Hexagram 14 — Great Possessing
King Wen #14 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Great possessing: abundance held under a strong and humble center. Great resources are governed well.
What Hexagram 14 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 14 places heaven (乾) beneath fire (离) — creative force pressing upward below, light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Great Possessing”: great possessing: abundance held under a strong and humble center. Great resources are governed well. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
火在天上，大有；君子以遏惡揚善，順天休命。
(The trigram for) heaven and (that of) fire above it form Tâ Yû. The superior man, in accordance with this, represses what is evil and gives distinction to what is good, in sympathy with the excellent Heaven-conferred (nature).— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Fire blazes high in heaven: great possessions. The wise stop evil and lift up good, in step with heaven's good order.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 14 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Great Possessing describes great possessing: abundance held under a strong and humble center. Great resources are governed well — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: creative force pressing upward, held inside a larger setting of light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Great Possessing about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: great possessing: abundance held under a strong and humble center. Great resources are governed well. When lines move in your cast, read them against this base — the moving lines show which part of the figure is awake for you, and the changed hexagram shows where it is heading.
Questions About Hexagram 14
What does 大有 (dà yǒu) mean?
Hexagram 14 of the I Ching is named 大有 (dà yǒu), usually rendered "Great Possessing" in English editions. Its figure is built from heaven (乾) below and fire (离) above — creative force pressing upward beneath light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates.
Is hexagram 14 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 14 is warm: it contains 2 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), and 4 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached.
What does hexagram 14 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Great Possessing points to great possessing: abundance held under a strong and humble center. Great resources are governed well. The figure pairs heaven (乾) beneath fire (离) — creative force pressing upward meeting light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates — which is the traditional picture of how this energy behaves between two people. For how to phrase a love question before casting, see our guide to asking the I Ching about love.
What does hexagram 14 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Great Possessing through the figure itself: heaven (乾) below, fire (离) above — creative force pressing upward held inside light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. The plain reading: Great possessing: abundance held under a strong and humble center. Great resources are governed well. The text carries 2 mentions of 吉 (good fortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 14 mean?
A cast of hexagram 14 can produce moving lines. Each of the six lines has its own statement (爻辭) in the classical text below, read from the bottom up, and a moving line is read as the part of the figure that is awake for your question. When a line moves it turns into its opposite, and the whole figure becomes a second hexagram: changing every line of 14 gives hexagram 8, 比 (Grouping). Every line also has a page of its own on this site — Line 1 through Line 6 under this hexagram — with the classical Chinese and Legge's translation side by side.
How is hexagram 14 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 14 gives hexagram 8 — 比 (Grouping). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 13 — 同人 (Concording People). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 43 — 夬 (Displacement).
Cast it yourself
Shake the tube, watch your own coins fall.
- The hexagram's classical meaning — judgment and all six lines
- Moving lines marked — but not read for you
- No account, no email, nothing to pay
Get the reading, not just the text
Same cast, read all the way through:
- Every line read for you — what each moving line means inside your question
- The changed hexagram — where your situation is heading, and how to read the turn
- A closing that answers you directly — act, wait, or say it out loud
New to casting? How it works · All 64 hexagrams
Related Hexagrams 錯綜互
The Classical Text 經文
元亨。
Da You indicates that, (under the circumstances which it implies), there will be great progress and success.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
無交害，匪咎；艱則無咎。
In the first NINE, undivided, there is no approach to what is injurious, and there is no error. Let there be a realisation of the difficulty (and danger of the position), and there will be no error (to the end).
大車以載，有攸往，無咎。
In the second NINE, undivided, we have a large waggon with its load. In whatever direction advance is made, there will be no error.
公用亨于天子，小人弗克。
The third NINE, undivided, shows us a feudal prince presenting his offerings to the Son of Heaven. A small man would be unequal (to such a duty).
匪其彭，無咎。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject keeping his great resources under restraint. There will be no error.
厥孚交如，威如，吉。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows the sincerity of its subject reciprocated by that of all the others (represented in the hexagram). Let him display a proper majesty, and there will be good fortune.
自天祐之，吉無不利。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject with help accorded to him from Heaven. There will be good fortune, advantage in every respect.
Line by Line 逐爻细读
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text.2 The Image (象傳) is an ancient text in the public domain; its plain-English gloss here is original to The Hexagrams, not a quotation from any copyrighted edition. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.