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Adele Bloch Bauer I
䷍

Hexagram 14

大有

Dà Yǒu

Great Possession

Adele Bloch Bauer I — Klimt, Unknown

A woman emerges from fields of gold leaf and Byzantine ornament, her face and hands the only elements rendered as flesh. Klimt painted Adele Bloch-Bauer in 1907, surrounding his wealthy patron with layers of decorative abundance—geometric patterns, spiral motifs, Egyptian eyes, all executed in gold that catches light like burnished metal. The painting announces wealth not through depicted objects but through material itself—gold leaf applied so thickly the surface becomes relief, becomes treasure. Adele sits enthroned in her own abundance, prosperity made visible, great measure possessed and displayed.

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This is Dà Yǒu (大有), the Chinese hexagram meaning "possession in great measure" or "great holdings." Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Fire (Lí) sits above Heaven (Qián): illuminating clarity above, creative force below, like the sun at midday shining down on all things, making everything visible, abundant, and accessible. Klimt's gold embodies this solar generosity—light transformed into substance, radiance you can touch. In Zhou Dynasty court divinations, this hexagram appeared during reigns of prosperity when granaries filled, when trade flourished, when the kingdom held great resources and displayed them without shame. Klimt's 1907 portrait depicts wealthy patron Adele Bloch-Bauer adorned in elaborate gold-leaf patterns. The lavish display of wealth and social prominence connects to hexagram 14's theme of possession in great measure. The Judgment text declares the condition simply: "Supreme success." Prosperity this great requires no hedging, no qualification. Adele's wealth came from her husband's sugar refinery fortune, the sweet abundance of industrial-age Vienna. Klimt himself commanded extraordinary fees during his Golden Period—the art market boomed, patrons competed for his work, gold became his signature material. But the text adds crucial guidance: "His supreme success is due to his relationship with heaven, which illuminates, judges, and shapes all things from above." Great measure isn't hoarded; it circulates, illuminates, shapes what it touches. Adele became a patron of the arts herself, her salon gathering Vienna's intellectual elite. The wealth flows through her, not to her alone. The Image Text offers counsel for managing abundance: "Fire in heaven above: the image of possession in great measure. Thus the superior person curbs evil and furthers good, and thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven." Prosperity creates responsibility. Klimt's painting itself demonstrates this—commissioned for a private home, it became one of Austria's most recognized artworks, reproducible abundance spreading from singular possession. Song Dynasty officials understood this hexagram as the moment when good governance produces surplus, when abundance allows support for culture, scholarship, public works. In the I-Ching's sequence, Dà Yǒu follows Fellowship: when people work together openly, wealth accumulates. The next hexagram is Modesty—a warning that great possession without humility breeds resentment, that abundance handled proudly turns to its opposite.

Upper Trigram

☲

離 Lí

Fire — Clinging

ElementFireDirectionEastFamilySecond DaughterQualitiesilluminating, dependent, radiant

Lower Trigram

☰

乾 Qián

Heaven — Creative

ElementMetalDirectionSouthFamilyFatherQualitiescreative, strong, dynamic

Classical Texts

The Judgment

Supreme success. Strength and clarity unite. How does the yielding hold the strong? Through position, through timing, through the way heaven works. Possession in great measure accords with fate.

The Lines

Line 1

No connection with harm. Not a mistake. Difficulty, then no blame. In the beginning of great possession, avoid harmful entanglements. Hardship at the start protects against blame later.

Line 2

A large wagon for loading. Somewhere to go. No blame. You have the capacity to carry much and a destination for it. The resources match the task.

Line 3

A prince offers to the Son of Heaven. Small people cannot do this. Only those of genuine rank can make offerings to the highest. Inferiors attempting this fail.

Line 4

Not full of himself. No blame. Avoiding arrogance in the midst of abundance—this is correct conduct. Restraint with power.

Line 5

His sincerity is mutual, dignified. Good fortune. When truth is exchanged between equals, and dignity maintained, everything prospers.

Line 6

Blessed by heaven. Good fortune, nothing that does not further. The final line of great possession: help from above, complete success.

Yilin: Forest of Changes

From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 14 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

Yilin artwork for Hexagram 14
白虎張牙，征伐東來；朱雀前驅，讚道說辭；敵人請服，衘璧前趨。

The white tiger bares its fangs; it marches east to punish. The vermillion bird leads the vanguard, praising and proclaiming. The enemy sues for peace, bearing jade and rushing forward.

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The White Tiger bares its fangs, leading a campaign from the east. The Vermilion Bird rides ahead as herald, chanting proclamations and delivering ultimatums. The enemy submits, bearing jade bi-discs as tokens of surrender. The verse deploys the celestial guardians of west and south as military vanguard and diplomatic envoy: White Tiger as the martial spearhead, Vermilion Bird as the voice of authority. From Great Possession to Great Possession — the hexagram unchanged — suggests a situation so fully realized it needs no transformation. The fire in heaven is at its zenith, and all opposing forces recognize its supremacy. This is possession confirmed by universal acknowledgment, power so complete that enemies come forward willingly.

中文注释

白虎張牙，征伐東來；朱雀前驅，讚道說辭。敵人請服，銜璧前趨。以四象之西方白虎為武鋒，南方朱雀為文使，軍威與禮法並行。從大有至大有，卦象不變，示情勢已臻圓滿，無須更化。火在天上，光焰至盛，四方來服。白虎之武與朱雀之文，恰合大有「遏惡揚善，順天休命」之義。此為大有之極致——擁有之完整得到天下公認，威德兼備令敵自來歸順。

Transformations

Hexagram 14 transforming into each of the 64 hexagrams, with Yilin verses.

䷀1䷁2䷂3䷃4䷄5䷅6䷆7䷇8䷈9䷉10䷊11䷋12䷌13䷍14䷎15䷏16䷐17䷑18䷒19䷓20䷔21䷕22䷖23䷗24䷘25䷙26䷚27䷛28䷜29䷝30䷞31䷟32䷠33䷡34䷢35䷣36䷤37䷥38䷦39䷧40䷨41䷩42䷪43䷫44䷬45䷭46䷮47䷯48䷰49䷱50䷲51䷳52䷴53䷵54䷶55䷷56䷸57䷹58䷺59䷻60䷼61䷽62䷾63䷿64

Related Hexagrams

Same upper trigram: Fire (離)

䷔噬嗑Biting Through䷝離The Clinging Fire䷢晉Progress䷥睽Opposition䷱鼎The Cauldron䷿未濟Before Completion

Same lower trigram: Heaven (乾)

䷀乾The Creative䷄需Waiting䷈小畜Small Taming䷊泰Peace䷙大畜Great Taming䷡大壯Great Power䷪夬Breakthrough
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