山天大畜
Hexagram 26 describes the accumulation of great power through disciplined restraint. The counsel here is to hold back, to store rather than spend, to build inner resources to the point where they can sustain truly significant action. This is not timidity — it is the wisdom of knowing that great undertakings require great preparation.
大畜：利贞，不家食吉，利涉大川。
大的蓄聚与蓄止：利于守正；出来做事、不困守家中则吉，利于涉险进取。
Interpretive translationThe Taming Power of the Great. Perseverance furthers. Not eating at home brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
彖曰：大畜，刚健笃实辉光，日新其德，刚上而尚贤。能止健，大正也。不家食吉，养贤也。利涉大川，应乎天也。
象曰：天在山中，大畜；君子以多识前言往行，以畜其德。
天藏于山中，蓄聚极大；君子效法它，多记取前人的嘉言善行，以蓄养自己的德行。
有厉，利已。
象曰：有厉利已，不犯灾也。
Danger is at hand. It furthers one to desist.
舆说輹。
象曰：舆说輹，中无尤也。
The axletrees are taken from the wagon.
良马逐，利艰贞。曰闲舆卫，利有攸往。
象曰：利有攸往，上合志也。
A good horse that follows others. Awareness of danger with perseverance furthers. Practice chariot driving and armed defense daily; it furthers one to have somewhere to go.
童牛之牿，元吉。
象曰：六四元吉，有喜也。
The headboard of a young bull. Supreme good fortune.
豮豕之牙，吉。
象曰：六五之吉，有庆也。
The tusk of a gelded boar. Good fortune.
何天之衢，亨。
象曰：何天之衢，道大行也。
One attains the way of heaven. Success.
Structure
Da Xu is formed by Mountain (Gen ☶) above Heaven (Qian ☰). Heaven — the most powerful of the trigrams — is held beneath the mountain, contained and restrained. The image is of enormous creative force being held in check, compressed, concentrated. Gen above represents stillness, boundary, and the capacity to hold; Qian below represents the full creative power of heaven. The mountain does not suppress heaven — it focuses it.
Core meaning
Da Xu is the great version of Xiao Xu (Hexagram 9, Small Accumulating). Where Xiao Xu involves modest restraint of modest forces, Da Xu involves the restraint of genuinely great power. The scale of what is being held and what is being prepared for is correspondingly larger.
The traditional image associated with Da Xu is of a person who studies the words and deeds of the great figures of the past — accumulating wisdom, learning from history, building the inner resources that will eventually enable great action. This is not passive study but active preparation: every lesson absorbed, every skill developed, every insight integrated becomes part of the accumulated store.
The hexagram also speaks to the relationship between restraint and power. A bow that is not drawn cannot shoot. A spring that is not compressed cannot release. The act of holding back, when done with purpose and discipline, is itself a form of power — it concentrates and focuses what would otherwise dissipate. Da Xu asks whether you are building something genuinely significant, and whether you have the discipline to continue accumulating rather than spending prematurely.
In Liuyao readings, Da Xu often appears when the querent is in a period of preparation for something larger than their current situation. It can signal that now is the time to study, train, save, or otherwise build capacity — not yet the time to act on the larger stage. It can also appear when someone has accumulated significant resources or abilities and is ready to put them to use.
In divination
When Da Xu appears in a reading, the question is what is being accumulated and whether the accumulation is sufficient for the intended purpose. The hexagram is favorable for long-term preparation, study, and the building of resources. It suggests that the querent has more capacity than they may realize, and that continued disciplined development will yield significant results.
Da Xu is favorable for questions about education, career development, financial planning, and any long-term endeavor requiring sustained preparation. It is less favorable for questions requiring immediate action or quick results.
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