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Hexagram 30 — Da Guo, Preponderance of the Great
Chronological no. 30 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 28 · 大過
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the youngest daughter
the eldest daughter
The Lake submerges the wood: the image of the great in excess. Water rises above what should normally contain it — a load too heavy for the structure that bears it, ready to give way under its own weight. This is the figure of the extreme burden. Thus the noble one, standing alone and unafraid, may leave the world without bitterness: there are moments when the load exceeds what any support can bear, and the only dignity left is to face it without complaint.
The ridgepole bends under its own weight. A structure pushed to the extreme of its capacity announces, by its very bending, the moment when it must either break or be relieved. This line teaches us to recognize the warning signs of collapse before it occurs.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.
The steadied earth reaches its limit: the solidity that upheld the structure is about to change its nature.
At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.
In the action of man, fullness meets its limit: the initiative that led the figure folds back upon itself.
At the sage's seat, fullness hollows out: the force that governed the figure from its center is about to invert.
At the summit, emptiness reaches its fullest extent and closes: the furthest opening turns toward its opposite.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
Eight 12×12 Jacquard patterns are generated from this hexagram, one for each admissible family of the system. Each has its own page: cell, tiling, recolourings and data.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
29 — Ge, Revolution · 31 — Guai, Breakthrough
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☱ Dui): 24 — Cui, Gathering Together · 25 — Sui, Following · 26 — Kun, Oppression · 27 — Dui, The Joyous · 28 — Xian, Influence · 29 — Ge, Revolution · 31 — Guai, Breakthrough
Same lower trigram (☴ Xun): 6 — Sheng, Pushing Upward · 14 — Heng, Duration · 22 — Jing, The Well · 38 — Gu, Work on What Has Been Spoiled · 46 — Ding, The Cauldron · 54 — Xun, The Gentle, Wind · 62 — Gou, Coming to Meet
