大壯

34. Great power

dàzhuàng · Mountain ☶ over Heaven ☰

Power at its peak, which needs to be kept in check.

The Noble One's Path

Thunder above heaven. The Noble One does not step where it is improper — strength without form (Li) easily turns into violence.

The Lesson

Don't abuse your position. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

A question to sit with

Is my confidence grounded in good sense, or is it turning into stubbornness?

Related hexagrams

In the I Ching no hexagram stands alone. Each one enters into relationships with others, and those relationships show the situation seen from the other side, in its opposite, and in its hidden tendency.

Opposite

20. Contemplation / Looking

易

The classical deep dive for this hexagram — the Judgment and the Image after Richard Wilhelm — along with the texts of all six changing lines, is in the book. Get the book

卦

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