大壯
“Great Invigorating” — King Wen #34
Great strength in motion. The power is real — only rightness keeps it from harm.
The Judgment 卦辞
利貞。
Da Zhuang indicates that (under the conditions which it symbolises) it will be advantageous to be firm and correct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
壯于趾，征凶，有孚。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject manifesting his strength in his toes. But advance will lead to evil,--most certainly.
貞吉。
The second NINE, undivided, shows that with firm correctness there will be good fortune.
小人用壯，君子用罔；貞厲。羝羊觸藩，羸其角。
The third NINE, undivided, shows, in the case of a small man, one using all his strength; and in the case of a superior man, one whose rule is not to do so. Even with firm correctness the position would be perilous. (The exercise of strength in it might be compared to the case of) a ram butting against a fence, and getting his horns entangled.
貞吉，悔亡；藩決不羸，壯于大輿之輹。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows (a case in which) firm correctness leads to good fortune, and occasion for repentance disappears. (We see) the fence opened without the horns being entangled. The strength is like that in the wheel-spokes of a large waggon.
喪羊于易，無悔。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows one who loses his ram(-like strength) in the ease of his position. (But) there will be no occasion for repentance.
羝羊觸藩，不能退，不能遂，無攸利；艱則吉。
The sixth SIX, divided, shows (one who may be compared to) the ram butting against the fence, and unable either to retreat, or to advance as he would fain do. There will not be advantage in any respect; but if he realise the difficulty (of his position), there will be good fortune.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 34 places heaven (乾) beneath thunder (震) —creative force pressing upward below, movement breaking out of stillness above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Great Invigorating”:great strength in motion. The power is real — only rightness keeps it from harm Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 34
What does 大壯 (dà zhuàng) mean?
Hexagram 34 of the I Ching is named 大壯 (dà zhuàng), usually rendered "Great Invigorating" in English editions. Its figure pairs heaven (乾) below with thunder (震) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 34?
震 (Thunder) sits above and 乾 (Heaven) sits below — the classical picture is creative force pressing upward beneath movement breaking out of stillness.
How is hexagram 34 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 34 gives hexagram 20 — 觀 (Viewing). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 33 — 遯 (Retiring). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 43 — 夬 (Displacement).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.