Hexagram 28, line 4
九四Line 4 of Great Excess
Nine in the fourth place · 大過 dà guò
爻辭 The line text
棟隆，吉；有它吝。The fourth line, undivided, shows a beam curving upwards. There will be good fortune. If (the subject of it) looks for other (help but that of line one), there will be cause for regret.
棟隆之吉，不橈乎下也。'The good fortune connected with the beam curving upwards' arises from this, that it does not bend towards what is below.
In plain words
'The ridgepole arches upward: good fortune. If there is something else, regret.' Line four is yang in a yin place — strength tempered by its position — and it is the beam at the point where it bears up rather than sags. It corresponds to the weak first line, the careful one with the white rushes, and that correspondence is what supports it; the small Image says its good fortune comes from 'not bending toward what is below' (不橈乎下也), which Zhu Xi reads as not being dragged down by the weak line but held steady by it. The warning 有它吝 is about looking elsewhere: a beam that holds because of one well-placed support should not go seeking other attachments.
If this line is changing
Your strength is holding because it is balanced by one reliable support; keep faith with that support and do not hedge by cultivating others.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang 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 upper trigram 兌 Dui (the Joyous) (lake).
- It corresponds (應) with line 1: 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 ䷯ 48 井 Well
Water drawn up through wood: the well. Towns move, the well stays; it neither increases nor decreases — but a broken rope or a muddy well helps no one.
What it becomes48 · 井 WelljǐngThe 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 Nine in the fourth place of hexagram 28, Great Excess, mean?
- 'The ridgepole arches upward: good fortune. If there is something else, regret.' Line four is yang in a yin place — strength tempered by its position — and it is the beam at the point where it bears up rather than sags. It corresponds to the weak first line, the careful one with the white rushes, and that correspondence is what supports it; the small Image says its good fortune comes from 'not bending toward what is below' (不橈乎下也), which Zhu Xi reads as not being dragged down by the weak line but held steady by it. The warning 有它吝 is about looking elsewhere: a beam that holds because of one well-placed support should not go seeking other attachments.
- What does hexagram 28 become when line 4 changes?
- Great Excess becomes hexagram 48, 井 Well: Water drawn up through wood: the well. Towns move, the well stays; it neither increases nor decreases — but a broken rope or a muddy well helps no one.
- Is line 4 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).