A Study of the Structure, Philosophical Principles, and Philosophy of Hexagram Huo Tian Da You (Fire over Heaven, Great Possession)
This article systematically investigates the fourteenth hexagram of the Yijing, 'Fire over Heaven — Great Possession' (Huo Tian Da You), analyzing its trigram structure of Li above Qian below, elucidating the rich connotations of 'Great Possession,' and drawing upon pre-Qin literature to expound the principle of 'one yielding line in the place of honor, five firm lines responding to it' — the way of grand virtue and great enterprise — revealing its profound significance in ancient political philosophy.
General Preface
The Yijing (Book of Changes) is the treasured canon of the Three Dynasties and the heart-method of the ancient sages. From Fu Xi's drawing of the trigrams, King Wen's appending of the Judgments, the Duke of Zhou's line-statements, to the Master's (Kongzi's) commentarial Wings — sage after sage transmitted what came before, and the philosophical principles run immeasurably deep, beyond what any single era or person could exhaust. Among the sixty-four hexagrams, each is a microcosm of heaven and earth and a mirror of human affairs. The hexagram "Great Possession" (Da You), the fourteenth of the sixty-four, has Li (fire) above and Qian (heaven) below — fire resting above heaven, its radiance illuminating all, the myriad things flourishing in harmony — truly the image of grand abundance.
Why is it named "Great Possession"$1 Why does the conjunction of fire and heaven produce the virtue of Great Possession$2 Why can one yielding line in the place of honor command the response of five firm lines$3 Why does the Tuan Zhuan (Commentary on the Judgment) say "its virtue is firm and strong yet cultured and bright"$4 Why does the Xiang Zhuan (Commentary on the Image) say "curbing evil and promoting good, compliant with Heaven's beneficent mandate"$5 All these questions deserve deep investigation by students of the Yi.
The purpose of this essay is to undertake a comprehensive, thorough, and systematic study of the hexagram "Fire over Heaven — Great Possession" from the perspectives of the pre-Qin era and high antiquity. The primary texts cited are the Yijing canon and its commentaries, supplemented by the Shangshu (Book of Documents), Shijing (Book of Odes), Zuozhuan (Zuo Commentary), Guoyu (Discourses of the States), Liji (Book of Rites), Zhouli (Rites of Zhou), Lunyu (Analects), Mengzi (Mencius), Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Hanfeizi, Guanzi, and Lushi Chunqiu (Springs and Autumns of Master Lu), with selective reference to the explanations of Han-dynasty classical scholars — striving for rigorous philological grounding, coherent philosophical reasoning, and accessibility for the reader.
The full text is divided into twelve major chapters, proceeding from the structural image of the hexagram to progressively deeper explorations of philosophical principles, line statements, the Tuan and Xiang commentaries, historical cases, philosophical inquiry, and applications to governance — culminating in the far-reaching significance of the Way of Great Possession for ancient political philosophy, ethical thought, and cosmological understanding.