大有Dayou · Great Possession
In one sentence
A time of rich harvest. Everything goes very smoothly.
Like the sun shining in the sky: you possess a great deal, and things go through. When you have many resources, use them for the right ends, and help good people and good things succeed. The richer you are, the more modest you must be; only then can you keep it for long.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- Like the sun shining in the sky, you have plenty of resources, standing and opportunity in your hands, and things go through. The more this is so, the more you should put your strength to right uses: raise up good people, help good things succeed, and hold back what is bad. Keep a modest, gentle manner, and do not press down on others because you have so much.
- Love
- You have a great deal right now, and you are rich in feeling too; it is a good time. Cherish it, be generous with the people around you, and do not take the other person's goodness for granted. Even if you have a lot going for you, do not look down from above when you choose people or treat them. The more you have, the more modest you must be if you want to keep it.
- Money
- The harvest is abundant, and things go very well. When money is plentiful, it matters all the more to use it on the right path: help good people and good things succeed, do not use money for anything that troubles your conscience, and do not show it off. Having much does not mean having it forever. Being modest and unshowy is how you keep it for long.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsThings go through in a big way.
The Tuan commentary
大有，柔得尊位，大中而上下應之，曰大有。其德剛健而文明，應乎天而時行，是以元亨。
Dayou: the yielding gains the honored place, great and in the center, and those above and below respond to it. This is called Dayou. Its virtue is firm and strong, refined and bright; it responds to heaven and acts with the time. Therefore "great success".
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
火在天上，大有。君子以遏惡揚善，順天休命。
Fire in heaven above: Dayou (Great Possession). The noble one curbs evil and promotes good, following heaven's gracious mandate.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text无交害，匪咎，艱則无咎。No contact with what harms. There is no blame in this. Treat it as hard, and there is no blame.In plain wordsYou have not yet been touched by anything bad, so where would any fault come from? But you must still treat it as a hard matter and handle it with care; only then will you not go wrong. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text大車以載，有攸往，无咎。A great wagon for loading. There is somewhere to go. No blame.In plain wordsLike a great wagon: it can hold the load and it can carry it. You have somewhere to go, and there is no blame — it is because you have this strength that you can take on this heavy task. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text公用亨于天子，小人弗克。A duke makes his offering to the Son of Heaven. A petty person cannot do this.In plain wordsA duke goes to the court of the Son of Heaven and offers up all he has. A person of virtue can do this; a petty person, even if he draws this line, cannot. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text匪其彭，无咎。Not using his fullness to the full. No blame.In plain wordsYou don't use your abundance to its full measure. You are close to the one above, so hold back a little, and there is no blame. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text厥孚交如，威如，吉。His sincerity is met in exchange, and he carries authority. Good fortune.In plain wordsYou deal with those above and below in good faith, and everyone gives you their hearts. But gentleness alone is not enough; there must also be dignity and authority. Good fortune. More on this line →
Nine at the top
Text自天祐之，吉无不利。Heaven itself gives help. Good fortune. Nothing that is not favorable.In plain wordsHeaven itself is helping him: good fortune, nothing unfavorable. Wealth has reached its peak, yet he still keeps his word, follows what is right and honors the worthy: full without spilling over. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Dayou belongs to the third pentad of Grain Fills, “The wheat harvest comes” (May 31 to June 5, 2027) and the first pentad of Grain in Ear, “Mantises hatch” (June 6 to June 10, 2027).