Hexagram 28: Great Excess
Outer trigram (upper)
Đoài
Marsh · Metal
Inner trigram (lower)
Tốn
Wind · Wood
Judgment
大過：棟撓，利有攸往，亨.
Translation
Great Excess: the ridgepole sags; favorable to go somewhere, smooth progress.
Commentary
Dui above is a marsh, Xun below is wind. Four yang lines fill the middle with one yin line at each end, like a ridgepole overloaded and sagging under too much weight. Yang is excessive and yin cannot support it. This is a time that calls for action; only by moving forward does progress come.
Line Readings
Line 1 (yin)
初六：藉用白茅，无咎.
Translation
Line 1, yin: spreading white rushes underneath — without fault.
Commentary
At the very bottom, line 1 uses white rushes, simple and honest material, as padding beneath what is placed on the altar — careful and cautious, and without fault.
Line 2 (yang)
九二：枯楊生稊，老夫得其女妻，无不利.
Translation
Line 2, yang: a withered willow sprouts new shoots; an old man takes a young wife — nothing unfavorable.
Commentary
Line 2, yang, sits close to yielding yin line 1 (like a young wife), like an old tree sprouting new life. Even in this time of Great Excess, the capacity for renewal remains.
Line 3 (yang)
九三：棟橈，凶.
Translation
Line 3, yang: the ridgepole snaps and sags — misfortune.
Commentary
Strong but neither centered nor correct, line 3 bears too heavy a load without support, and the ridgepole breaks. Misfortune.
Line 4 (yang)
九四：棟隆，吉，有它，吝.
Translation
Line 4, yang: the ridgepole rises high — fortune; but entanglement elsewhere brings regret.
Commentary
Correctly placed, line 4 can bear the weight. But if it becomes entangled elsewhere, drawn to yin line 1 below, there will be regret.
Line 5 (yang)
九五：枯楊生華，老婦得其士夫，无咎，无譽.
Translation
Line 5, yang: a withered willow puts out flowers; an old woman takes a young husband — without fault, but no cause for praise.
Commentary
Line 5, yang, holds the honored place but sits close to the aged yin line 6, like an old woman, and cannot produce new life — an old tree flowering only briefly before it fades. Without fault, but nothing to be praised either.
Line 6 (yin)
上六：過涉，滅頂，凶，无咎.
Translation
Top line, yin: wading across until the water closes over one's head — misfortune, yet without fault.
Commentary
At the top of Great Excess, line 6 tries to press across even though its strength is not enough, and is submerged. Though this brings misfortune, the courage to face a hard task means it is without fault.