大有大過

Hexagram 14: Great Possession → Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding

大有
Great Possession
Fire / Heaven
大過
Great Exceeding
Lake / Wind
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 5, 6).

Line 1

初九 无交害。匪咎。艱則无咎。

having
jiāointeraction
hàiwith trouble
fěito never to be
jiùin errors
jiānthis is difficulty
but otherwise
no
jiùblame

Nine at the beginning means: No relationship with what is harmful; There is no blame in this. If one remains conscious of difficulty, One remains without blame.

Line 5

六五 厥孚交如。威如。吉。

juétheir
trust
jiāocommerce
resemble
wēidignity
assuming
is promising

Six in the fifth place means: He whose truth is accessible, yet dignified, Has good fortune.

Line 6

上九 自天祐之。吉无不利。

from
tiānheaven
yòuis protection
zhīis extended
promising
without
doubt
worthwhile

Nine at the top means: He is blessed by heaven. Good fortune. Nothing that does not further.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramFire LakeThe Clinging → The Joyous
Lower TrigramHeaven WindThe Creative → The Gentle

Yilin Verse

枯樹無枝,與子分離。飢寒莫養;獨立哀悲。

A withered tree without branches; separated from one's child. Hunger and cold without nurture; standing alone in grieving sorrow.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

A withered tree stands stripped of branches, separated from its offspring. Unable to feed or shelter them against hunger and cold, it stands alone in wretched grief. The image is devastating in its simplicity: a dead tree cannot nourish its seedlings, just as a depleted parent cannot sustain a child. From Great Possession to Great Exceeding, fire over heaven becomes the lake submerging the wood — the ridgepole sagging under impossible weight. The transformation captures the verse precisely: what once possessed abundantly is now overburdened to the breaking point. The withered tree echoes Great Exceeding's own imagery of a rotting beam-end. Excess has exhausted the organism, and what remains is the isolated, skeletal frame of what was.

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