Preponderance of the Small
小過 · Xiǎo Guò
亨。利貞。可小事。不可大事。飛鳥遺之音。不宜上宜下。大吉。
山上有雷，小過。君子以行過乎恭，喪過乎哀，用過乎儉。
Correspondences
The Middle Way (Madhyamaka) — Neither Extreme
The Majjhima Patipada (Middle Way) was proclaimed in the Buddha's first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, as the path between the extremes of kama-sukhallikānuyoga (devotion to sensual pleasure) and atta-kilamathanuyoga (devotion to self-mortification). Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka school elevated this to an ontological principle: the Middle Way between sasvatavada (eternalism, the view that things possess svabhava) and ucchedavada (nihilism, the denial of conventional causation). The Mulamadhyamakakarika demonstrates that pratityasamutpada itself is the Middle Way — neither asserting nor denying existence, but revealing that all dharmas are empty of inherent nature while functioning perfectly at the level of samvriti-satya (conventional truth). Candrakirti's Madhyamakavatara further systematizes this as the integration of the two truths (satya-dvaya) without collapsing either into the other.
Xiǎo Guò (小過) — Preponderance of the Small
Judgment: 小 (smallness, commonness; littleness; the small) · 過 (in excess, extreme; surpasses; inundation) · 亨 (fulfillment, satisfaction, success, completion) · 利 (worthwhile, rewarding, beneficial) · 貞 (to persist; be dedicated, resolved, steadfast) · 可 (suited, fitted to; appropriate, fitting for) · 小 (minor, small, common, ordinary, everyday) · 事 (affairs, concerns, business, matters at hand) · 不 (not; ill-; un-; in-; less than) · 可 (suited, fitted to; appropriate, fitting for) · 大 (great, big, major, important, critical, crucial) · 事 (affairs, concerns, business, matters at hand) · 飛 (in flight; on the wing; flying, soaring) · 鳥 (bird) · 遺 (bequeaths, leaves behind, transmits) · 之 (this, these, its) · 音 (message, news, notes, announcement) · 不 (if it is not, ill-; un-; less than) · 宜 (fit, right; fitting; suited, adjusted, adapted to) · 上 (to ascend, rise; ascent; above; heights) · 宜 (then it is fit, right, suitable; adjust, adapt) · 下 (to descend; descent; remaining below) · 大 (much, great, full of, a lot of; very) · 吉 (promise, hope, opportunity; promising) Image: 山 (mountain) · 上 (above, over, atop, on top of) · 有 (is, there is) · 雷 (thunder) · 小 (smallness) · 過 (in excess) · 君 (noble, worthy, honored) · 子 (young one, heir, disciple) · 以 (accordingly, therefore, thus) · 行 (in action, behavior, conduct, movement) · 過 (will exceed, surpass, err) · 乎 (in, with; on the side of) · 恭 (respect, courtesy, humility, reverence) · 喪 (in loss, doing without, lamenting loss) · 過 (will exceed, surpass, err) · 乎 (in, with; on the side of) · 哀 (sorrow, sadness, grief, grieving, regret) · 用 (in practice, practicality, function, work) · 過 (will exceed, surpass, err) · 乎 (in, with; on the side of) · 儉 (economy, frugality, thrift, restraint) Line 1: 飛 (flies, on the wing; flying, soaring) · 鳥 (bird) · 以 (is on the way to; means; into, before) · 凶 (adversity, misfortune, trouble, bad luck) Line 2: 過 (bypassing, passing by; going by, past) · 其 (one's own) · 祖 (ancestor, grandfather) · 遇 (to meet with, greet, face, encounter) · 其 (one's own) · 妣 (grandmother; late, departed mother) · 不 (not; instead of, rather than; wanting, needing) · 及 (to reach, contact, come to, approach) · 其 (one's own) · 君 (leader, ruler, noble, sovereign, superior, chief) · 遇 (but meeting with, facing, encountering) · 其 (the, that, another, his, her; somebody's) · 臣 (minister, retainer, subordinate, underling) · 無 (no; not; nothing; without) · 咎 (blame; wrong; mistake; harm) Line 3: 弗 (it, one is not, never; never be; do not be) · 過 (go beyond, past; too much, excessive) · 防 (to defend, guard, fortify, protect) · 之 (oneself) · 從 (from behind; following; follower) · 或 (somebody, someone; might; sometimes) · 戕 (assault, attack, injure; do violence to) · 之 (this one; another; here; one here) · 凶 (unfortunate, inauspicious, unlucky, brutal) Line 4: 無 (avoid; no) · 咎 (harm; make mistake, error) · 弗 (it, one is not, never; never be; do not be) · 過 (go beyond, past; too much, excessive) · 遇 (to greet, meet, acknowledge) · 之 (another, the others, passers by, in passing) · 往 (going; progress, advance) · 厲 (difficult, hard, serious, stressful) · 必 (and require, demand, necessitate) · 戒 (precaution, heedfulness, care, vigilance) · 勿 (do not; avoid; one must not; no) · 用 (practice, use, apply, employ, rely on) · 永 (lasting, sustained, unrelenting, prolonged) · 貞 (persistence, resolve, focus, steadfastness) Line 5: 密 (thick, dense, plump, plentiful) · 雲 (clouds) · 不 (but, yet, still no; without, with no) · 雨 (rain) · 自 (coming from, out of) · 我 (our, my) · 西 (western) · 郊 (horizon, frontier, border, outskirts) · 公 (even a duke, prince, lord, high noble) · 弋 (bowhunts with tethered/harpoon arrows) · 取 (preferring, choosing, selecting, taking) · 彼 (that, those targets, quarry; the ones) · 在 (in, within; inside of; dwelling, living in) · 穴 (cave, cavern, den, pit, hole) Line 6: 弗 (without; with no, never, not; avoid, denying) · 遇 (greeting, meeting, acknowledgement) · 過 (in, when passing by) · 之 (them, another, the others) · 飛 (flying, soaring; in flight, on the wing) · 鳥 (birds; bird) · 離 (abandon; depart, separate, get distance from) · 之 (this, that, such a one) · 凶 (ill-omened, foreboding; bad omen, sign) · 是 (true, positive, surely; indeed; thus) · 謂 (signalling, signifying; meaning; indication) · 災 (of calamity, disaster, adversity, misfortune) · 眚 (and harm, grave error, blindness, suffering)
Thunder (☳) — Arousing
One of the eight fundamental trigrams. Thunder (☳) represents Arousing — the shock of movement that initiates action. A single yang line erupts beneath two yin lines, the first son, the sudden awakening that sets things in motion.
Mountain (☶) — Keeping Still
One of the eight fundamental trigrams. Mountain (☶) represents Keeping Still — the power of stillness, meditation, and the boundary that defines. A yang line rests atop two yin lines, the third son, the gate between worlds.