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Hexagram 34: Da Zhuang (大壮) — The Power of the Great
Hexagram 34, Da Zhuang (大壮) — The Power of the Great, is the thirty-fourth figure of the I Ching, composed of the Thunder trigram over the Heaven trigram; the ancients read it as great strength in motion.
Meaning
Da Zhuang is the hexagram of sheer force. Thunder rolls across the sky above heaven, and the old readers saw the fullest display of strength the book describes — four firm lines driving upward through the figure. The judgment is a caution wrapped in a promise: perseverance furthers. Power, the text says, is only useful when it is used in line with what is right; raw force without principle becomes its own undoing.
Set against one's work and standing, the figure draws the line between strength and stubbornness. The third line states it sharply: the inferior man works through power, the superior man does not. The image of the goat butting against a hedge and getting its horns entangled was the commentators' favourite warning — force that presses where it cannot pass simply traps itself. Real power knows when to stop.
For two people who share a life, Da Zhuang was read as the danger of the domineering partner. The lower lines speak of power in the toes and of continuing when one should not, and the counsel throughout is to hold back rather than to push. Strength in a relationship, unchecked, becomes force, and force is what breaks the bond it was meant to protect.
Within the flow of a cycle, this figure marks a phase of high energy. It is the moment when momentum is greatest and the temptation to charge ahead is strongest. The image of thunder above heaven is the book's picture of power at its peak — magnificent, and one step from excess. The counsel is to keep strength harnessed to rightness, since the same force that builds can also break.
The Judgment
“The Power of the Great. Perseverance furthers.”
The Six Lines of The Power of the Great
Line 1Power in the toes. Continuing brings misfortune. This is certainly true.
Line 2Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 3The inferior man works through power. The superior man does not act thus. To continue is dangerous. A goat butts against a hedge and gets its horns entangled.
Line 4Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. The hedge opens; there is no entanglement. Power depends upon the axle of a big cart.
Line 5Loses the goat with ease. No remorse.
Line 6A goat butts against a hedge. It cannot go backward; it cannot go forward. Nothing furthers. But if one notes the difficulty, this brings good fortune.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which trigrams form Hexagram 34?
Da Zhuang (大壮) sets the Thunder trigram (Zhen, 震) over the Heaven trigram (Qian, 乾). Thunder rolling above the sky was the ancients' image of strength at its fullest and most active — the source of the meaning of great power.
Why does Hexagram 34 warn through the butting goat?
The goat that butts against a hedge and entangles its horns appears twice in the text. The old commentaries read it as a picture of force pressing where it cannot pass — strength used blindly traps itself, while strength that respects limits moves freely.
What is the difference between the inferior and superior man here?
The third line says the inferior man works through power while the superior man does not act in that way. The commentators explained that the two may possess equal strength; the difference is that one uses it to push and the other to protect, and only the second use endures.
Related
Source: Judgment and line texts follow the Wilhelm/Baynes rendering of the Yijing.
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