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I Ching · Hexagram 28 Great Excess

Hexagram 28 for love and relationships: Great Excess

大過 Dà Guò · Love & relationships

The relationship is under more weight than it was built for. Ordinary adjustments will not do. Either a decisive change, made carefully, or a decisive acceptance of what cannot be held. Do not pretend the beam is not bending.

Wind below, lake above: the lake rising over the trees. Four strong lines in the middle, two weak at the ends: a beam too heavy for its supports. Great Excess describes a critical moment, a load that the structure cannot carry, a situation that has gone past what ordinary measures can handle. The tradition's judgement is not despair: it furthers to have somewhere to go, and success is possible. But the action required is exceptional, and it must be taken with the calm of someone who can stand alone and withdraw from the world without regret. The reading says the pressure is real and the way through is decisive and unconventional.

Advice
Recognise the critical moment and act decisively and calmly, even if the action is unusual.
Warning
Pretending the load is normal, or adding to it, breaks the beam.

The changing lines, read for love and relationships

If your cast of Hexagram 28 had changing lines, these are what each one adds to a love question, and where each leads.

  1. Line 1 · changes into 43 Breakthrough

    Spreading white rushes underneath. No blame. Take more care than seems necessary; the situation warrants it.

  2. Line 2 · changes into 31 Influence

    A dry poplar sprouts at the root. An old man takes a young wife. Everything furthers. Accept the unlikely source of renewal; it works.

  3. Line 3 · changes into 47 Oppression

    The ridgepole sags to breaking. Misfortune. You cannot carry this alone; share the load or it breaks.

  4. Line 4 · changes into 48 The Well

    The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are ulterior motives, humiliation. Accept the support that holds the beam, without an agenda.

  5. Line 5 · changes into 32 Duration

    A withered poplar puts out flowers. An old woman takes a young husband. No blame, no praise. The bloom is real but temporary; do not build on it.

  6. Line 6 · changes into 44 Coming to Meet

    Going through the water, it goes over one's head. Misfortune. No blame. If the cause truly requires all of you, know the cost and choose it clearly.

Hexagram 28 in fullCareerMoneyA decision

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