Hexagram 28: Dà Guò (Great Exceeding)

The Judgment

Da Guo suggests to us a beam that is weak. There will be advantage in moving (under its conditions) in any direction whatever; there will be success.

大过：栋桡，利有攸往，亨。

Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)

Da Guo shows the great ones (= the undivided lines) in excess. In 'the beam that is weak' we see weakness both in the lowest and the topmost (lines). The strong lines are in excess, but (two of them) are in the central positions. The action (of the hexagram is represented by the symbols of) flexibility and satisfaction. (Hence it is said), 'There will be advantage in moving in any direction whatever; yea, there will be success. ' Great indeed is (the work to be done in) this very extraordinary time.

彖曰：大过，大者过也。栋桡，本末弱也。刚过而中，巽而说行，利有攸往，乃亨。大过之时大矣哉！

The Great Image

(The trigram representing) trees hidden beneath that for the waters of a marsh forms Da Guo. The superior man, in accordance with this, stands up alone and has no fear, and keeps retired from the world without regret.

象曰：泽灭木，大过；君子以独立不惧，遁世无闷。

The six lines

1. Line 1 (first): The first SIX, divided, shows one placing mats of the white m?o grass under things set on the ground. There will be no error.

   'He places mats of the white m?o grass under things set on the ground:' - he feels his weakness and his being in the lowest place, (and uses extraordinary care).

   In plain words: Spreading white rushes underneath: no fault. The first line is weak and low and acts with the greatest care and reverence. The Great Commentary says: it would be enough to set the offering on the ground, but spreading rushes beneath it, what fault could there be? This is the height of care. The Small Image says the yielding one is below.

   初六：藉用白茅，无咎。 象曰：藉用白茅，柔在下也。

2. Line 2 (second): The second NINE, undivided, shows a decayed willow producing shoots, or an old husband in possession of his young wife. There will be advantage in every way.

   'An old husband and a young wife:' - such association is extraordinary.

   In plain words: A withered poplar puts out new shoots; an old man takes a young wife: nothing is unfavourable. The second line is strong and central and next to the first; yang is helped by yin and life returns. The Small Image says that though it goes beyond the usual, they complement each other.

   九二：枯杨生稊，老夫得其女妻，无不利。 象曰：老夫女妻，过以相与也。

3. Line 3 (third): The third NINE, undivided, shows a beam that is weak. There will be evil.

   'The evil connected with the beam that is weak' arises from this, that no help can be given (to the condition thus represented).

   In plain words: The ridgepole sags: misfortune. The third line is strong but not central, too rigid to accept help, and bends under the load. The Small Image says in this way it cannot be helped.

   九三：栋桡，凶。 象曰：栋桡之凶，不可以有辅也。

4. Line 4 (fourth): The fourth NINE, undivided, shows a beam curving upwards. There will be good fortune. If (the subject of it) looks for other (help but that of line one), there will be cause for regret.

   'The good fortune connected with the beam curving upwards' arises from this, that it does not bend towards what is below.

   In plain words: The ridgepole is braced up: good fortune; if there are other ties, regret. The fourth line is yang in a yin place, firm but flexible, and holds; but it corresponds to the first line, and if it is drawn downward it will sag. The Small Image says it does not bend downward.

   九四：栋隆，吉；有它吝。 象曰：栋隆之吉，不桡乎下也。

5. Line 5 (fifth): The fifth NINE, undivided, shows a decayed willow producing flowers, or an old wife in possession of her young husband. There will be occasion neither for blame nor for praise.

   'A decayed willow produces flowers:' - but how can this secure its long continuance? 'An old wife and a young husband:' - this also is a thing to be ashamed of.

   In plain words: A withered poplar flowers; an old woman takes a young husband: no fault and no praise. The fifth line is next to the top line: yang attaches to aged yin, flowering without bearing fruit, and it cannot last. The Small Image asks how a withered poplar's flowering could last, and calls the match shameful.

   九五：枯杨生华，老妇得其士夫，无咎无誉。 象曰：枯杨生华，何可久也？老妇士夫，亦可丑也。

6. Line 6 (sixth (top)): The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject with extraordinary (boldness) wading through a stream, till the water hides the crown of his head. There will be evil, but no ground for blame.

   'Evil follows wading with (extraordinary) boldness (through the stream):' - but (the act) affords no ground for blame.

   In plain words: Wading too deep, the water closes over one's head: misfortune, but no fault. The top line is at the height of great excess; to get something done it takes on too much danger and is sacrificed. Tradition sees this as giving one's life for what is right, so although the outcome is bad, it cannot be called wrong. The Small Image says it cannot be blamed.

   上六：过涉灭顶，凶，无咎。 象曰：过涉之凶，不可咎也。

Line positions

3 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).

The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; both are strong, so they do not correspond.

Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 2 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.

Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.

These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.

Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces

Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Zhen palace runs: Zhèn (head), Yù (1st change), Xiè (2nd change), Héng (3rd change), Shēng (4th change), Jǐng (5th change), Dà Guò (wandering soul), Suí (returning soul).

A recorded case from Takashima

Da Guo to Jing: two rival companies in one market: Two rival companies in the same line of business competed for one city's market, and there was not room for both. The president of one asked and received the fourth line of Da Guo, "the ridgepole bows upward; good fortune". Takashima read the third and fourth lines, both "ridgepoles", as the two companies, and from their corresponding lines concluded that his side had support and would win.

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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction.

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