易玄机

The 64 hexagrams / Hexagram 28

Great Excess

Hexagram 28 · 大过 Dà Guò

Lake above · Wind below
震 palace · 游魂

What hexagram 28 says

Water over the treetops: beyond the norm. The ridgepole is bending. Either replace the load-bearing piece, or cushion everything and move with extreme care.

STRUCTURE
A figure built from Wind (penetrating, gentle, persistent) below and Lake (joyous, open, reflecting) above.
Below: Wind (Xun) — penetrating, gentle, persistent.
Above: Lake (Dui) — joyous, open, reflecting.
excessoverloadboldness

The six lines

Read from the bottom up. The first line is the beginning of the situation, the sixth is its outer edge. The Chinese text is the classical line text; the line below it is a reading of what it is pointing at.

First (bottom)
yin — broken
藉用白茅,无咎。
Second
yang — solid
枯杨生稊,老夫得其女妻,无不利。
Third
yang — solid
栋桡,凶。
Fourth
yang — solid
栋隆,吉,有它吝。
Fifth
yang — solid
枯杨生华,老妇得其士夫,无咎无誉。
Top
yin — broken
过涉灭顶,凶,无咎。

How to use this hexagram

If you cast this as your primary hexagram, it describes the situation you are in. If it came up as the transformed hexagram, it describes where things are heading once the changing lines have flipped. If you are only looking it up, read the judgment first — the line texts are for specific moments inside the situation, not for the situation as a whole.

Frequently asked

What does I Ching hexagram 28 mean?

Hexagram 28, Great Excess, is made of Lake above and Wind below. Water over the treetops: beyond the norm. The ridgepole is bending. Either replace the load-bearing piece, or cushion everything and move with extreme care.

How do I read hexagram 28 in a casting?

Read the primary hexagram first — it describes the situation as it stands. If any of your six lines were changing lines (sixes or nines from the coin tosses), read those lines' texts next: they mark where the situation is moving. The hexagram produced after those lines flip is the transformed hexagram, and it shows where the movement leads.

What are the six lines of hexagram 28?

Hexagram 28 has six lines, read from the bottom up. The texts below are given in order, first line (bottom) to sixth line (top).

Which palace does hexagram 28 belong to?

In the six-line (liuyao) system, hexagram 28 sits in the 震 palace, wandering soul — the situation has lost its home and drifts. The palace gives the hexagram its ruling element, and from that element the Six Relatives are assigned to each line.