Small Preponderance
The Bird Flying Low
Not well to strive upward, well to remain below: exactness in small things, ruin in great ones.
Hexagram 62 places Zhen, thunder, above Gen, the mountain. Thunder heard on a high mountain sounds nearer and smaller than thunder on the plain, and in the figure four yielding lines outweigh the two firm ones held at its centre, so that the small preponderate. The Judgement allows small things to be done and warns against great ones: the flying bird brings the message that it is not well to strive upward, and well to remain below. The Image draws the practical lesson, that the superior man gives preponderance to reverence in conduct, to grief in bereavement, and to thrift in expenditure.
Light
Signifies conscientiousness in small matters, modesty, and thrift. It stands for exactness in detail and for the good judgement that succeeds by staying within a modest scope.
Shadow
Can represent pettiness, fussiness over detail, and scruple carried past its use. It may mark ambition attempted in a time unsuited to great undertakings, and failure that follows from overreach.
