Heaven contained within a mountain: great creative power held, stored and focused. Da Xu is about accumulating strength, knowledge and resources through restraint, and then putting them to use in the world. It calls for discipline, study of what has been learned before, and the readiness to take on great tasks and serve beyond your private sphere.
Judgment
大畜：利貞，不家食吉，利涉大川。
Great accumulating: steadfastness is favorable. Not eating at home: good fortune. Favorable to cross the great river.
Image
天在山中，大畜；君子以多識前言往行，以畜其德。
Heaven held inside the mountain: great accumulating. Taking this as a model, the noble one stores up knowledge of what earlier people said and did, to build up their own character.
- Accumulating strength
- Disciplined restraint
- Learning from the past
- Serving publicly
- Readiness for great tasks
- restraint
- accumulation
- discipline
- learning
- readiness
- power
- Hold and focus your energy rather than scattering it.
- Study what others have learned to build your own strength.
- Stored power is meant to be used for something worthwhile.
The six lines
Lines are numbered from the bottom. In a reading, only the lines that are changing apply to your cast.
Line 1Nine at the beginning 初九
Line text
有厲利已。
There is danger: favorable to stop.
You want to move forward, but there is a strong obstacle. Stopping now is wise; restraint conserves your energy for later.
- Recognizing danger
- Halting in time
- Pushing against a clear obstacle
- Saving strength by stopping
Line 2Nine in the second place 九二
Line text
輿說輹。
The cart's axle-block is removed.
Movement is deliberately halted. Accept the restraint calmly; this is not the time to advance, and there's no sense in resisting.
- Accepting a halt
- Calm patience
- Frustration at necessary delay
- Gathering strength while held back
Line 3Nine in the third place 九三
Line text
良馬逐，利艱貞。曰閑輿衛，利有攸往。
Fine horses race on. Favorable: steadfastness in hardship. Practice driving and defense every day. Favorable to have somewhere to go.
The way opens and you can move forward with others who share your aim. Stay alert to danger and keep training; preparedness makes progress safe.
- Opening path
- Continued practice
- Rushing ahead unprepared
- Advancing with skill and companions
Line 4Six in the fourth place 六四
Line text
童牛之牿，元吉。
A guard board on the young bull's horns: supreme good fortune.
Restraining wild energy before it grows strong is easiest and most effective. Prevention, early and gentle, brings the best outcome.
- Prevention
- Early restraint
- Waiting until a problem is full-grown
- Guiding energy before it becomes dangerous
Line 5Six in the fifth place 六五
Line text
豶豕之牙，吉。
The tusks of a gelded boar: good fortune.
Rather than fighting aggression head on, address its root. Changing the cause defuses the danger more effectively than blocking its expression.
- Addressing root causes
- Indirect restraint
- Fighting symptoms only
- Disarming a problem at its source
Line 6Nine at the top 上九
Line text
何天之衢，亨。
Reaching heaven's open highway. Success.
The period of restraint is over. The accumulated strength can now flow freely along an open road. Great things become possible.
- Release of stored power
- Open road
- Holding back when the way is open
- Putting long preparation to full use
Related hexagrams
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Cast a readingChinese text: Zhouyi 周易 (received classical text). English rendering and notes: Site rendering. About our sources
Commentary
The mountain (Gen, keeping still) holds back heaven (Qian, creative force). Unlike Small Taming, where a single weak line restrains, here the restraint is strong and the force restrained is great. The reading may suggest a period of building up: skills, savings, knowledge or inner strength, with the discipline that requires.
The judgment points outward: "not eating at home" means taking your abilities into public service or a wider field; "crossing the great river" means undertaking something significant. The image emphasizes study of the past as a source of character. In relation to a question, Da Xu may emphasize patience in preparation followed by bold, responsible action.