Anygua EST · 2026
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Preponderance of the Small

XIǍO GUÒ
Small excess · Stay low · Slight bowing acceptable
Upper · Zhen ☳ Thunder / Lower · Gen ☶ Mountain

Judgment

— I Ching · classical

亨，利贞。可小事，不可大事。飞鸟遗之音，不宜上，宜下，大吉。

Preponderance of the Small. Success. Perseverance furthers. Small things may be done; great things should not be done. The flying bird brings the message: it is not well to strive upward, it is well to remain below. Great good fortune.

Image

— Great Image

山上有雷，小过，君子以行过乎恭，丧过乎哀，用过乎俭。

Thunder on the mountain: the image of preponderance of the small. Thus in his conduct the superior person gives preponderance to reverence; in bereavement, to grief; in expenditures, to thrift.

Six Lines

— Bottom to top

Initial Six · 初六 ⚋ yin
飞鸟以凶。
The bird meets with misfortune through flying.
Without ripe wings, flying high — misfortune.
Six in the second · 六二 ⚋ yin
过其祖，遇其妣，不及其君，遇其臣，无咎。
She passes by her ancestor and meets her ancestress. He does not reach his prince and meets the official. No blame.
Slight overstepping yet still finding the right alternative (encounters the grandmother, the minister) — no blame.
Nine in the third · 九三 ⚊ yang
弗过防之，从或戕之，凶。
If one is not extremely careful, somebody may come up from behind and strike him. Misfortune.
Lack of precaution (fu guo fang zhi); ambushed from behind; misfortune.
Nine in the fourth · 九四 ⚊ yang
无咎，弗过遇之。往厉必戒，勿用永贞。
No blame. He meets him without passing by. Going brings danger. One must be on guard. Do not act. Be constantly persevering.
No blame; encounter the right one without overstepping; advance is danger; stay guarded; do not move; sustain integrity.
Six in the fifth · 六五 ⚋ yin
密云不雨，自我西郊。公弋取彼在穴。
Dense clouds, no rain from our western territory. The prince shoots and hits him who is in the cave.
Voltage on, no rain yet (the resources of the senior unfulfilled); the limited task — hunt the one in the cave — is what can be done.
Six at the top · 上六 ⚋ yin
弗遇过之，飞鸟离之，凶，是谓灾眚。
He passes him by, not meeting him. The flying bird leaves him. Misfortune. This means bad luck and injury.
Overshot, missed the encounter; the bird flies past; net for capture. Misfortune; the self-inflicted calamity (zai sheng).

Modern Readings

— Interdisciplinary

Career & Management

Detailed audits, gap-filling, post-crisis low-profile PR. Hammer the details; stay slightly conservative; lower the posture. No grand declarations of strategy now.

Psychology & Cognition

'Great undertakings start with the small.' Dial down expectations; pour everything into perfecting the small; beware grandiosity (do not fly up).

Decision Guidance

Small things may be done, great things not. The bird should not fly up but stay down — and you should also act in advance, not after disaster (line 3 warning).

Western Parallels

— Cross-cultural

Atul Gawande's 'Checklist Manifesto' as preponderance of small disciplines; Toyota's andon-cord respect for tiny anomalies; the 'sweat the small stuff' counter-philosophy in high-stakes operations; humility-in-mourning ethics across cultures.

· All texts here come from public-domain editions of the I Ching and supporting commentary.
· Anygua does not predict, score, schedule, ward, or recommend rituals.
· The same input via the same method will always reproduce the same hexagram — verifiable below.