大過 → 夬

Commentary

Lake over wind breaks into lake above heaven — Breakthrough, the decisive moment of resolution. Many small stars cluster beside the greater ones; three and five gather in the east. Rising early and traveling through the night, one labors hard but achieves nothing. The verse contrasts cosmic order with human futility: the stars assume their proper positions in the eastern sky — the Pleiades (three-five, 三五) and their attendant stars — while the traveler exhausts himself without result. The celestial bodies move effortlessly into alignment while human striving produces nothing. From Great Exceeding to Breakthrough, the overburdened beam should snap decisively. But this verse shows a breakthrough that fails to materialize: despite relentless effort, the resolution never arrives. The stars break through the dawn; the traveler does not.