Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
Great Excess
Hexagram 28 of the Yi Jing · 大过 Dà Guò
The figure
The Lake above Wind: the ridgepole bending, overloaded in the middle, weak at the ends. The image of an excess nearing the breaking point.
What this figure illuminates
Preponderance of the Great lights up moments of overload, when a situation carries more than it can. The critical point calls for an exceptional gesture — to support, to lighten, or to let the passage happen.
For a decision, the figure questions extreme tension: “what is bending under the weight, and must I shore it up, unload it, or accept that a major transition is taking place?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
The ridgepole sags under too great a weight. It furthers to have somewhere to go; there is success — but the structure must be met before it breaks.
The Image
The lake rises over the treetops, drowning them — a time of excess. Seeing this, the noble person stands alone without fear, and withdraws from the world without regret.
The Six Lines
- First line
Laying soft white grass beneath what you set down — extreme care at the start. Such caution makes no error.
- Second line
An old willow puts out fresh shoots; the aged join with the young. Renewal from an unlikely pairing — advantage in every way.
- Third line
The ridgepole bends and cracks under the strain, and no one is let near to prop it. Misfortune.
- Fourth line
The ridgepole is braced and rises again — good fortune. But lean on hidden props beyond what holds it, and there is regret.
- Fifth line
An old willow flowers; the aged pairs with youth, but bears no fruit. Neither blame nor praise — a show without increase.
- Sixth line
You wade in until the water closes over your head. Misfortune — yet, done for what is right, no blame attaches.
Daoa's wording, written after the classical reference translations, now in the public domain: James Legge (1882) and Charles de Harlez (1889).
A question to keep
What is bending under the weight — must you shore it up or unload it?
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