Structural Analysis, Meaning, and Philosophical Inquiry of the Hexagram Huotian Dayou (Fire Over Heaven)

Section 1: The Ideological Structure of the Tuan Zhuan

The Tuan Zhuan interprets the Da You hexagram thus:

"Da You, the yielding obtains the position of honor, centered greatly, and is responded to above and below—this is called Da You. Its virtue is firm and persistent, yet civilized and bright; responding to Heaven and acting according to the times, therefore it is Yuan Heng." (大有，柔得尊位，大中，而上下应之，曰大有。其德刚健而文明，应乎天而时行，是以元亨。)

This passage can be divided into three layers of logic:

First Layer: Explanation of the Hexagram Name. "The yielding obtains the position of honor, centered greatly, and is responded to above and below—this is called Da You." These three clauses explain why this hexagram is named "Da You."

Second Layer: Description of the Hexagram Virtue. "Its virtue is firm and persistent, yet civilized and bright." This summarizes the inherent moral quality of Da You.

Third Layer: Explanation of the Hexagram Statement. "Responding to Heaven and acting according to the times, therefore it is Yuan Heng." These two clauses explain why Da You can achieve "Yuan Heng."

The relationship between these three layers is tightly logical, progressing step-by-step: Because it possesses yielding obtaining the position of honor, great centering, and being responded to above and below, it achieves the structure of Da You (Layer 1); the structure of Da You contains the virtue of firmness and civilization (Layer 2); by acting according to Heaven and time with this virtue, it achieves Yuan Heng (Layer 3).

This structure of argumentation is extremely rigorous.