大過

Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding → Hexagram 42: Increase

大過
Great Exceeding
Lake / Wind
Increase
Wind / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).

Line 1

初六 藉用白茅。无咎。

jièfor
yòngusing
báiwhite
máothatch
no
jiùblame

Six at the beginning means: To spread white rushes underneath. No blame.

Line 2

九二 枯楊生稊。老夫得其女妻。无不利。

the withered
yángpoplar
shēngsends out
a new
lǎothe old
gentleman
finds
his own
a maiden
companion
without
doubt
worthwhile

Nine in the second place means: A dry poplar sprouts at the root. An older man takes a young wife. Everything furthers.

Line 3

九三 棟橈。凶。

dòngthe ridgepole
náois deformed
xiōngominous

Nine in the third place means: The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. Misfortune.

Line 4

九四 棟隆。吉。有它吝。

dòngthe ridgepole
lóngholds
promising
yǒuif it
tuōany
lìnthen inadequacy

Nine in the fourth place means: The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.

Line 6

上六 過涉滅頂。凶。无咎。

guòtoo much of
shèto crossing
miècovering
dǐngone's head
xiōngunfortunate
but no
jiùblame

Six at the top means: One must go through the water. It goes over one's head. Misfortune. No blame.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramLake WindThe Joyous → The Gentle
Lower TrigramWind ThunderThe Gentle → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

太微復明,說升傅巖。乃稱高室,疾在頭頸。和不能生,滅其令名。

Taiwei shines bright again; Yue ascends from Fuyan. Thus he is called to the high chamber; yet illness lodges in head and neck. Harmony cannot bring life; his illustrious name is extinguished.

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

Commentary

Lake over wind rises into wind above thunder — Increase, where the upper diminishes itself to benefit the lower. The Taiwei star shines again; the sage Fu Yue ascends from the cliffs of Fuyan to be elevated to the highest office. But then illness strikes at head and neck, and harmony cannot sustain life — the illustrious name is extinguished. Fu Yue was a slave laborer building walls at Fuyan when King Wu Ding of Shang dreamed of a sage and sought him out among the convicts. Raised to chief minister, Fu Yue presided over the 'Wu Ding Renaissance.' The 'Taiwei star' that brightens is said to be Fu Yue's stellar apotheosis. Yet the verse turns dark: even the greatest minister falls to illness. From Great Exceeding to Increase, the transformation offers magnification — but what is magnified includes vulnerability as well as glory.

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