大過

Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding → Hexagram 5: Waiting

大過
Great Exceeding
Lake / Wind
Waiting
Water / Heaven
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

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 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.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramLake WaterThe Joyous → The Deep
Lower TrigramWind HeavenThe Gentle → The Creative

Yilin Verse

大樹之子,百條共母。當夏六月,枝葉盛茂。鸞鳥以庇,召伯避暑。

The great tree’s offspring; a hundred boughs share one mother. In midsummer’s sixth month; branches and leaves flourish thick. The luan bird shelters beneath; Lord Shao escapes the heat.

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

Commentary

Lake over wind opens into clouds above heaven — the patient nurturing of Waiting. A great tree stands with a hundred branches sharing one mother-trunk. In the heat of midsummer its canopy flourishes, sheltering luan birds in its shade. The Duke of Shao rests beneath it, recalling the Shijing ode 'Gan Tang,' where the people cherished the pear tree under which the Duke of Shao administered justice. The tree is both literal shelter and political metaphor: virtuous governance that nourishes all who gather beneath it. From Great Exceeding to Waiting, the sagging ridgepole transforms into a mighty living tree — what was overburdened structure becomes organic abundance, patiently sustaining life through the longest, hottest days.

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