I Ching hexagram 26

Hexagram 26: Da Chu

Deep Reserves · 山天大畜 · Mountain above, Heaven below

Large reserves of ability and character are built up first and held back until the time comes to use them.

What this hexagram is about

A long stretch of preparation, such as training or study, brings a strong pull to act early. Da Chu (Deep Reserves) shows heaven held inside a mountain, and the image text adds that studying the past builds character.

A way to think about it

Ask what you are building up right now, and whether you are releasing it too early or holding it too long. What would tell you the moment has come?

The text, with Legge's translation

Judgment

利貞，不家食吉，利涉大川。

Under the conditions of Tâ Khû it will be advantageous to be firm and correct. (If its subject do not seek to) enjoy his revenues in his own family (without taking service at court), there will be good fortune. It will be advantageous for him to cross the great stream.

Staying steady and correct pays. Large stored-up ability belongs out in the world, so working beyond your own household is favorable, and so is a large undertaking.

Image

天在山中，大畜；君子以多識前言往行，以畜其德。

(The trigram representing) a mountain, and in the midst of it that (representing) heaven, form Tâ Khû. The superior man, in accordance with this, stores largely in his memory the words and deeds of former men, to subserve the accumulation of his virtue.

Line 1 · 初九

有厲利已。

The first line, undivided, shows its subject in a position of peril. It will be advantageous for him to stop his advance.

Moving forward now is risky, and stopping is the helpful move because something is checking your advance for good reason.

Line 2 · 九二

輿說輹。

The second line, undivided, shows a carriage with the strap under it removed.

The cart comes off its axle strap, and you stay put. Since you hold the middle position and stop on your own, nothing goes wrong.

Line 3 · 九三

良馬逐，利艱貞，吉。日閑輿衛，利有攸往。

The third line, undivided, shows its subject urging his way with good horses. It will be advantageous for him to realise the difficulty (of his course), and to be firm and correct, exercising himself daily in his charioteering and methods of defence; then there will be advantage in whatever direction he may advance.

Fine horses race ahead together and the way is hard, so steadiness and daily drills with the cart and its guards are called for. With that training, you can set out.

Line 4 · 六四

童牛之告，元吉。

The fourth line, divided, shows the young bull, (and yet) having the piece of wood over his horns. There will be great good fortune.

A wooden brace on a young bull's horns is easy to fit while the animal is young, and it stops any harm later. The text rates restraint of this early kind as the greatest good.

Line 5 · 六五

豶豕之牙，吉。

The fifth line, divided, shows the teeth of a castrated hog. There will be good fortune.

A gelded boar still has tusks, and they no longer threaten anyone. Dealing with a drive at its root makes force unnecessary, and that is what the text approves.

Line 6 · 上九

何天之衢，亨。

The sixth line, undivided, shows its subject (as) in command of the firmament of heaven. There will be progress.

At last the stored power breaks free and the path is wide open, like a road through the sky, and things go through.

Chinese text: the received Zhouyi, public domain. English: James Legge, The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. 16 (1882), public domain. Plain notes written by this site.

  • Nuclear54. Gui Mei (Uneven Union)Built from lines 2 to 5, it shows the process inside the matter. You join something from a secondary position, and patience and an honest view of the flaws keep it going.
  • Opposite45. Cui (Gathering)Every line reversed, it shows the other side of the same matter. People and resources are coming together around a shared center, and that calls for care to keep it safe.
  • Inverted25. Wu Wang (Innocence)The figure turned upside down, it shows the matter seen from the other position. Honest action without scheming is the ideal here, though unexpected trouble can still arrive.
Cast a reading

Questions

I cast hexagram 26. Which text do I read?

With no changing lines, read the judgment: "Under the conditions of Tâ Khû it will be advantageous to be firm and correct. (If its subject do not seek to) enjoy his revenues in his own family (without taking service at court), there will be good fortune. It will be advantageous for him to cross the great stream." With changing lines, read the lines that changed. When several change at once, Zhu Xi's rules decide which text leads, and the casting page marks it for you.

What are the nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams of Da Chu?

The nuclear hexagram is 54. Gui Mei (Uneven Union). The opposite is 45. Cui (Gathering). The inverted hexagram is 25. Wu Wang (Innocence).