I Ching · King Wen 34
Hexagram 34: Great Power
䷡ 大壯 Dà Zhuàng · also called The Power of the Great, Great Strength, Great Invigorating · The Arousing above The Creative
Strength in the ascendant: thunder in heaven, and the discipline to use power only in what is right.
strengthrestraintlegitimacymomentumdiscipline
The meaning of Hexagram 34
Heaven below, thunder above: four strong lines rising, two yielding lines retreating above them. Great Power describes a time when strength is with you and growing, and the tradition's whole concern is what you do with it. The judgement is short: persistence furthers. The image adds the rule: the wise person does not tread paths that do not accord with the established order. Power is legitimate when it is used within what is right, and the lines are full of goats butting hedges and getting stuck. The reading says you have the strength; the question is whether you have the restraint that turns strength into power.
The image. Thunder in heaven above; the wise person does not tread a path that is not in accord with order.
- Advice
- Use your strength firmly and only within what is right; restraint is what makes it power.
- Warning
- The goat that butts the hedge out of sheer strength ends up unable to go forward or back.
over
Structure: ☰ The Creative (Heaven) below, ☳ The Arousing (Thunder) above. Nuclear hexagram 43, Breakthrough. Every line reversed: 20, Contemplation.
Hexagram 34 for love and relationships
You have the upper hand or the stronger feeling, and the reading asks you not to use it to push. Strength in a relationship is shown by what it declines to do. Butting the hedge gets the horns stuck.
Hexagram 34 for career
Momentum and capability are high. Use them within the rules and the proper channels; the reading favours legitimate advance and warns sharply against forcing through obstacles by sheer force. What is right, done firmly, wins.
Hexagram 34 for money
Strong position, growing resources. The discipline is to keep to sound methods rather than to use the strength for an aggressive play. Power that stays within order compounds; power that charges the fence loses.
Hexagram 34 for decisions
Decide firmly, and choose the option that is both strong and correct. If the strong option requires breaking a rule or forcing someone, the reading says it will stall. Persist within the right.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
A goat butts a hedge, cannot go back, cannot go forward. Nothing furthers. If one notes the difficulty, good fortune.
Stuck by having pushed too far. The line still offers the way out: noticing the difficulty clearly, without pretending, is what frees the horns. Acknowledgement is the remedy.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 14, Great Possession. Read line 6 →
Loses the goat with ease. No remorse.
Giving up the butting, stubborn attitude once the situation no longer requires it, and finding it easy. Softness where strength is no longer needed. There is no regret in letting the goat go.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 43, Breakthrough. Read line 5 →
Persistence brings good fortune; remorse disappears. The hedge opens; no entanglement. Power in the axle of a big cart.
The obstacle gives way, not to force but to quiet, persistent work. The strength is in the axle, unseen and carrying everything. The line is the hexagram's success: power that works without display.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 11, Peace. Read line 4 →
The inferior person uses power; the superior person does not. Persistence is dangerous. A goat butts a hedge and entangles its horns.
The line's famous goat. The petty person shows off strength and gets stuck; the wise person, equally strong, does not display it. The tradition's advice is not to boast of power even when it is real.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 54, The Marrying Maiden. Read line 3 →
Persistence brings good fortune.
The gate begins to open and strength can move. The line asks for steadiness rather than exuberance: the danger at this stage is getting carried away by the ease of it. Balanced firmness.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 55, Abundance. Read line 2 →
Power in the toes. Going brings misfortune. This is certainly true.
Strength felt at the lowest point, and the urge to use it before there is any standing to. The line is emphatic: acting on power from the bottom, prematurely, brings misfortune with certainty.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 32, Duration. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 34 mean?
- Strength in the ascendant: thunder in heaven, and the discipline to use power only in what is right. Heaven below, thunder above: four strong lines rising, two yielding lines retreating above them. Great Power describes a time when strength is with you and growing, and the tradition's whole concern is what you do with it. The judgement is short: persistence furthers. The image adds the rule: the wise person does not tread paths that do not accord with the established order. Power is legitimate when it is used within what is right, and the lines are full of goats butting hedges and getting stuck. The reading says you have the strength; the question is whether you have the restraint that turns strength into power.
- What does Hexagram 34 mean for love?
- You have the upper hand or the stronger feeling, and the reading asks you not to use it to push. Strength in a relationship is shown by what it declines to do. Butting the hedge gets the horns stuck.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 34 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 32, Duration; line 2 gives Hexagram 55, Abundance; line 3 gives Hexagram 54, The Marrying Maiden; line 4 gives Hexagram 11, Peace; line 5 gives Hexagram 43, Breakthrough; line 6 gives Hexagram 14, Great Possession. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 20, Contemplation.