大壯

Hexagram 34: Great Power → Hexagram 51: The Arousing Thunder

大壯
Great Power
Thunder / Heaven
The Arousing Thunder
Thunder / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 3).

Line 2

九二 貞吉。

zhēnpersistence
is promising

Nine in the second place means: Perseverance brings good fortune.

Line 3

九三 小人用壯。君子用罔。貞厲。羝羊觸藩。羸其角。

xiǎothe common
rénpeople
yòngapply
zhuàngstrength
jūnto (the) noble
young one
yòngapplies
wǎngnets
zhēnpersistence
is difficult
the billy
yánggoat
chù(who) butts (against)
fānthe hedge(row)
léiand entangles(ing)
(by) his
jiǎohorns

Nine in the third place means: The inferior man works through power. The superior man does not act thus. To continue is dangerous. A goat butts against a hedge And gets its horns entangled.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramThunder Thunder
Lower TrigramHeaven ThunderThe Creative → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

晨風文翰,大舉就溫,昧過我邑,羿无所得。

The kestrel with patterned plumes takes great flight toward warmth. Passing swiftly over our town in the dark; Yi gains nothing from them.

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

Commentary

Thunder above heaven doubles into thunder upon thunder: Great Power transforms into the Arousing. The morning wind-falcon — the chenguang, a swift raptor — spreads its patterned wings and takes flight southward toward warmth. It passes through the traveler's territory at dawn, too quick to catch. Even the legendary Archer Yi gains nothing from this encounter; the bird is simply too fast. From Great Power to the Arousing, the doubling of thunder amplifies the falcon's startling speed. Zhen embodies the shock of sudden movement, the first crack of spring thunder that sets dormant things in motion. The verse captures this perfectly: power transformed into pure velocity outruns even the greatest hunter's aim.

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