大過Daguo · Great Excess
In one sentence
The load is too heavy and the beam is already bent. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
Too heavy in the middle, too weak at both ends; the structure can't hold. This is an unusual situation. You can't drag along with ordinary methods; only by taking action is there a way out. When you have to carry it alone, don't be afraid; when no one understands you, don't be downcast.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- The load has gone beyond what the structure can bear: too much is pressing on the middle, with no support above and no footing below. Carry on as usual and the beam will break. You have to make an unusual move: unload part of it, rebuild the framework, or leave. When you must carry it alone and others do not understand, do not be afraid and do not brood.
- Love
- This relationship is carrying too much weight and has already bent: one person is holding up everything, or all the outside pressure is bearing down between the two of you. Putting up with it in the old way is no solution; something out of the ordinary has to be done, whether talking everything through to the bottom, changing drastically how you live together, or making a clean break. Do not be afraid of not being understood.
- Money
- The burden is far beyond what you can bear: debt, expenses or an operation spread too wide has bent the beam. Saving a little and stalling a little will not get you through; major surgery is needed: cut, sell, renegotiate, pull back. The sooner you act, the more of a way out there is. Shoulder what is yours to shoulder, and do not stand there holding on just because acting would cost you face.
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 wordsThe roof beam is bent under the weight — the load is too heavy. Only by taking action is it favorable, and only then do things go through.
The Tuan commentary
大過，大者過也。棟橈，本末弱也。剛過而中，巽而說行，利有攸往，乃亨。大過之時大矣哉！
Daguo: the great is in excess. "The ridgepole sags": root and tip are weak. The firm is in excess, yet in the center; gentle and glad in action. "It is favorable to have somewhere to go", and so there is "success". Great indeed is the time of Daguo!
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
澤滅木，大過。君子以獨立不懼，遯世无悶。
The lake rises over the trees: Daguo (Great Excess). The noble one stands alone without fear, and withdraws from the world without sorrow.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text藉用白茅，无咎。Spreading white thatch grass underneath. No blame.In plain wordsFirst lay a mat of clean white thatch grass on the ground, then set things on it. In extraordinary times, being careful almost to excess brings no blame. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text枯楊生稊，老夫得其女妻，无不利。A withered poplar sprouts at the root. An old man gets a young wife. Nothing that is not favorable.In plain wordsA withered poplar sends up new shoots from its root, an old man marries a young wife — there can still be offspring, and nothing is unfavorable. The side that has gone too far gains fresh, newborn strength to make up for it. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text棟橈，凶。The ridgepole sags. Misfortune.In plain wordsThe roof beam is bent. Misfortune. The load is too heavy, you yourself are too rigid, and no one is able to help. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text棟隆，吉。有它吝。The ridgepole arches upward. Good fortune. If there is something else, humiliation.In plain wordsThe roof beam arches up high and holds. Good fortune. But if you get entangled with something else as well, there will be embarrassment. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text枯楊生華，老婦得其士夫，无咎无譽。A withered poplar blooms. An old woman gets a young husband. No blame, no praise.In plain wordsA withered poplar bursts into flower, an old woman marries a young husband. The blossom won't last long and will bear no fruit: no blame, but nothing worth praising either. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text過涉滅頂，凶，无咎。Wading across, the water goes over the head. Misfortune. No blame.In plain wordsWading across the river, the water closes over your head. Misfortune. But this is going to the rescue knowing full well your strength is not enough — morally there is nothing to reproach. 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, Daguo belongs to the first pentad of Minor Snow, “Rainbows hide” (November 22 to November 26, 2026).