Preponderance of the small — a time for modest, careful steps.
Attend to small matters with extra care, for this is no time for grand moves. Be exceedingly modest, conscientious, and humble. Small adjustments, done well, carry you through safely.
cautionsmallnessmodestyattention
Preponderance of the Small places Thunder (arousing, moving) above Mountain (still, resting). The interplay of these two trigrams gives the hexagram its character.
The Classical Textoriginal Chinese
The Judgment · 卦辞
亨，利贞，可小事，不可大事。飞鸟遗之音，不宜上，宜下，大吉。
The Image · 大象
山上有雷，小过；君子以行过乎恭，丧过乎哀，用过乎俭。
The Six Lines · 爻辞
- 初六飞鸟以凶。象曰：飞鸟以凶，不可如何也。
- 六二过其祖，遇其庚，不及其君，遇其臣；无咎。象曰：不及其君，臣不可过也。
- 九三弗过防之，从或戕之，凶。象曰：从或戕之，凶如何也。
- 九四无咎，弗过遇之。往厉必戒，勿用永贞。象曰：弗过遇之，位不当也。往厉必戒，终不可长也。
- 六五密云不雨，自我西郊，公弋取彼在穴。象曰：密云不雨，已上也。
- 上六弗遇过之，飞鸟离之，凶，是谓灾眚。象曰：弗遇过之，已亢也。
The judgment, image and line texts above are quoted from the original Zhou Yi. A modern Chinese translation of the full classic is available on the original-text page.