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Hexagram 39 — Da Chu, The Taming Power of the Great
Chronological no. 39 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 26 · 大畜
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the youngest son
the father
Within Heaven, the mountain: the image of the great's taming power. A considerable power holds itself contained, restrained by something that, without matching its size, can nonetheless check it. This is the figure of great force accepting to be disciplined. Thus the noble one keeps in memory the words and deeds of the ancients: true greatness is proven not only by what it deploys, but by what it accepts to contain.
The inner accumulation of power confronts the hardness of the terrain. What grows within, unseen, always ends up meeting an outer resistance — and it is this very encounter that reveals and refines the accumulated force. This line says the obstacle is not the enemy of power, but its necessary trial.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, fullness stirs: the yang onset that carried the whole figure now yields its place.
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 listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert itself.
At the sage's seat, emptiness fills: the suppleness that governed with discretion gathers a new force.
At the summit, fullness completes its course and breaks: what had culminated cannot go further without turning back.
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
This hexagram is the binary complement of hexagram 24 — Cui, Gathering Together (63 − 39 = 24): its patterns have exactly the same shape, only their colours are permuted. Here are the eight patterns of hexagram 24, one for each admissible family.
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
38 — Gu, Work on What Has Been Spoiled · 40 — Jin, Progress
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☶ Gen): 32 — Bo, Splitting Apart · 33 — Yi, Nourishment · 34 — Meng, Youthful Folly · 35 — Sun, Decrease · 36 — Gen, Keeping Still · 37 — Bi, Grace · 38 — Gu, Work on What Has Been Spoiled
Same lower trigram (☰ Qian): 7 — Tai, Peace · 15 — Da Zhuang, The Power of the Great · 23 — Xu, Waiting · 31 — Guai, Breakthrough · 47 — Da You, Possession in Great Measure · 55 — Xiao Chu, The Taming Power of the Small · 63 — Qian, The Creative
