I Ching Hexagram 28 - Excess
Description and interpretations of I Ching (Yijing) hexagram 28 "Excess"
大過 - Dà Guò
Trạch Phong Đại Quá
Excess
Upper (Outer) Trigram: ☱ Dui, Lake
Lower (Inner) Trigram: ☴ Xun, Wind
Other Titles: Critical Mass, Great Exceeding, The Symbol of Great Passing, Great Excess, The Passing of Greatness, Great Surpassing, Great Gains, Preponderance of the Great, Experience, Greater than Great, Greatness in Excess, The Passing of Greatness, Excess of the Great, Law of Karma.
English Translations & Interpretations
The Judgement
Wilhelm/Baynes: Preponderance of the Great. The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. It furthers one to have somewhere to go. Success.
Legge: Critical Mass depicts a weak beam. Under such conditions it is advantageous to move in any direction whatever. Success is indicated.
Blofeld: Excess! The ridgepole sags. It is favorable to have some goal (or destination) in view. Success! [A glance at the hexagram will show that it is too heavy in the middle and too weak at the ends. A number of firm lines is generally auspicious, but there can be too much of a good thing!]
Liu: Great Excess. The ridgepole is crooked. It benefits to go anywhere. Success.
Shaughnessy: Great Surpassing: The ridgepole bows upward; beneficial to have someplace to go; receipt.
Cleary (1): When the great is excessive, the ridgepole bends. It is good to go somewhere; that is developmental. [When the ridgepole snaps, the whole house falls down. In the same way, practitioners of the Tao who promote yang too much, who do not know when enough is enough, who can be great but cannot be small, suffer damage to their spiritual house.]
Cleary (2): When greatness passes, the ridgepole bends. It is beneficial to have somewhere to go, for you will succeed.
Wu: Excess of the Great indicates a beam that warps. It will be advantageous to have undertakings. It will be pervasive.
The Image
Wilhelm/Baynes: The lake rises above the trees: the image of Preponderance of the Great. Thus the superior man, when he stands alone, is unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted.
Legge: The image of trees beneath a marsh forms Critical Mass. The superior man, in accordance with this, fearlessly stands alone, and stays retired from the world without regret.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a forest submerged in a great body of water. The Superior Man, though standing alone, is free from fear; he feels no discontent in withdrawing from the world. [This is suggested by the component trigrams. Water is necessary for the nourishment of the trees, but too much of it can cause serious damage.]
Liu: The lake rising over the trees symbolizes Great Excess. The superior man, when isolated, is undisturbed. If he has to retreat from society, he feels no regret.
Cleary (1): Moisture destroys wood in excess. Thus superior people stand alone without fear, and leave society without distress.
Cleary (2): Moisture destroys wood. Developed people, etc. [Only when sustained by the power to stand alone without fear and avoid society without distress can learning be firmly rooted and development have a proper basis; then it is possible to refine and support the mediocre.]
Wu: Marsh covers over wood; This is Excess of the Great. Thus the jun zi stands alone without fear and withdraws from the world without melancholy.
Line 1
初六: 藉用白茅, 无咎．
Wilhelm/Baynes: To spread white rushes underneath. No blame.
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows one placing mats of the white mao grass under things set on the ground. There will be no error.
Blofeld: For mats, use white rushes -- no error! [White rushes are less common than ordinary ones and probably make more beautiful mats. The implication may be that, if we decide to do things rather nicely, we might as well go a little further and do them as charmingly as possible.]
Liu: To spread white rushes below leads to no blame.
Shaughnessy: For the mat use white cogon-grass; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Spreading white reeds; no fault.
Cleary (2): Spreading a mat of white reeds, there is no blame.
Wu: Use of white mats in making offerings is blameless.
Line 2
九二: 枯楊生稊, 老夫得其女妻, 无不利．
Wilhelm/Baynes: A dry poplar sprouts at the root. An older man takes a young wife. Everything furthers.
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows a decayed willow producing shoots, or an old husband in possession of his young wife; there will be advantage in every way.
Blofeld: The withered willow tree puts forth new shoots -- an old man takes to wife a young girl. Everything is favorable.
Liu: The withered poplar tree sprouts new shoots. The old man marries a young wife. Everything is favorable.
Shaughnessy: The bitter poplar gives life to sprouts: The old fellow gets his maiden consort; there is nothing not beneficial.
Cleary (1): A withered willow produces sprouts; an old man gets a girl for a wife. Altogether beneficial.
Cleary (2): … None do not benefit.
Wu: A withered willow tree grows a young shoot. An old man takes a young wife. Everything is advantageous. [Ancient society gave approval to this kind of matrimony for the desire of having children in the family. Willow trees like water and do well on the bank of marshes. It is not uncommon for a withered old tree to have new shoots.]
Line 3
九三: 棟橈, 凶．
Wilhelm/Baynes: The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. Misfortune.
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows a beam that is weak. There will be evil.
Blofeld: The ridgepole sags -- misfortune!
Liu: The ridgepole bends under pressure; misfortune.
Shaughnessy: The ridgepole sags; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): The ridgepole bends; misfortune.
Cleary (2): The ridgepole bending is foreboding.
Wu: The beam warps. Foreboding.
Line 4
九四: 棟隆, 吉．有它, 吝．
Wilhelm/Baynes: The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows a beam curving upwards. There will be good fortune. If the subject of the line looks for other help but that of line one, there will be cause for regret.
Blofeld: The ridgepole is upheld -- good fortune! Were it otherwise, there would be cause for blame.
Liu: The ridgepole is strengthened; good fortune. But something else may cause humiliation.
Shaughnessy: The ridgepole bows upward; auspicious; there is harm; distress.
Cleary (1): The ridgepole is raised; good fortune. There is another shame.
Cleary (2): … This is auspicious, but there is another shame.
Wu: The beam is held upright, and there will be good fortune. There may be humiliation in unexpected situations.
Line 5
九五: 枯楊生華, 老婦得其士夫, 无咎, 无譽．
Wilhelm/Baynes: A withered poplar puts forth flowers. An older woman takes a husband. No blame. No praise.
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows a decayed willow producing flowers, or an old wife in possession of her young husband. There will be occasion neither for blame nor for praise.
Blofeld: The withered willow tree puts forth blossom -- an old woman takes a vigorous young husband; no blame, no praise! [No blame, in that there is no prohibition against such marriages; no praise, in that they are generally considered far more unsuitable than when the husband is much older than the wife.]
Liu: A withered poplar blossoms. An old woman gains a young husband: No blame, no praise.
Shaughnessy: The bitter poplar gives life to flowers: the old wife gets her siring husband; there is no trouble, there is no praise.
Cleary: A withered willow produces flowers, and old woman gets a young man for a husband: no blame, no praise.
Wu: A withered willow tree grows a flower. An old woman takes a young husband. There will be neither blame nor praise.
Line 6
上六: 過涉, 滅頂, 凶, 无咎．
Wilhelm/Baynes: One must go through the water. It goes over one's head. Misfortune. No blame.
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject with extraordinary boldness wading through a stream, till the water hides the crown of her head. There will be evil, but no ground for blame.
Blofeld: While he was fording the river, the water rose above his head -- misfortune, but he was not at fault.
Liu: One walks through the water and it goes over his head. Misfortune, no blame.
Shaughnessy: Surpassing and fording causes the top of the head to vanish; inauspicious; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Excess reaching the peak of destruction is unfortunate; there is no blame on other people. [At the end of Excess of the Great, being ignorant and acting arbitrarily, not knowing the medical substances or the firing process, doing whatever comes to mind, going astray and not returning, the damage is worse the higher one goes; excess reaches the peak of destruction. One calls misfortune upon oneself – it is no fault of others. This is Excess of the Great in the sense of being weak and entertaining illusions.]
Cleary (2): Going too far, passing away at the peak, there is misfortune, but no blame. [Here are only the virtues of flexibility and uprightness, without the ability to solve difficulties, so misfortune cannot be avoided; but one is really not to blame. In Buddhist terms, this is when correct concentration has no insight, winding up as a fall at the peak.]
Wu: He is drowned while crossing the river. This is foreboding, but blameless.
Notes
For an in-depth glossary of I Ching, click here.
Hexagram 28 indicates a time of transition when stress has become too great to bear. There is a serious imbalance here. Adjustments have to be made quickly but not forcefully to relieve the situation.
It implies that your ambitions surpass your capabilities; you have over-expanded your business or you are living beyond your means and are facing constant setbacks. To overcome this, you need to be brave and resolute.
