EN (English)
䷡
Hexagram 34 of 64
The Power of the Great
大壯 · Dà Zhuàng
Four yang lines rising with thunder above heaven. The hexagram has more raw power than almost any other, and spends all six lines warning about how to use it.
strength
force
restraint
overreach
- King Wen number
- 34 of 64
- Above
- ☳ Zhèn · Thunder
- Below
- ☰ Qián · Heaven
- Composition
- Thunder over Heaven
- Lines, bottom to top
- Solid · solid · solid · solid · broken · broken
- Chinese
- 大壯 · Dà Zhuàng
The Judgment
It rewards holding to the course.
Four characters, no promise of success. The classic gives great power the shortest Judgment in the book and no encouragement at all.
The Image
Thunder up in heaven: the Power of the Great. So the noble person does not walk on paths that fall outside what is right.
The one restraint on great strength is self-imposed. When you can go anywhere, where you refuse to go defines you.
What it means
Da Zhuang is the hexagram of strength at its height: four yang lines risen, thunder rolling above heaven. It follows Retreat in the sequence, which is the classic's way of noting that a withdrawal well made is what makes the next advance possible.
Its Judgment is the shortest of any major hexagram and offers nothing beyond a recommendation of steadiness. Everything else the hexagram has to say is a warning, delivered through one image repeated three times: a ram butting a hedge and getting its horns caught.
The image is precise. A hedge is not a wall. It gives a little, which is what draws the second charge, and its branches are exactly the right shape to hold a pair of horns. Force applied to something that partly yields is how strong things become stuck, and the classic thinks this is the characteristic failure of power rather than an accident.
The remedy is in the fourth line. The hedge opens when the strength has moved into the axle of the wagon: located where the load is carried rather than where the collision is. And the fifth line simply lets the goat go, which the text marks as easy and free of regret.
In a reading
Great Power as an answer confirms you have the strength for the matter and doubts that force is the way to apply it.
Its counsel is to move the effort from the point of impact to the point of load, and to consider letting go of whatever you are butting against. If you are already stuck, the top line asks only that you acknowledge it, and calls that good fortune.
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
The ram butts the hedge and can go neither back nor forward. Nothing furthers. Recognise the difficulty and there is good fortune.
Fully stuck. The good fortune is granted for nothing more than admitting the position.
-
Six in the fifth place
Loses the goat easily. No regret.
Letting the stubborn thing go without a struggle. The line's ease is the whole point.
-
Nine in the fourth place
Steadfastness brings good fortune and regret disappears. The hedge opens, no entanglement. The power is in the axle of a great wagon.
The way out. Strength located in the load-bearing part rather than at the point of collision.
-
Nine in the third place
The small person uses force; the noble person does not. To press on is dangerous. A ram butts a hedge and tangles its horns.
The hexagram's central image. Force applied to an obstacle that yields just enough to trap it.
-
Nine in the second place
Steadfastness brings good fortune.
Four characters. Strength in the central place needs no image and no warning.
-
Nine at the beginning
Power in the toes. To press on brings misfortune. This is certain.
Strength at the lowest point, where it has the least judgement attached. The text is unusually emphatic.
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.
