Hexagram 34
大壯
Dà Zhuàng
Great Power
Upper Trigram
震 Zhèn
Thunder — Arousing
Lower Trigram
乾 Qián
Heaven — Creative
Classical Texts
The Judgment
利貞。
The Image
雷在天上，大壯。君子以非禮弗履。
The Lines
Line 1
初九 壯于趾。征凶有孚。
Line 2
九二 貞吉。
Line 3
九三 小人用壯。君子用罔。貞厲。羝羊觸藩。羸其角。
Line 4
九四 貞吉。悔亡。藩決不羸。壯于大輿之輹。
Line 5
六五 喪羊于易。无悔。
Line 6
上六 羝羊觸藩。不能退。不能遂。无攸利。艱則吉。
Lion Hunt
Peter Paul Rubens, 1621
The Power of the Great
Bodies surge and twist in violent collision across Peter Paul Rubens' 1621 canvas. Mounted hunters grapple with lions in chaotic combat—swords pierce flesh, horses rear in panic, human and animal forms interlock in a whirlwind of muscular force. Rubens renders the scene with Baroque dynamism, using diagonal compositions and powerful chiaroscuro to intensify the sensation of overwhelming power unleashed. The painting captures pure kinetic energy at the moment of explosion, when restraint collapses and force manifests without inhibition.
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This is Dà Zhuàng (大壯), The Power of the Great. The character 壯 suggests strength reaching maturity, vigor at its peak. Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Thunder (Zhèn) sits below Heaven (Qián)—arousing movement driven by creative power, the unleashing of accumulated force. Rubens' hunters and lions embody this structure: heavenly strength activated through thunderous action, the moment when potential becomes kinetic, when what was restrained breaks into manifest violence. Rubens' 1621 masterpiece depicts a violent confrontation between mounted hunters and lions in chaotic combat. Bodies of men, horses, and beasts intertwine in a whirlwind of raw power unleashed—the great power of heaven in furious action. The Judgment text speaks with cautionary emphasis: "The Power of the Great. Perseverance furthers." Zhou Dynasty court diviners warned that great power requires great correctness. When yang lines predominate and force reaches fullness, the danger lies not in weakness but in misuse of strength. Ancient practitioners noted this hexagram appeared before military campaigns, during periods of national strength, when rulers possessed overwhelming force. The text promises success but conditions it absolutely on rightness of purpose. Power without principle breeds the next hexagram—injury and excess. The Image Text offers precise guidance: "Thunder in heaven above: the image of the Power of the Great. Thus the superior man does not tread upon paths that do not accord with established order." The paradox emerges clearly: maximum power requires maximum restraint. Rubens depicts the moment when power explodes into action, but the ancient text addresses what precedes that moment—the disciplined conservation of force for proper use. In the I-Ching's sequence, Dà Zhuàng follows Dùn (Retreat): after strategic withdrawal rebuilds strength, power returns at full magnitude. The question remains whether that power will be wielded with the correctness that ensures enduring success or dissipated through reckless display.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 34 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.
左有噬熊，右有囓虎，前觸銕矛，後躓強弩，無可抵者。
On the left, a biting bear; on the right, a gnawing tiger. Ahead, the iron spear's point; behind, the strong crossbow's string. None can withstand it.
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Thunder doubles upon thunder above heaven — Great Power remains Great Power, the hexagram transforming into itself. The verse paints a warrior surrounded on all sides: a biting bear to the left, a gnawing tiger to the right, iron spears ahead, strong crossbows behind. There is no safe direction, no angle of escape, no one who can resist such concentrated force. This is power at its absolute zenith, hemmed in by its own magnitude. From Dazhuang to Dazhuang, the image mirrors itself: when power faces equally matched power from every quarter, even the mightiest stands paralyzed. The verse reads not as triumph but as warning — total strength without maneuver room becomes total entrapment.
中文注释
雷在天上，大壯不變——卦自變為己。左有噬熊，右有囓虎，前觸銕矛，後躓強弩，無可抵者。四面受敵，無處可退，壯力之極致反成極致之困。大壯之大壯，鏡像自映：當同等之力從四方壓來，最強者亦動彈不得。此詩非頌強盛，乃警壯極。力大無當，威猛無方，全力反成全困——壯之極即壯之窮。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Thunder (震)
Same lower trigram: Heaven (乾)