Hexagram 28 Da Quo (Great Exceeding) - Meaning and Application in the I Ching

What is the Trạch Phong Đại Quá hexagram?

The Trạch Phong Đại Quá (大過) hexagram is the 28th of the 64 hexagrams in the Chu Dịch order. The hexagram consists of Tốn (Wind) as the lower trigram and Đoài (Lake) as the upper trigram. The name 大過 is read Đại Quá, meaning a great excess.

Structure of the hexagram: the Sơ lục line and the Thượng lục line are yin lines, the four middle lines (Cửu nhị, Cửu tam, Cửu tứ, Cửu ngũ) are all yang lines. Both ends are soft and weak, while the middle is excessively strong, so the image is of a roof beam bending under too heavy a load.

How is the original text of the Trạch Phong Đại Quá hexagram written?

Quái từ (the judgment): 大過：棟橈，利有攸往，亨。

Read as: Đại Quá: "Đống nạo, lợi hữu du vãng, hanh." Close meaning: the roof beam bends, favourable to have somewhere to go, success.

Hào từ (the line texts):

• Sơ lục: 藉用白茅，无咎。 Read as: "Tạ dụng bạch mao, vô cữu." Close meaning: spread white cogongrass underneath, no fault.
• Cửu nhị: 枯楊生稊，老夫得其女妻，无不利。 Read as: "Khô dương sinh đề, lão phu đắc kỳ nữ thê, vô bất lợi." Close meaning: a withered poplar puts out new shoots, an old man takes a young wife, nothing is unfavourable.
• Cửu tam: 棟橈，凶。 Read as: "Đống nạo, hung." Close meaning: the roof beam bends, misfortune.
• Cửu tứ: 棟隆，吉。有它吝。 Read as: "Đống long, cát. Hữu tha lận." Close meaning: the roof beam is firm and high, good fortune. If there is something else, regret.
• Cửu ngũ: 枯楊生華，老婦得其士夫，无咎无譽。 Read as: "Khô dương sinh hoa, lão phụ đắc kỳ sĩ phu, vô cữu vô dự." Close meaning: a withered poplar puts out flowers, an old woman takes a young husband, no fault and no praise.
• Thượng lục: 過涉滅頂，凶，无咎。 Read as: "Quá thiệp diệt đỉnh, hung, vô cữu." Close meaning: wading too deep until the head is submerged, misfortune, but no fault.

What do the Thoán truyện and Tượng truyện of the Đại Quá hexagram say?

The Thoán truyện and Tượng truyện belong to the Thập Dực, traditionally attributed to Khổng Tử; modern scholarship places them around the 5th to 2nd century BCE. These are commentaries explaining the classic text, not part of the classic text itself.

Thoán truyện: 大過，大者過也。棟橈，本末弱也。剛過而中，巽而說行，利有攸往，乃亨。大過之時大矣哉！

Close meaning: Đại Quá is the great exceeding. The roof beam bends because both the root and the tip are weak. The firm exceeds yet attains the centre, Tốn and joyful, and so it moves, therefore it is favourable to have somewhere to go, and only then is there success. Great indeed is the time of Đại Quá!

Đại Tượng: 澤滅木，大過。君子以獨立不懼，遯世无悶。

Close meaning: The lake submerges the tree, this is Đại Quá. The junzi accordingly stands alone without fear, withdraws from the world without sorrow.

Tiểu Tượng:

• 藉用白茅，柔在下也。 Close meaning: spreading white cogongrass underneath, the soft is below.
• 老夫女妻，過以相與也。 Close meaning: the old man and the young wife, exceeding yet giving to each other.
• 棟橈之凶，不可以有輔也。 Close meaning: the misfortune of the bending roof beam, there can be no support.
• 棟隆之吉，不橈乎下也。 Close meaning: the good fortune of the firm and high roof beam, it does not bend below.
• 枯楊生華，何可久也。老婦士夫，亦可醜也。 Close meaning: the withered poplar putting out flowers, how can it last. The old woman and the young husband, it is also shameful.
• 過涉之凶，不可咎也。 Close meaning: the misfortune of wading too deep, it cannot be blamed.

How do Vương Bật and Chu Hy comment on the Đại Quá hexagram?

Vương Bật's commentary:

• On the judgment: "âm tương quá chi quá" means the character "quá" here is read as "quá" in "tương quá" (passing one another).
• On "棟橈, bản mạt nhược dã": the Sơ line is the root, the Thượng line is the tip.
• On "cương quá nhi trung, Tốn nhi duyệt hành, lợi hữu du vãng, nãi hanh": this points to the Cửu nhị line. In a yin position it is "exceeding"; in the second position it is "centred". Rescuing the weak, raising up the declining, without losing its central place. "Tốn nhi duyệt hành", taking this to rescue from danger, and only then does the danger pass. If one is in peril and does not hold it up, what use is one? Therefore going brings success.
• On "Đại Quá chi thời đại hĩ tai": this is a time when the junzi has work to do.
• On the Sơ lục line: taking the soft as the lower element, exceeding yet able to be "without fault", only the cautious can do this!
• On the Cửu nhị line: "đề" is the new shoot of the poplar. Taking yang in a yin position, it can exceed its own root and rescue its own weakness. Above it has no response, its heart does not cling to regret; being in a place of excess and yet like this, no decline cannot be rescued. Therefore it can cause the withered poplar to put out new shoots again, the old man to obtain a young wife again; rescuing the weak and raising the declining, nothing is more flourishing than this line, therefore "nothing is unfavourable". Too old is withered, too young is tender. Taking from the old to give to the young, the young grows; taking from the young to give to the old, the old becomes fresh again; this is the meaning of "exceeding yet giving to each other". Đại Quá, when decline has arrived and strength has also arrived, using the utmost strength to help the utmost decline, accords with this meaning.
• On the Cửu tam line: in the time of Đại Quá, at the extreme of the lower body, it cannot rescue from danger and raise the weak to make a high roof beam, but instead takes yang in a yang position, keeping to its own place, and further responds to the line above, binding its heart to one place, therefore it sinks into weakness and its misfortune grows.
• On the Cửu tứ line: it belongs to the upper body, taking yang in a yin position, it can rescue its own weakness, and is not bent by what is below, therefore "the roof beam is firm and high", good fortune. But its response is at the Sơ line, its intent is not broad, therefore "if there is something else, regret".
• On the Cửu ngũ line: in a noble position, and taking yang in a yang position, it has not yet rescued from danger. In a noble position, it is also not yet bent, therefore it can put out flowers, but cannot put out shoots; it can obtain a husband, but cannot obtain a wife. In an age of "the roof beam bends" to be "without fault and without praise", how can it last! Therefore the flowers it puts out cannot last, the young husband is truly shameful.
• On the Thượng lục line: at the extreme of great excess, it exceeds beyond measure. Wading into danger too deep, therefore it reaches "the head submerged, misfortune". Its will is set on rescuing the time, therefore its fault cannot be blamed.

Chu Hy's commentary (Chu Dịch bản nghĩa):

• On the judgment: "nạo" is read as giáo phản. Đại is yang, the four yang lines in the middle are excessively strong, therefore it is Đại Quá; the two yin lines above and below cannot bear the weight, therefore there is the image of a bending roof beam. Also, because the four yang lines, though exceeding, still have the ngũ and nhị lines attaining the centre, and within Tốn and without Đoài there is a way that can be walked, therefore it is favourable to have somewhere to go and one obtains success.
• On the Sơ lục line: "tạ" is read as tá dạ phản. In the time of Đại Quá, taking yin softness below Tốn, exceeding in a manner that is fearful and cautious and therefore without fault, so its image and its divination are like this. White cogongrass is the cleanest of things.
• On the Cửu nhị line: "đề" is read as thổ hề phản. Yang excess begins and it is near the yin Sơ line, so its image and its divination are like this. Đề is the root, fresh below; fresh below means it grows above. Though the husband is old, he obtains a young wife, and can still accomplish growth and nourishment.
• On the Cửu tam line: the two lines tam and tứ in the middle of the hexagram are the image of the roof beam. Cửu tam takes firmness in a firm position, cannot bear the weight, so its image is bending and its divination is misfortune.
• On the Cửu tứ line: "tha" is read as thang hà phản. Taking yang in a yin position, exceeding yet not exceeding, so its image is firm and high and its divination is good fortune. But below it responds to the Sơ lục line, taking softness to help itself is too soft, therefore it further warns that if there is something else, regret.
• On the Cửu ngũ line: "hoa" is read as the character. Cửu ngũ is yang excess reaching its extreme, and is again near yin excess reaching its extreme, so its image and its divination are both the reverse of the nhị line.
• On the Thượng lục line: in the land of excess reaching its extreme, its ability is too weak to rescue, but in meaning it is without fault. Broadly this is the matter of sacrificing oneself to fulfil benevolence, so its image and its divination are like this.

According to Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, what does the Đại Quá hexagram suggest?

According to Nhật Nguyệt's understanding, Đại Quá is the image of a time when weight presses on a structure that was thin to begin with. The judgment says "the roof beam bends, favourable to have somewhere to go, success", showing that the classic text speaks not only of danger but also of direction. The Thoán truyện says "the firm exceeds yet attains the centre", meaning that this excess still has something to lean on in the central way.

The Đại Tượng says "the lake submerges the tree, Đại Quá; the junzi accordingly stands alone without fear, withdraws from the world without sorrow". This is the spirit of holding oneself steady under great pressure, not necessarily going along with the crowd. Vương Bật comments that this is "a time when the junzi has work to do", while Chu Hy emphasises that the nhị and ngũ lines attain the centre, so there is still a way to walk.

The line texts carry the social standards of ancient times such as marriage, ruler and minister, man and woman. The images of "an old man taking a young wife", "an old woman taking a young husband" should be read as the historical context of the age in which the Kinh Dịch was recorded, and should not be turned into advice for marriage today.

When encountering the Đại Quá hexagram while asking about work, how should it be understood?

Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: if you are considering a project or a career move and feel that the weight exceeds your current resources, you should review the underlying structure before expanding. The judgment says "lợi hữu du vãng", which can be understood as meaning that there is still a way forward, but it needs to come with strengthening the weak points. Cửu tam is a warning against rigidity, while Cửu tứ is the image of a roof beam standing firm and high when it knows to lean on softness.

In matters of affection, the Cửu nhị and Cửu ngũ lines carry the image of an age gap. Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: this is a matter of the old context, and people today should read it as a reminder about balance between the two sides, not take it as a standard for present-day relationships.

On money and health, Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: when you see that you are straining beyond your strength, you should reduce the load or find someone to share it, rather than trying to keep the status quo. This is a cautious reading, and does not assert a specific outcome for anyone.

On the role of leadership, Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: Cửu tứ shows that a person in a high position needs to avoid binding their heart to only one tie, because Vương Bật comments that "if the intent is not broad" then regret arises.

What connection does the Đại Quá hexagram have with other hexagrams?

Đại Quá is often compared with Tiểu Quá (hexagram number 62). If Đại Quá is excess on a large scale, then Tiểu Quá is excess on a small scale. In the sequence of hexagrams, Đại Quá follows the Di hexagram (nourishment); by tradition, once nourishment is sufficient it easily leads to surplus.

Quick reference table: the Trạch Phong Đại Quá hexagram

The figures in the table match the results of the reference tools on Nhật Nguyệt.

Overview article on the topic: What is the Kinh Dịch?