Hexagram 28, Dà Guò (Great Exceeding): Line 6 (top)
大过卦上六 · 泽风大过 · 中文版
上六:过涉灭顶,凶,无咎。
The line (Legge)
The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject with extraordinary (boldness) wading through a stream, till the water hides the crown of his head. There will be evil, but no ground for blame.
Small Image commentary
'Evil follows wading with (extraordinary) boldness (through the stream):' - but (the act) affords no ground for blame.
象曰:过涉之凶,不可咎也。
In plain words
Wading too deep, the water closes over one's head: misfortune, but no fault. The top line is at the height of great excess; to get something done it takes on too much danger and is sacrificed. Tradition sees this as giving one's life for what is right, so although the outcome is bad, it cannot be called wrong. The Small Image says it cannot be blamed.
Applying it to your situation
If you have paid a high price for something worthwhile, this line suggests a bad outcome does not mean the choice was wrong. Was this a price you were willing to pay?
Position
A broken (yin) line in the top place, which is a yin (even) place, so it is in its proper place. Its partner is line 3; one is yin and the other yang, so they respond to each other.
If this line moves
With this line moving alone, Dà Guò changes into Hexagram 44 Gòu (Coming to Meet). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·大过之姤.
The hexagram
Hexagram 28 Dà Guò (Great Exceeding). The Judgment: Da Guo suggests to us a beam that is weak. There will be advantage in moving (under its conditions) in any direction whatever; there will be success.
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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction. Plain-English readings and position notes by this site.