Hexagram 28, line 1
初六Line 1 of Great Excess
Six at the beginning · 大過 dà guò
爻辭 The line text
藉用白茅，无咎。The first line, divided, shows one placing mats of the white mâo grass under things set on the ground. There will be no error.
藉用白茅，柔在下也。'He places mats of the white mâo grass under things set on the ground:'—he feels his weakness and his being in the lowest place, (and uses extraordinary care).
In plain words
'Spreading white rushes beneath the offering: no blame.' Before a sacrifice the vessels were set on a mat of clean grass — a precaution that costs nothing and guards against a stain. The first line is yin, the weak end of a ridgepole whose middle is overloaded with four strong lines; it knows it is soft and at the bottom, as the small Image says (柔在下也), and so it handles everything with exaggerated care. In a time of great excess, this is the only safe way for the weak to begin: not by pretending to strength but by being scrupulous. The Xici reads it as the model of caution that keeps one from going astray.
If this line is changing
You are in a weak position at the start of something heavy; be over-careful rather than bold, and put a clean foundation under every step before you take it.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- It corresponds (應) with line 4: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
大過 Great Excess becomes ䷪ 43 夬 Decisiveness
The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
What it becomes43 · 夬 DecisivenessguàiThe six lines of 大過 Great Excess
- 初六Six at the beginningwhite rushes · extreme care · weak below
- 九二Nine in the second placewithered poplar sprouts · unlikely pairing · renewal
- 九三Nine in the third placeridgepole sags · too rigid · refusing help
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeridgepole holds · tempered strength · no other attachments
- 九五Nine in the fifth placewithered poplar flowers · brief bloom · neither praise nor blame
- 上六Six at the topin over the head · going under · no blame
Read 大過 Great Excess for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the beginning of hexagram 28, Great Excess, mean?
- 'Spreading white rushes beneath the offering: no blame.' Before a sacrifice the vessels were set on a mat of clean grass — a precaution that costs nothing and guards against a stain. The first line is yin, the weak end of a ridgepole whose middle is overloaded with four strong lines; it knows it is soft and at the bottom, as the small Image says (柔在下也), and so it handles everything with exaggerated care. In a time of great excess, this is the only safe way for the weak to begin: not by pretending to strength but by being scrupulous. The Xici reads it as the model of caution that keeps one from going astray.
- What does hexagram 28 become when line 1 changes?
- Great Excess becomes hexagram 43, 夬 Decisiveness: The lake risen to heaven: the cloudburst about to fall. Five yang lines resolve to remove the last yin — declare it openly at court, stay alert, and don't rely on arms.
- Is line 1 of Great Excess in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).