Overview
Great Taming — 山天大畜 (Da Chu) — great accumulation.
The Hexagram
- Upper Trigram: Gen Mountain
- Lower Trigram: Qian Heaven
- Chinese Name: 山天大畜 (Da Chu)
- English Name: Great Taming
- Key Meanings: Great accumulation. Heaven within the mountain — storing power for major action.
The Judgment (Guà Cí)
Great Taming. Perseverance furthers. Not eating at home brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
The Image (Xiàng Cí)
Heaven within the mountain: the image of Great Taming. Thus the superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity.
Symbolism Deep Dive
Mountain over Heaven. Mountain (Gen, stillness, containment) above; Heaven (Qian, creative power) within. Heaven — the greatest force — is held inside a mountain. This is not suppression; it is accumulation. The creative power is not released but stored, concentrated, refined. The hexagram counsels study: ’the superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity.’ Power without knowledge is dangerous. Power accumulated through study is potent. ‘Not eating at home’ means leaving one’s comfort zone to learn from the wider world.
Modern Application
Da Chu describes the preparation phase before a major undertaking. The athlete who trains for years before the Olympic moment. The writer who reads voraciously before producing significant work. The leader who spends a decade learning an industry before founding a company. Modern application: invest in deep learning before seeking external recognition. The mountain contains heaven — you carry more power than you express. The time for expression will come (crossing the great water). First, accumulate.
Key Themes
- Each theme here extracted from the hexagram’s core teaching
“The I Ching Decoded” video series — Day 30.