Hexagram 26 · 山天大畜

Great Taming

Earth · Gen palace

Storing up strength; study and preparation before use.

Meaning

Heaven within a mountain: great capacity held in reserve. Great Taming concerns accumulated strength that has not yet been spent.

Decision Framework

Hold and build; do not spend yet.

Decision Guidance

Great Taming is the reading of stored capability. It appears when you have real strength — knowledge, savings, support, skill — but the conditions do not yet call for using it.

The classical commentary treats this as preparation rather than delay. The correct activity is study, training, and the deliberate accumulation of what you will need: the hexagram's traditional association with learning and with the disciplined keeping of resources. Resist the urge to demonstrate your strength ahead of time. The value of what you have stored depends on spending it at the right moment.

Judgment — Classical Text

利贞，不家食吉，利涉大川。

EN Perseverance furthers. Not eating at home brings good fortune; crossing the great water furthers.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

1. 初九：有厉利已。

   EN Initial nine: there is danger — it is favourable to stop.

2. 九二：舆说輹。

   EN Nine in the second: the cart sheds its axle-bands.

3. 九三：良马逐，利艰贞。

   EN Nine in the third: good horses pursue; perseverance through hardship is favourable.

4. 六四：童牛之牿，元吉。

   EN Six in the fourth: the young bull's headboard — supreme good fortune.

5. 六五：豮豕之牙，吉。

   EN Six in the fifth: the gelded boar's tusk — good fortune.

6. 上九：何天之衢，亨。

   EN Topmost nine: bearing up the highway of heaven — success.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 26, Great Taming hexagram, Da Xu hexagram meaning, hexagram for preparation