大壯Dazhuang · Great Strength
In one sentence
When your strength is great, the worst danger is using it in the wrong place.
Momentum is strong. But strong does not mean right; the judgment of this hexagram says only one thing: staying true is what is favorable. The stronger you are, the more you must keep to the rules: do not do what is unreasonable. Do not push through on brute force. That will only get you stuck.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- Your momentum is strong right now: you have ability and you have a say. The great danger is putting that strength in the wrong place. Strong does not mean right. The more you are the one who decides, the more you need to go by the rules and refuse what is unreasonable. Do not ram ahead on brute force; that only gets you stuck.
- Love
- You are the stronger side in this relationship, or you are pursuing someone with full energy. All the more reason to keep a sense of proportion: do not use your strength to press the other person, and do not force a yes out of them. Keep the courtesy and respect that are due, and the relationship stays on the right path.
- Money
- When your hands are full and your confidence is high, it is easiest to spend freely and force your way into something big. Having money does not mean this money is well spent. Earn only what comes the right way, and do not touch what breaks the rules. Do not lean on deep pockets to ram ahead or to gamble; push too far and you are stuck inside with no way out.
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 wordsAt the height of your strength, it is favorable to stay true.
The Tuan commentary
大壯，大者壯也。剛以動，故壯。大壯利貞；大者正也。正大而天地之情可見矣！
Dazhuang: what is great is strong. The firm moves, and so there is strength. Dazhuang, "it is favorable to stay true": what is great is correct. Be correct and great, and the true nature of heaven and earth can be seen.
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
雷在天上，大壯。君子以非禮弗履。
Thunder above heaven: Dazhuang (Great Strength). The noble one does not tread any path that goes against propriety.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text壯于趾，征凶，有孚。Strength in the toes. To set forth brings misfortune; this can be trusted.In plain wordsStrength put into the toes — you are at the bottom, yet in a hurry to charge ahead. Advancing like this is sure to bring misfortune; that much is certain. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text貞吉。Staying true brings good fortune.In plain wordsStay true: good fortune. Your position is not quite right, but you can hold to the middle way, and through the middle way get back onto the right path. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text小人用壯，君子用罔，貞厲。羝羊觸藩，羸其角。The petty person uses strength; the noble one treats everything as nothing. Persisting is dangerous. A ram butts the hedge and gets its horns stuck.In plain wordsPetty people rely on brute force; the noble one looks on everything as nothing and is brave to excess. Even if you are in the right, it is dangerous — like a ram butting a hedge and getting its horns stuck. More on this line →
Nine in the fourth place
Text貞吉悔亡。藩決不羸，壯于大輿之輹。Staying true brings good fortune; regret vanishes. The hedge breaks open and the horns are not stuck. Strength in the axle of a great cart.In plain wordsStay true and there is good fortune; regret vanishes. The hedge has opened and your horns will no longer get stuck. You are as sturdy as the axle of a great cart, and you can go forward. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text喪羊于易，无悔。The sheep is lost before one notices. No regret.In plain wordsWithout your noticing, the sheep is gone — that hard, fierce energy has left you. But there is nothing to regret. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text羝羊觸藩，不能退，不能遂，无攸利。艱則吉。A ram butts the hedge. It cannot pull back, it cannot push through. Nothing is favorable. Face the difficulty, and there is good fortune.In plain wordsThe ram has butted its way into the hedge. It cannot back out and cannot get through. Nothing is favorable. Fortunately you are not hard by nature. If you recognize the difficulty and handle it with care, you can still come to good fortune. 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, Dazhuang belongs to the second pentad of Spring Equinox, “Thunder finds its voice” (March 26 to March 30, 2027). It is also one of the twelve sovereign hexagrams, standing for the second month of the traditional calendar: four yang lines below, yang grown strong.
The twelve sovereign hexagrams → The 24 solar terms, 72 pentads and their hexagrams →