dà chùAlso known as “The Taming Power of the Great” (Wilhelm/Baynes) and “Tâ Khû” (Legge)
great accumulationrestraintstored power
In plain words
Heaven inside the mountain: great power held and stored. Firm correctness brings success; serve in public rather than eating at home, and the great river can be crossed.
The attitude it asks for
Accumulate knowledge and strength by studying the past, restrain impulse until it is ripe, then act boldly.
Under the conditions of Tâ Khû it will be advantageous to be firm and correct. (If its subject do not seek to) enjoy his revenues in his own family (without taking service at court), there will be good fortune. It will be advantageous for him to cross the great stream.
Commentary on the Judgment
大畜，剛健篤實輝光，日新其德，剛上而尚賢。能止健，大正也。不家食吉，養賢也。利涉大川，應乎天也。
In (the trigrams composing) Tâ Khû we have (the attributes) of the greatest strength and of substantial solidity, which emit a brilliant light; and indicate a daily renewal of his virtue (by the subject of it).
The strong line is in the highest place, and suggests the value set on talents and virtue; there is power (in the upper trigram) to keep the strongest in restraint:—all this shows 'the great correctness' (required in the hexagram).
'The good fortune attached to the subject's not seeking to enjoy his revenues in his own family' shows how talents and virtue are nourished.
'It will be advantageous to cross the great stream:'—(the fifth line, representing the ruler,) is responded to by (the second, the central line of Khien, representing) Heaven.
The Image
天在山中，大畜；君子以多識前言往行，以畜其德。
(The trigram representing) a mountain, and in the midst of it that (representing) heaven, form Tâ Khû. The superior man, in accordance with this, stores largely in his memory the words and deeds of former men, to subserve the accumulation of his virtue.
爻辭 The six lines
When one line moves, the hexagram becomes another:
上九Nine at the top
何天之衢，亨。
The sixth line, undivided, shows its subject (as) in command of the firmament of heaven. There will be progress.
Its symbolism
何天之衢，道大行也。
'In command of the firmament of heaven:'—the way is grandly open for movement.
The third line, undivided, shows its subject urging his way with good horses. It will be advantageous for him to realise the difficulty (of his course), and to be firm and correct, exercising himself daily in his charioteering and methods of defence; then there will be advantage in whatever direction he may advance.
Its symbolism
利有攸往，上合志也。
'There will be advantage in whatever direction he may advance:'—(the subject of) the topmost line is of the same mind with him.
Shown in the classical Chinese with James Legge's English (1882).
Questions about this hexagram
What does Hexagram 26, Great Accumulation, mean?
Heaven inside the mountain: great power held and stored. Firm correctness brings success; serve in public rather than eating at home, and the great river can be crossed.
Which trigrams form Great Accumulation?
艮 above 乾 — mountain over heaven. Its nuclear hexagram (lines 2–5) is 歸妹 Marrying the Younger Sister.
What happens when a line of Great Accumulation changes?
A moving line turns the hexagram into another one; the list above shows all six. With several moving lines, the guide to changing lines explains which text to read.
How do I get Great Accumulation in a reading?
Build six lines from the bottom up with three coins or yarrow stalks; the pattern — — — - - - - — is Great Accumulation. You can also cast a reading here — the lines are decided by code, the text is this page's.