and 5
- 30The Flamelines 1 and 6
- 50The Vessel of Nourishmentlines 2 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.