Preponderance of the Great

Preponderance of the Great (Tâ Kwo), or Hexagram 28, depicts a structure under extraordinary strain: a great beam unable to sustain its own weight. The hexagram’s judgment nevertheless allows for successful movement in any direction, provided action meets the exceptional demands of the time. Its central tension is between a failing support and the possibility of purposeful response.

Image and Structure

The figure is described as having two weak lines at its top and bottom, with four strong lines between them. This arrangement produces the image of a great beam whose burden exceeds its capacity. Yet the configuration is not uniformly adverse: the second and fifth lines are strong and centrally placed, and the attributes of the component trigrams contribute to a favorable omen. The image therefore holds structural danger and potential for success together rather than treating crisis as inevitable collapse.

Extraordinary Circumstances and Judgment

The commentary associates the hexagram with very extraordinary times, when conducting affairs requires very extraordinary gifts. What makes a situation extraordinary is its greatness and difficulty; the commentary expressly distinguishes this exceptional scale from anything improper. The judgment says there will be advantage in moving in any direction under the hexagram’s conditions, and that there will be success. Its optimism is consequently conditional: the burden is real, and the response must be proportionate to it.

The Lines as Responses to Strain

The first line presents care rather than bravado: its subject places mats of white mâo grass beneath objects set on the ground, and no error results. The commentary connects this caution to the line’s weakness and low position, as well as to the flexibility and humility associated with its trigram. At the opposite end, the topmost line shows extraordinary boldness in wading through a stream until the water covers the crown of the head. The outcome is evil, but there is no ground for blame. Together, these line images distinguish careful preparation from daring carried to the point of peril.

The second line offers a counter-image to the failing beam: a decayed willow produces shoots, or an old husband possesses a young wife. The line text promises advantage in every way. Its commentary explains that the line has no proper correlate above and therefore inclines toward the weak first line below; in the human image, the old husband and young wife may yet have children. The resulting symbolism makes renewal possible within an imbalanced arrangement, and associates that possibility with successful action by the line’s subject.

Significance

Preponderance of the Great does not prescribe retreat from every overloaded or unstable situation. It sets the danger of a structure beyond its capacity beside signs of central strength, careful humility, renewed growth, and the hazards of excessive daring. The hexagram’s account of crisis is thus discriminating: exceptional circumstances may call for exceptional action, but success depends on how that action answers the strain rather than simply magnifying it.