Hexagram 34
Great Power
Thunder over Heaven
The judgment
利贞Thunder rolls above heaven and the four strong lines push upward together. Power this plain invites misuse, and the safe use is the one that keeps its own rules.
The image
Thunder over heaven: force with nothing in front of it. A ram that charges without a gate spends itself on the wall.
The six lines
Read from the bottom up. A line that moves is read here, and read again in the hexagram it becomes.
- 初九Line 1
壮于趾，征凶，有孚
The moment you push off, power is still at the ankles; stepping out now puts the cost on the very first stride.
Marked in the textominous
- 九二Line 2
贞吉
At the inner center, force can still be held; keep the strength in the middle and resist shoving forward.
Marked in the textauspicious
- 九三Line 3
小人用壮，君子用罔，贞厉。羝羊触藩，羸其角
The small man pits raw force against the obstacle; the noble one keeps his strength gathered in the net and lets none of it out. A ram butts the hedge head-down, its horns wedged in the gap, tightening with every pull—at this point, force itself is the cost.
Marked in the textdanger
- 九四Line 4
贞吉悔亡，藩决不羸，壮于大轝之腹
The hedge gives way and the horns come free, but the momentum spills on into the belly of the great cart, swelling the whole frame. Breaking through is easy; reining in a force that heads for open ground is not.
Marked in the textauspiciousregret clears
- 六五Line 5
丧羊于易，无悔
The sheep wanders off at the field's edge; no need to chase it, and letting this one go spares the struggle.
Marked in the textregret
- 上六Line 6
羝羊触藩，不能退，不能遂，无攸利，艰则吉
Horns still caught in the hedge, unable to back out or push through; only one thing remains—grind it down slowly with patience.
Marked in the textnothing is servedauspicious
Where each changing line leads
Flip one line and it is a different hexagram. These are the six it becomes.
This page is for reference. To get a hexagram from six throws, cast your own.
The classical text is the Zhouyi, public domain, checked against a Wikisource transcript. The readings are ours. Daily hexagram