King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Hexagram 25 无妄 changing to hexagram 28 大過

wú wàng
→
dà guò

Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 6.

What to read

Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)

Hexagram 28 大過, line 4

棟隆,吉。有它吝。

The fourth line, undivided, shows a beam curving upwards. There will be good fortune. If (the subject of it) looks for other (help but that of line one), there will be cause for regret.

Hexagram 28 大過, line 5

枯楊生華,老婦得其士夫,无咎无譽。

The fifth line, undivided, shows a decayed willow producing flowers, or an old wife in possession of her young husband. There will be occasion neither for blame nor for praise.

The two hexagrams

Hexagram 25 无妄 — judgment

元亨。利貞。其匪正有眚,不利有攸往。

Wû Wang indicates great progress and success, while there will be advantage in being firm and correct. If (its subject and his action) be not correct, he will fall into errors, and it will not be advantageous for him to move in any direction.

Hexagram 28 大過 — judgment

棟橈,利有攸往,亨。

Tâ Kwo suggests to us a beam that is weak. There will be advantage in moving (under its conditions) in any direction whatever; there will be success.

The changing lines of hexagram 25

LineChineseLegge
1无妄,往吉。The first line, undivided, shows its subject free from all insincerity. His advance will be accompanied with good fortune.
2不耕穫,不菑畬,則利有攸往。The second line, divided, shows one who reaps without having ploughed (that he might reap), and gathers the produce of his third year's fields without having cultivated them the first year for that end. To such a one there will be advantage in whatever direction he may move.
3无妄之災,或繫之牛,行人之得,邑人之災。The third line, divided, shows calamity happening to one who is free from insincerity;—as in the case of an ox that has been tied up. A passer by finds it (and carries it off), while the people in the neighbourhood have the calamity (of being accused and apprehended).
6无妄,行有眚,无攸利。The topmost line, undivided, shows its subject free from insincerity, yet sure to fall into error, if he take action. (His action) will not be advantageous in any way.

English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.

Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.