HEXAGRAM 34 · dà zhuàng

The Power of the Great

Great power with restraint: strength becomes dangerous when it mistakes force for rightness

雷天大壮Classical Chinese included

Translation approach

The Chinese source stays visible. Where an editorial close rendering is available, it stays near the wording before Astro I Ching expands into cultural interpretation. Why we separate these layers →

CLASSICAL CHINESE

The source anchor

Read the source first. The English layer below remains accountable to these passages rather than replacing them with a simplified verdict.

卦辞 · Judgment

大壮：利贞。

Close rendering

Great Power: favorable to remain correct.

《大象》 · Image

雷在天上，大壮；君子以非礼弗履。

Close rendering

Thunder above Heaven: Great Power. The noble person therefore does not tread where ritual and rightness do not permit.

How to read the middle layer

Close rendering stays near wording and sequence. It is not presented as the only possible translation; the cultural reading below is where Astro I Ching explains image, structure, and practical logic in fuller English.

ASTRO I CHING · CULTURAL READING

Why this hexagram says what it says

Cultural reading of the image

Thunder moves above Heaven, amplifying firm strength. Da Zhuang studies what happens when power becomes obvious and begins to feel sufficient in itself.

Cultural reading of the judgment

True strength remains connected to what is right. The stronger the position, the more dangerous it becomes to assume that force alone can settle every obstacle.

SIX LINES · ONE STORY

How the hexagram develops from bottom to top

Line 1 · 初九

Classical Chinese

壮于趾，征凶，有孚。

Close rendering

Strength in the toes. Going forward brings misfortune.

Cultural reading

Using newly gained power too quickly can turn advantage into risk before the foundation is ready.

Line 2 · 九二

Classical Chinese

贞吉。

Close rendering

Constancy brings good fortune.

Cultural reading

Strength does not need constant display. Remaining correct without proving force is itself a sign of stability.

Line 3 · 九三

Classical Chinese

小人用壮，君子用罔，贞厉。羝羊触藩，羸其角。

Close rendering

The petty person uses force; the noble person does not. Constancy is dangerous. A ram butts a fence and entangles its horns.

Cultural reading

Brute pressure easily traps a person inside an obstacle of his or her own making; mature strength relies on judgment.

Line 4 · 九四

Classical Chinese

贞吉悔亡，藩决不羸，壮于大舆之輹。

Close rendering

Constancy brings good fortune; regret disappears. The fence breaks and the horns are no longer caught. Strength is in the axle fitting of a great wagon.

Cultural reading

Once the barrier truly opens, strength can move with the road instead of against it.

Line 5 · 六五

Classical Chinese

丧羊于易，无悔。

Close rendering

Losing the ram at the border. No regret.

Cultural reading

Some losses are not worth gripping. Releasing a portion of control can make the whole situation lighter.

Line 6 · 上六

Classical Chinese

羝羊触藩，不能退，不能遂，无攸利，艰则吉。

Close rendering

A ram butts the fence and can neither retreat nor advance. Nothing is favorable. Recognizing the difficulty brings good fortune.

Cultural reading

When advance and retreat are both blocked, more force hardens the stalemate; acknowledging difficulty creates the first space for adjustment.

BRING IT BACK TO LIFE

What this can help you notice

Useful when you clearly have leverage and the question is whether power can remain proportionate enough to stay useful.

A common misreading

Great Power does not make force correct. The stronger the leverage, the more important the boundary around its use.

Keep the classical text and the interpretive layer separate: one is the source, the other is Astro I Ching's explanation of how the source can be read.

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