The Preponderance of the Great

The Preponderance of the Great is the twenty-eighth hexagram of the I Ching, the ancient Chinese divination text that permeates the lives of the novel's characters. It is a figure of excess and imbalance, depicting a structure that is too heavy in the middle, a condition that threatens collapse. Its appearance in the narrative is never neutral; it is a warning, a diagnosis of a moment when the forces of the world are dangerously out of alignment. The hexagram's core image, a sagging ridgepole, becomes a potent metaphor for the precarious state of the Pacific States of America and the broader geopolitical order, where the weight of history and the ambitions of empires press down on fragile foundations.

The Oracle's Warning to Tagomi

Nobusuke Tagomi, a high-ranking official of the Trade Mission, first encounters The Preponderance of the Great as a direct answer to a personal question. At noon, two hours before his appointment with Robert Childan, he consults the oracle, asking, "Will the meeting between myself and Mr. Childan be profitable?" The response is immediate and dismaying: the hexagram The Preponderance of the Great, with its judgment that "The ridgepole is sagging. Too much weight in the middle; all unbalanced. Clearly away from the Tao." For Tagomi, this is not merely a prediction of a failed business deal; it is a cosmic signal that the very moment is out of joint. The oracle's diagnosis of imbalance extends beyond his immediate concerns, hinting at a deeper, more pervasive instability in the world he inhabits. He dutifully records his consultation on a tape recorder, a ritual that underscores the gravity he assigns to the oracle's pronouncements.

The Withered Poplar and Childan's Failure

Tagomi's consultation does not end with the hexagram's judgment. He also receives an unfavorable moving line, Nine in the fifth place, which reads: "A withered poplar puts forth flowers. An older woman takes a husband. No blame. No praise." This line, with its image of a barren tree producing a brief, unnatural bloom, is interpreted by Tagomi as a clear indication that Childan will have nothing of worth to offer. The withered poplar's flowers are a false promise, a sign of sterility masquerading as vitality. This prophecy is fulfilled when Childan, after a day of frantic searching, presents a nearly mint copy of Tip Top Comics as a substitute for the promised Civil War recruiting poster. The gift, while a collector's item, is a hollow gesture, a flower on a dead tree, and it fails to impress Tagomi's client, who is ultimately revealed to be the Swedish industrialist Mr. Baynes. The line's judgment, "No blame. No praise," perfectly captures the futility of Childan's effort: it is neither a success nor a failure, but a meaningless act in a moment of profound imbalance.

The Hexagram as a Metaphor for the World

The Preponderance of the Great is not confined to the private anxieties of Tagomi's office. Its imagery of a sagging ridgepole, a structure straining under its own weight, resonates throughout the novel as a metaphor for the political and moral condition of the world. The German Reich, with its vast territorial conquests, its genocidal policies in Africa, and its frantic race to colonize the planets, is a civilization in a state of extreme preponderance. Its power is immense, but it is unbalanced, built on a foundation of violence and delusion. The Japanese Empire, too, is implicated in this condition, its Co-Prosperity Sphere a fragile edifice of conquest and exploitation. The hexagram's warning, "Too much weight in the middle," can be read as a diagnosis of the entire Axis world, a system that has overreached and is now teetering on the brink of collapse. The novel's characters, from the anxious dealer Robert Childan to the tormented official Tagomi, are all caught in this structural imbalance, their personal struggles reflecting the larger crisis of their world.

The Oracle's Role in the Narrative

The I Ching, as the source of The Preponderance of the Great, is more than a plot device; it is a narrative force that shapes the characters' understanding of their world. The oracle is consulted by Frank Frink, who uses it to seek guidance on his career and his lost love, and by Juliana Frink, who relies on it to make decisions and interpret her experiences. The hexagrams are not random; they are seen as accurate reflections of the "Moment," a concept that links the individual's situation to the larger cosmic and historical process. The Preponderance of the Great, with its stark warning of imbalance, is one of the most ominous of these reflections. It appears at a moment of personal crisis for Tagomi, but its meaning extends far beyond his office, pointing to the fundamental instability of the world he serves. The oracle's wisdom, drawn from a book begun in the thirtieth century B.C., is presented as a timeless source of insight, capable of cutting through the confusion of the present. Yet, as the novel shows, even the oracle's guidance cannot prevent the characters from making tragic choices; it can only illuminate the nature of the moment they inhabit.