Hexagram 26 · Da Xu 大畜
Build the capacity to carry a larger responsibility
Da Xu places Mountain above Heaven. The upper trigram brings stillness to the strength below. The classical commentary describes the capacity to restrain strength and renew virtue through sustained cultivation.
Short answer
Read Da Xu as a prompt to develop and direct the strength you already have. Learn, prepare, and practice restraint so that a larger step can be supported by real capacity.
- Upper
- Gen · Mountain
- Lower
- Qian · Heaven
Pattern
Mountain above Heaven
- Chinese
- 大畜
- Upper trigram
- Gen · Mountain
- Lower trigram
- Qian · Heaven
- Lines
- Yang at the first, second, third, and sixth positions
Classical text
Cultivation gives strength a direction
大畜：利貞，不家食吉，利涉大川。— Zhouyi, Hexagram 26
The judgment favors a sound course, speaks favorably of being sustained beyond the household, and allows for crossing a great river. The Tuan commentary links this with honoring capable people, cultivating virtue, and holding strong energy in check. Restraint here serves the development and eventual use of capacity.
The Image says “天在山中，大畜；君子以多識前言往行，以畜其德”. The Image places heaven within the mountain and describes the exemplary person learning earlier words and deeds to accumulate virtue. The first line values stopping in danger; the third pictures trained horses and repeated preparation, while the final line opens onto a broad way. A modern analogy is to study relevant experience, rehearse what a demanding task requires, and distinguish useful preparation from indefinite delay.
When it helps
Prepare for the responsibility
Identify the skill, knowledge, or support the next responsibility requires. Choose one concrete way to develop it and a clear sign that you are ready to proceed.
What to watch
Give preparation a purpose
Gathering more information can become a substitute for using what you know. Check which preparation addresses an actual gap and when further restraint would cease to help.
Questions for reflection
- What strength needs discipline or direction?
- Which earlier experience would help me prepare?
- What evidence would show that I can carry the next step?
Read moving lines with the question and method of your own cast; this reference is not a complete reading. See how changing lines are displayed.
Sources
Check the original text
This page paraphrases the classical material and identifies its modern applications as interpretation.