Hexagram 14 · Possession in Great Measure (大有 Dà Yǒu)
Fire ☲ over Heaven ☰
Clarity blazing above strength · the sun at midday
Possession in Great Measure is the hexagram of abundance, of having a great deal and holding it well. Fire blazes above heaven like the sun at noon, casting light over everything, and a single yielding line near the top gracefully holds all that strength. This is a fortunate figure, but it is a fortune with a condition attached. Great means, the book reminds you, carry great responsibility, and abundance only lasts when it is carried with modesty.
Fire sits above, clarity and brilliance; Heaven sits below, the creative power. The soft fifth line is the centre everyone yields to, a sign that this great possession is held not by force but by clear, modest, trusted character. The commentary tells the ruler to curb what is harmful and uphold what is good, honouring the natural order of things. So the hexagram is less about the riches themselves than about the worthiness of the one who holds them.
What this hexagram counsels in a reading
When Da You answers your question, you are surrounded by capability and plenty, and the counsel is to wield it generously and humbly. Restrain excess. Let your good fortune serve more than just yourself. The hexagram is warm and auspicious, but it keeps gently pointing back to character: the abundance is real, and it will keep flowing as long as you hold it without arrogance. Hoarding or boasting is exactly what would put it at risk.
In love and relationships
For relationships, this hexagram suggests richness, warmth, and a generous abundance of good feeling. There is plenty to give, and the counsel is to give it openly and without ego. If you are the one with more, in love, security, or attention, hold it modestly and share it freely. The danger here is never scarcity; it is the pride or carelessness that abundance sometimes breeds. Stay humble and the warmth keeps flowing.
In work and money
In work, Da You is a strong sign of success, resources, and capability at your disposal. Use them well and generously, restrain the urge to overreach, and let your achievements lift others too. With money, it is one of the more straightforwardly prosperous hexagrams, pointing to plenty, but it ties that plenty to responsible stewardship. Wealth held humbly and used for good endures; wealth flaunted does not.
Moving lines and the changing hexagram
The moving lines of Possession in Great Measure describe how to handle abundance at each stage, from keeping clear of harm at the start, to the great wagon laden with goods, to the final line where the abundance is so blessed by heaven that nothing stands in its way. A changing line here usually comments on how worthily you are carrying your good fortune. Read it as a check on modesty and generosity. The hexagram it becomes shows where the abundant time is heading.
Its Tarot kin
On the deck side of this site, Possession in Great Measure rhymes with The Sun. Both are images of brightness at its fullest, warmth and abundance shining openly. The Sun is joy and success in plain daylight; Da You is that same midday blaze, the sun over heaven, lighting a season of plenty.
Cast the coins and you might draw this one — try the I Ching tool, or see all sixty-four on the full hexagram grid. For reflection and insight, not fortune-telling — see our disclaimer.