EN (English)
䷛
Hexagram 28 of 64
Preponderance of the Great
大過 · Dà Guò
Four strong lines packed into the middle with weak ones at either end. The hexagram is a structure carrying more than its ends can support, and the classic treats it as an extraordinary moment requiring extraordinary conduct.
excess
crisis
structural strain
extraordinary times
- King Wen number
- 28 of 64
- Above
- ☱ Duì · Lake
- Below
- ☴ Xùn · Wind
- Composition
- Lake over Wind
- Lines, bottom to top
- Broken · solid · solid · solid · solid · broken
- Chinese
- 大過 · Dà Guò
The Judgment
The ridgepole sags to breaking. It helps to have somewhere to go. Success.
The beam is already bending and the counsel is still to move. Staying under a failing structure is not one of the options.
The Image
The lake rises above the trees: Great Exceeding. So the noble person stands alone without fear and withdraws from the world without regret.
The classic's most solitary Image. In a moment this abnormal, ordinary support is not available.
What it means
Da Guo is a structural diagram. Four yang lines are crowded into the middle of the figure and the two ends are yin: a heavy beam resting on weak supports. Everything the hexagram says follows from that shape.
The classic calls these conditions extraordinary, and it suspends some of its usual advice accordingly. The Image has the noble person standing alone without fear and leaving the world without regret, which is not how this book normally talks. In a critical time the ordinary supports are not there.
The lines pair off around the middle. A dry poplar sprouts at the root and an old man marries a young woman: unlikely, generative, and the text approves. A withered poplar flowers and an older woman marries a young man: equally unlikely, beautiful, and the verdict is no blame and no praise, because nothing will come of it. The classic is comparing what regenerates with what merely blooms.
The top line is the one people remember. You wade in, the water closes over your head, and the text says misfortune and no blame in the same breath. Sometimes the necessary act cannot be survived, and the book declines to call that a mistake.
In a reading
Great Exceeding as an answer describes a load-bearing situation under real strain. Something is carrying more than it was built for, and it will not hold indefinitely.
The counsel is to act rather than wait, to shore up the foundation with unglamorous care, and to accept that ordinary methods may not apply. If you are supporting someone else through this, the fourth line is the condition: help without an agenda, or the help fails.
The six lines
Read a line's text only when the cast made it a moving line. They are listed from the top of the figure down, the way the hexagram is drawn.
-
Six at the top
Wading in too deep, the water goes over your head. Misfortune. No blame.
Going under while doing the necessary thing. One of the few places the book separates failure from fault.
-
Nine in the fifth place
A withered poplar puts out flowers. An older woman takes a husband. No blame, no praise.
The counterpart of the second line, and the verdict is neutral. Flowers on old wood are beautiful and produce nothing.
-
Nine in the fourth place
The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are other motives, humiliation.
Support supplied, on condition it is disinterested. Help with an agenda attached fails.
-
Nine in the third place
The ridgepole sags to breaking. Misfortune.
Strain at the exposed third place with nothing bracing it. No remedy offered.
-
Nine in the second place
A dry poplar sends out shoots at the root. An old man takes a young wife. Nothing that does not further.
Unlikely renewal from an old stock. The classic reads the mismatch as generative here.
-
Six at the beginning
Spreading white rushes underneath. No blame.
Extreme care with the foundation. Rushes cost nothing and the line approves the caution anyway.
Related figures
Latest Posts
Discover the ancient wisdom of tarot cards and unlock the mysteries of your spiritual journey. Our blog is your gateway to understanding the rich symbolism, meanings, and practical applications of tarot reading.
