SIX LINES
A Sunday Afternoon
䷩

Hexagram 42

益

Yì

Increase

A Sunday Afternoon — Seurat, 1884

A sunlit island in the Seine, 1884. Georges Seurat constructs the massive canvas using thousands of tiny dots, each a distinct point of pure color that blends optically when viewed from distance. Well-dressed Parisians stroll, recline on grass, gather under parasols. A woman fishes at the water's edge. Children run. Dogs pose. The painting accumulates its image through patient addition—two years of systematic pointillist application, building abundance through disciplined increment.

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Seurat spent two years creating this large canvas using pointillism, a technique where tiny dots of color combine optically to form the image. The painting depicts Parisians at leisure on an island in the Seine, showing the growth of public leisure spaces in industrializing France. The accumulation of thousands of individual points to create abundance relates to hexagram 42's theme of increase. This is Yì (益), Increase, the hexagram that appears when growth comes from below to benefit what lies above. The character shows liquid overflowing a vessel, abundance spilling outward. The trigram structure reverses the previous hexagram: Wind (Xùn) above Thunder (Zhèn), gentle penetration riding on arousing movement. Seurat's technique mirrors this structure—the gentle, persistent application of individual points creates the thunderous whole, each dot contributing to collective luminosity. In Zhou Dynasty agricultural divination, this hexagram appeared at spring planting when earth's stored energy rises to benefit the growing crop. The counsel addresses not sudden windfall but systematic augmentation, increase through proper method. The Judgment text declares: "Increase. It furthers one to undertake something. It furthers one to cross the great water." The text promises that this is a time when effort multiplies effect, when investment yields return. Seurat invested unprecedented labor in this work—preliminary sketches, color studies, the meticulous dot-by-dot construction on a canvas nearly seven feet tall and ten feet wide. The painting depicts the new leisure of industrial Paris, where the working week's compression created the Sunday afternoon, where public parks and river islands became spaces of recreation. Increase manifests in the proliferation of figures, the accumulated light, the expansion of public space. Song Dynasty commentators noted this hexagram appears when small contributions from many sources create collective benefit, like thousands of dots creating unified luminosity. The Image Text observes: "Wind and thunder: the image of Increase. Thus the superior person, seeing what is good, imitates it; having faults, corrects them." Thunder provides the arousing force; wind distributes its benefit gradually and widely. Seurat's Neo-Impressionist technique distributes pure color across the canvas, allowing the eye to mix what the palette keeps separate. In the I-Ching sequence, Yì follows Sǔn (decrease): after reduction to essentials comes the time to build again, adding deliberately what serves growth. The Sunday afternoon expands through accumulation of small pleasures—each parasol, each conversation, each reflection on water a point in the larger field of leisure.

Upper Trigram

☴

巽 Xùn

Wind — Gentle

ElementWoodDirectionSoutheastFamilyEldest DaughterQualitiesgentle, penetrating, persistent

Lower Trigram

☳

震 Zhèn

Thunder — Arousing

ElementWoodDirectionNorthwestFamilyEldest SonQualitiesarousing, movement, shocking

Classical Texts

The Judgment

It furthers one to undertake something. It furthers one to cross the great water. Sacrifice from those above for the increase of those below fills the people with joy and gratitude. When people are devoted to their leaders, even difficult and dangerous enterprises succeed. This time resembles the marriage of heaven and earth. The time of Increase does not endure—it must be utilized while it lasts.

The Lines

Line 1

It furthers one to accomplish great deeds. Supreme good fortune. No blame. Great help comes from above. This increased strength must be used for something great that you otherwise wouldn't have had the energy or readiness for. Selflessness produces great good fortune.

Line 2

Someone indeed increases you. Ten pairs of tortoise shells cannot oppose it. Constant persistence brings good fortune. You bring about real increase by producing in yourself the conditions for it—receptivity to and love of the good. Where increase is in harmony with the highest laws, no accidents can prevent it. Don't let good fortune make you heedless.

Line 3

Enriched through unfortunate events. No blame, if you are sincere and walk in the middle. A time of blessing has such power that even ordinarily unfortunate events turn to your advantage. Acting in harmony with truth, you gain inner authority as if sanctioned by letter and seal.

Line 4

Walking in the middle and reporting to the prince, who follows. It furthers one to be used in the removal of the capital. Disinterested people must mediate between leaders and followers. Nothing should be held back selfishly—it must reach those for whom it's intended. Essential in times of great undertakings requiring everyone's inner assent.

Line 5

If in truth you have a kind heart, ask not. Supreme good fortune. Truly, kindness will be recognized as your virtue. True kindness doesn't count on merit or gratitude but acts from inner necessity. Such a heart finds itself rewarded in being recognized.

Line 6

He brings increase to no one. Indeed, someone even strikes him. His heart is not constantly steady. Misfortune. Those in high places should bring increase to those below. Neglecting this duty loses you the support of others. You find yourself alone, inviting attack. Brusqueness in movements, agitation in words—if no one is with you, those who would harm you draw near.

Yilin: Forest of Changes

From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 42 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

Yilin artwork for Hexagram 42
文王四乳，仁愛篤厚。子畜十男，无有折夭。

King Wen with his four breasts, benevolent love deep and generous. He reared ten sons; not one met an early death.

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Wind and thunder bestow increase, and the transformation returns to itself — Increase upon Increase, the hexagram doubled. King Wen possessed four nipples, a sign of profound benevolence and sagely compassion. He raised ten sons, and not one suffered an early death. According to the Huainanzi, 'King Wen had four nipples; this is called great benevolence — all under heaven turn to him, and the hundred clans draw near.' The four nipples were understood as a bodily mark of superabundant virtue, an outward sign that this ruler could nourish more than ordinary men. From Increase to Increase, the verse celebrates the pure archetype of the hexagram: generosity so complete that it reproduces itself across generations without diminishment. The sage's body itself overflows with the capacity to sustain.

中文注释

風雷益，變為益——增益之卦疊加自身。文王四乳，仁愛篤厚——周文王天生四乳，《淮南子》云：「文王四乳，是謂大仁，天下所歸，百姓所親。」四乳為聖德外顯之異相，示其滋養之能超乎常人。子畜十男，無有折夭——養育十子皆無夭折。從益至益，增益之純粹原型：慷慨如此充沛，代代自行繁衍而不減損。聖人之身本身即溢滿養育之力。

Transformations

Hexagram 42 transforming into each of the 64 hexagrams, with Yilin verses.

䷀1䷁2䷂3䷃4䷄5䷅6䷆7䷇8䷈9䷉10䷊11䷋12䷌13䷍14䷎15䷏16䷐17䷑18䷒19䷓20䷔21䷕22䷖23䷗24䷘25䷙26䷚27䷛28䷜29䷝30䷞31䷟32䷠33䷡34䷢35䷣36䷤37䷥38䷦39䷧40䷨41䷩42䷪43䷫44䷬45䷭46䷮47䷯48䷰49䷱50䷲51䷳52䷴53䷵54䷶55䷷56䷸57䷹58䷺59䷻60䷼61䷽62䷾63䷿64

Related Hexagrams

Same upper trigram: Wind (巽)

䷈小畜Small Taming䷓觀Contemplation䷤家人The Family䷴漸Development䷸巽The Gentle Wind䷺渙Dispersion䷼中孚Inner Truth

Same lower trigram: Thunder (震)

䷂屯Difficulty at the Beginning䷐隨Following䷔噬嗑Biting Through䷗復Return䷘无妄Innocence䷚頤Nourishment䷲震The Arousing Thunder䷽小過Small Exceeding
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