Anonymous (traditionally attributed to King Wen, the Duke of Zhou and Confucius) · Complete work
Hexagram 28 · Dà Guò ䷛
Hexagram 28 · Dà Guò ䷛ of 69. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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大過：棟橈，利有攸往，亨。
初六：藉用白茅，无咎。
九二：枯楊生稊，老夫得其女妻，无不利。
九三：棟橈，凶。
九四：棟隆，吉。有它吝。
九五：枯楊生華，老婦得其士夫，无咎无譽。
上六：過涉滅頂，凶，无咎。
彖曰：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！
象曰：澤滅木，大過。君子以獨立不懼，遯世无悶。
藉用白茅，柔在下也。
老夫女妻，過以相與也。
棟橈之凶，不可以有輔也。
棟隆之吉，不橈乎下也。
枯楊生華，何可久也。老婦士夫，亦可醜也。
過涉之凶，不可咎也。
Musean translation
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the classical Chinese, passage for passage, covering all 64 hexagrams with their judgments, line statements and attached commentaries, and the remaining Wings (the Great Commentary, the Discussion of the Trigrams, the Sequence and the Contrasts of the Hexagrams), 1,204 passages in all.
Da Guo (Great Excess): The roof beam bends. It is favorable to have somewhere to go. Success.
Six at the beginning: Lay down white rushes as a mat. No blame.
Nine in the second place: A withered poplar puts forth new shoots; an old man gains a young wife. Nothing is unfavorable.
Nine in the third place: The roof beam bends. Misfortune.
Nine in the fourth place: The roof beam arches high. Good fortune. Something else brings humiliation.
Nine in the fifth place: A withered poplar flowers; an old woman gains a young husband. No blame, no praise.
Six at the top: Crossing too far, the water covers the head. Misfortune, but no blame.
The Judgment Commentary says: Da Guo means the great exceeds its bounds. “The roof beam bends”: its root and tip are weak. The firm is excessive yet centered; moving gently and joyfully, it is favorable to go somewhere, and so succeeds. Great indeed is the time of Great Excess!
The Image Commentary says: The lake submerges the trees: Da Guo. Thus the noble person stands alone without fear and withdraws from the world without sorrow.
Laying down white rushes as a mat: the yielding is below.
The old man and young wife: excess brings them together.
The misfortune of the bending roof beam: it cannot be supported.
The good fortune of the arching roof beam: it does not bend down below.
A withered poplar flowers: how could this endure? An old woman and young husband: this too may be shameful.
The misfortune of crossing too far: one cannot find fault with it.
Plain English translation
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the classical Chinese, covering all 64 hexagrams with their judgments, line statements and attached commentaries, and the remaining Wings (the Great Commentary, the Discussion of the Trigrams, the Sequence and the Contrasts of the Hexagrams), 1,204 passages in all.
Da Guo (Great Excess): The roof beam bends. Going somewhere is favorable. Success.
Six at the beginning: Lay down white reeds as a mat. No blame.
Nine in the second place: A withered poplar sends out new shoots. An old man gets a young wife. Nothing is unfavorable.
Nine in the third place: The roof beam bends. Misfortune.
Nine in the fourth place: The roof beam arches upward. Good fortune. Other concerns bring humiliation.
Nine in the fifth place: A withered poplar flowers. An old woman gets a young husband. No blame and no praise.
Six at the top: Cross the water too far and it covers your head. Misfortune, but no blame.
The Judgment Commentary says: Da Guo means that what is great goes too far. The beam bends because its base and tip are weak. The firm is excessive but centered; it is gentle and joyful in action. Going somewhere is favorable, and there is success. How important is the time of great excess!
The Image Commentary says: The lake covers the trees: this is Da Guo. The noble person therefore stands alone without fear and withdraws from the world without feeling troubled.
White reeds are laid underneath because the yielding line is at the bottom.
An old man and a young wife come together in an unusual match.
The bending beam brings misfortune because it cannot support anything.
The upward-arching beam brings good fortune because it does not bend downward.
How long could a withered poplar's flowers last? An old woman and a young husband are also a cause for shame.
One cannot blame a person for the misfortune of crossing too far.