Yarrow paired source note · 2026-07-17

Yi and Da Guo: Read an Opposite Pair Without Ranking It

Compare Hexagram 27 Yi (Nourishment) with Hexagram 28 Da Guo (Great Exceeding) as a line-by-line opposite pair, without turning contrast into prediction.

Cast one source-first reading Browse all 2026-07-17 notes

27 · Yi · Nourishment

I (Yi) — Nourishment: auspicious. Observe what is nourished, and seek your own sustenance. The Tuan says: Nourishment, perseverance brings good fortune. To nourish in the right way brings good fortune. Observe nourishment — observe whom one nourishes. Observe his seeking food for the mouth — observe how he nourishes himself. Heaven and earth nourish the ten thousand things; the sage nourishes the worthy and thereby reaches the myriad people. Great indeed is the time of Nourishment!

The hexagram Yi carries two meanings: nourishing oneself and nourishing the worthy. The ancient sages, observing the image of Yi, came to understand that the way of...

Complete source entry

28 · Da Guo · Great Exceeding

Great Preponderance: the ridgepole sags. It is favorable to have somewhere to go; success. The Tuan says: In Great Preponderance, the great preponderates. "The ridgepole sags" — root and end are weak. The firm preponderates yet holds the center; with gentle penetration there is joyful movement. "It is favorable to have somewhere to go" — thus there is success. Great indeed is the time of Great Preponderance!

Confucius said: "The wise are not perplexed, the benevolent are not anxious, the brave are not afraid.

Complete source entry

What the structural contrast actually says

The local structured corpus records Hexagram 27's opposite as Hexagram 28, and Hexagram 28's opposite as Hexagram 27. Every line changes polarity across this pair. Use that structural fact to compare conditions, not to label one side good and the other bad.

Two-column comparison practice

Make two columns headed Yi and Da Guo. Under each, copy one phrase from its reference translation and one observable condition from the situation you are studying. Circle the condition that would have to change before the other column became more relevant. Choose one reversible step and a review date.

Common misread to avoid

An opposite pair is not a before-and-after promise. Yi does not automatically become Da Guo, and the pair does not decide which person or outcome is correct. It is a disciplined contrast for closer observation.

Source boundary

The two reference translations and context notes come from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. The opposite-pair relation comes from the same local corpus. This comparison is not a fresh cast or a forecast.