A source-first reading note for Hexagram 26, Da Xu (Great Taming), with a reference translation, trigram frame, and one reversible observation practice.
Reference translation
THE GREAT TAMING. Furtherance through perseverance. Not eating at home brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water. The Commentary on the Decision says: The Great Taming. Firm strength and genuine substance; its radiance shines forth and renews itself day by day. Its virtue is firm above and honors the worthy. It can hold strength in check — herein lies great rectitude. "Not eating at home brings good fortune" — thus are the worthy nourished. "It furthers one to cross the great water" — for it accords with heaven.
See the original-text and authority layers in the complete catalog entry.
Context from the authority layer
Mountains possess the nature of storing things, and Heaven possesses the virtue of strength and vigor, the beauty of the sun and moon's radiance, and the nourishment of rain and dew, while mountains hold the sincerity of solidity and weight. Heaven is vast, and for something so vast to be contained within a mountain cannot but be called "great." Yet the reason Da Xu is called "great accumulation" lies fundamentally not only in "things" but even more in "virtue." "Things" can be greatly accumulated through the broad and generous way of Heaven and Earth, while "virtue" can be greatly accumulated through a character that is open, penetrating, and inclusive.
Read the structure before the slogan
The lower trigram is 乾 (天), associated in the bundled corpus with 健; the upper trigram is 艮 (山), associated with 止. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
One accountable observation practice
Copy one concrete verb, condition, or image from the reference translation for Hexagram 26. Name one place where it is observable in the situation you are examining. Then choose one small step you can reverse and write the condition that would make you review it.
Common misread to avoid
Do not turn Great Taming into a personality label, a guaranteed event, or a verdict about another person. The translation and trigram frame are source layers to examine, not an instruction to surrender judgment.
Source boundary
The reference translation and context are drawn from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. Yarrow keeps that layer separate from optional modern reflection. This page does not claim that Hexagram 26 was cast for your question.