Hexagram 28 大過 changing to hexagram 4 蒙
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 3, 4, 5, 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 4 蒙, line 1
發蒙，利用刑人，用說桎梏，以往吝。
The first line, divided, (has respect to) the dispelling of ignorance. It will be advantageous to use punishment (for that purpose), and to remove the shackles (from the mind). But going on in that way (of punishment) will give occasion for regret.
Hexagram 4 蒙, line 2
包蒙吉，納婦吉，子克家。
The second line, undivided, (shows its subject) exercising forbearance with the ignorant, in which there will be good fortune; and admitting (even the goodness of women, which will also be fortunate. (He may be described also as) a son able to (sustain the burden of) his family.
The two hexagrams
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.
Hexagram 4 蒙 — judgment
亨。匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我。初筮告，再三瀆，瀆則不告。利貞。
Măng (indicates that in the case which it presupposes) there will be progress and success. I do not (go and) seek the youthful and inexperienced, but he comes and seeks me. When he shows (the sincerity that marks) the first recourse to divination, I instruct him. If he apply a second and third time, that is troublesome; and I do not instruct the troublesome. There will be advantage in being firm and correct.
The changing lines of hexagram 28
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 棟橈，凶。 | The third line, undivided, shows a beam that is weak. There will be evil. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 6 | 過涉滅頂，凶，无咎。 | The topmost line, divided, shows its subject with extraordinary (boldness) wading through a stream, till the water hides the crown of his head. There will be evil, but no ground for blame. |
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.