# Hexagram 34: Great Power

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/34
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Zhen 震](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/zhen), Thunder, the arousing, movement
- **Lower trigram:** [Qian 乾](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/qian), Heaven, the creative, strong
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 111100 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Great power. Considerable strength is now available to you, but strength without restraint is exactly how powerful things destroy themselves. The art of this moment is to use only as much force as the situation actually requires, and no more. Restraint here is the real mark of power.

## Image

Thunder in the heavens. The superior person does not step into paths that deviate from what is right.

## Counsel

Check your motives. Are you acting because the situation genuinely calls for action, or because you finally feel strong enough to impose your will? Power used from the first stance becomes wisdom; power used from the second becomes regret. When unsure, use less force, not more.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A nine at the beginning means:
> Power in the toes.
> To continue brings misfortune.
> This is certainly true.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> Perseverance brings good fortune.

### Line 3

> A nine in the third place means:
> The petty one works through power; the noble one does not do so.
> To continue is dangerous.
> A he-goat butts against a hedge
> and tangles its horns.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> Perseverance brings good fortune.
> Remorse vanishes.
> The hedge opens; there is no entanglement.
> Power rests on the axle of a great wagon.

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> He loses the goat with ease.
> No remorse.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> A goat butts against a hedge:
> it cannot go back, it cannot go forward.
> Nothing is furthering.
> If one notices the difficulty, that brings good fortune.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [43 Breakthrough](https://thefreeiching.com/library/43)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [33 Retreat](https://thefreeiching.com/library/33)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [20 Contemplation](https://thefreeiching.com/library/20)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [32 Duration](https://thefreeiching.com/library/32) |
| Line 2 | [55 Abundance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/55) |
| Line 3 | [54 The Marrying Maiden](https://thefreeiching.com/library/54) |
| Line 4 | [11 Peace](https://thefreeiching.com/library/11) |
| Line 5 | [43 Breakthrough](https://thefreeiching.com/library/43) |
| Line 6 | [14 Great Possession](https://thefreeiching.com/library/14) |

Previous: [33 Retreat](https://thefreeiching.com/library/33). Next: [35 Progress](https://thefreeiching.com/library/35). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 34: Great Power." https://thefreeiching.com/library/34 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/34). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.