大過

Hexagram 28: Great Exceeding → Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder

大過
Great Exceeding
Lake / Wind
The Arousing Thunder
Thunder / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

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

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 5

九五 枯楊生華。老婦得其士夫。无咎无譽。

the withered
yángpoplar
shēngsends out
huáflowers
lǎothe old
woman
finds
her own
shìa young gentleman
as husband
no
jiùto blame
no
to praise

Nine in the fifth place means: A withered poplar puts forth flowers. An older woman takes a husband. No blame. No praise.

Trigram Changes

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

Yilin Verse

利在北陸。寒苦難得。憂危之患,福為道門。商叔生存。

Profit lies in the northern wastes; cold and bitter, hard to obtain. Perilous worry and dread; fortune becomes the gate of the Way. Shang Shu survives.

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

Commentary

Lake over wind erupts into doubled thunder — the Arousing, the shock that stirs renewal. Profit lies in the northern quarter, cold and hard to obtain. Worry and peril threaten, yet fortune becomes the gateway of the Way. The Shang uncle survives. 'The northern quarter' (北陸) is the winter sun's position, the place of maximum cold and hardship. The 'Shang uncle' (商叔) may refer to the Viscount of Wei (Weizi), the Shang prince who survived the dynasty's fall and was enfeoffed at Song. His survival through terrible upheaval embodies the verse's arc: peril does not destroy but leads to fortune's door. From Great Exceeding to the Arousing, the collapsing beam meets the double thunderclap. Shock upon shock — yet within the tremor, the survivor finds the Way.

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