SIX LINES
Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains
䷭

Hexagram 46

升

Shēng

Pushing Upward

Among the Sierra Nevada Mountains — Albert Bierstadt, 1868

The Sierra Nevada, 1868. Albert Bierstadt paints the view from valley floor to mountain summit—a lake in the foreground reflects surrounding peaks, waterfalls cascade down cliff faces, the eye travels upward through successive ridges to the highest snow-covered crests. The massive canvas leads the viewer's gaze through vertical stages, each elevation revealing the next. Bierstadt made the journey west during the era of Manifest Destiny, documenting the ascent from lowland to alpine heights.

Read full treatise ↓

Bierstadt painted this after traveling through the Sierra Nevada in the 1860s during the period of western expansion. The composition leads the eye from the foreground lake upward through waterfalls to towering mountain peaks. This vertical movement from low to high ground connects to hexagram 46's theme of pushing upward. This is Shēng (升), Pushing Upward, the hexagram of gradual but steady elevation. The character shows a vessel used for measuring grain—advancement through accumulated small increments rather than sudden leaps. The trigram structure places Earth (Kūn) above Wind (Xùn): receptive ground receiving the gentle, persistent penetration of wind from below, the way seeds push through soil toward light. Bierstadt's composition mirrors this vertical structure—the painting climbs from shadowed foreground through illuminated middle ground to brilliant peaks, each section building on the one below. The Judgment text states: "Pushing Upward has supreme success. One must see the great man. Fear not. Departure toward the south brings good fortune." The text promises success through upward movement but emphasizes the need for guidance (seeing the great man) and proper direction. Bierstadt's painting includes tiny human figures and animals at the lake's edge, dwarfed by the surrounding peaks—scale establishing the magnitude of the ascent before them. In Zhou Dynasty practice, this hexagram appeared when officials received promotions through merit, when students advanced through examinations, when building projects proceeded stage by stage toward completion. The counsel addresses sustainable climb rather than reckless scrambling, advancement that builds on solid foundation. The Image Text observes: "Within the earth, wood grows: the image of Pushing Upward. Thus the superior person of devoted character heaps up small things in order to achieve something high and great." The image of a tree growing from seed through soil captures the hexagram's essential principle—organic upward development, growth that accumulates incrementally. Bierstadt's waterfalls demonstrate this same principle in reverse and then forward—water descends from heights, collects in the lake, then evaporates to form clouds that rise again to the peaks. In the I-Ching sequence, Shēng follows Cuì (gathering together): after people collect comes the potential for collective elevation, the gathered energy directed upward. The painting's vertical composition creates visual ascent, the eye pushed upward from lake to waterfall to ridge to summit, each stage of the climb visible in the towering landscape.

Upper Trigram

☷

坤 Kūn

Earth — Receptive

ElementEarthDirectionNorthFamilyMotherQualitiesreceptive, yielding, nurturing

Lower Trigram

☴

巽 Xùn

Wind — Gentle

ElementWoodDirectionSoutheastFamilyEldest DaughterQualitiesgentle, penetrating, persistent

Classical Texts

The Judgment

Supreme success. One must see the great man. Fear not. Departure toward the south brings good fortune. Pushing upward encounters no obstruction and is accompanied by great success. This is made possible not by violence but by modesty and adaptability. Borne along by favorable time, you advance. Go to see authoritative people without fear—success is assured. But you must set to work; activity brings good fortune.

The Lines

Line 1

Pushing upward that meets with confidence brings great good fortune. Just as wood draws strength from its root in the lowest place, power to rise comes from this low and obscure station. Spiritual affinity with those above creates the confidence needed to accomplish something.

Line 2

If sincere, it furthers one to bring even a small offering. No blame. A strong person who doesn't fit the environment—too brusque, pays too little attention to form. But upright in character, you meet with response. The lack of outward form does no harm when uprightness is genuine.

Line 3

Pushing upward into an empty city. Obstructions fall away. Things proceed with remarkable ease. Profit from this success—but no promise of good fortune is added. How long can unobstructed success last? Don't yield to such misgivings; they only inhibit power. Profit from the propitious time.

Line 4

The king offers him Mount Ch'i. Good fortune. No blame. Pushing upward attains its goal. Fame acquired in the sight of gods and men. Received into the circle of those who foster the spiritual life of the nation. Significance that endures beyond time.

Line 5

Persistence brings good fortune. Pushing upward by steps. Advancing further, don't become intoxicated by success. Remain sober; don't skip stages. Go slowly, step by step, as though hesitant. Only such calm, steady progress, overleaping nothing, leads to the goal.

Line 6

Pushing upward in darkness. It furthers one to be unremittingly persistent. Pushing upward blindly deludes you. Knowing only advance, not retreat, means exhaustion. Be constantly mindful of conscientiousness and consistency. Only thus do you become free of blind impulse.

Yilin: Forest of Changes

From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 46 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.

Yilin artwork for Hexagram 46
禹鑿龍門，通利水泉。東注滄海，民得安全。

Yu carved the Dragon Gate, opening a passage for the flowing springs. Eastward they pour into the vast sea; the people find safety and peace.

Read full commentary ↓

Wood grows within the earth, and Yu the Great carves open the Dragon Gate, freeing the waters of springs and rivers to flow as nature intended. The floods rush eastward into the vast sea, and the people find safety and security at last. When source and target hexagram are identical, the verse distills the hexagram's essential nature. Pushing Upward doubled is ascent perfected: Yu's legendary engineering did not fight the water but channeled its natural downward course, removing obstacles so that what must flow could flow freely. The people are saved not by force but by alignment with nature's grain. To push upward is to clear the path for organic movement — the wood grows because the earth permits it.

中文注释

地中生木，升之象。禹鑿龍門，通利水泉——大禹鑿開龍門峽谷，疏通泉脈河源，使水流暢行無阻。東注滄海，民得安全——洪水順勢東入大海，百姓終得安居樂業。升之升——源卦與變卦同為升，詩提煉升卦之純粹本質。大禹治水之偉業在於順勢疏導而非以力抗拒——去其障礙，使當流者得流，使當升者得升。民之得救非因蠻力而因順應天道自然。積小以高大之道正在於此：清除障礙，使有機之生長暢行無阻，木之升因地之容而成。

Transformations

Hexagram 46 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: Earth (坤)

䷁坤The Receptive䷆師The Army䷊泰Peace䷎謙Modesty䷒臨Approach䷖剝Splitting Apart䷗復Return䷣明夷Darkening of the Light

Same lower trigram: Wind (巽)

䷑蠱Work on the Decayed䷛大過Great Exceeding䷟恆Duration䷫姤Coming to Meet䷯井The Well䷱鼎The Cauldron䷸巽The Gentle Wind
← Hexagram 45AllHexagram 47 →