Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm

Pushing Upward
Earth / Wind
Enthusiasm
Thunder / Earth
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).

Line 2

九二 孚乃利用禴。无咎。

sincerity
nǎiis
the real worth
yòngin
yuèthe modest

Nine in the second place means: If one is sincere, It furthers one to bring even a small offering. No blame.

Line 3

九三 升虛邑。

shēngadvancing on
empty
town

Nine in the third place means: One pushes upward into an empty city.

Line 4

六四 王用亨于岐山。吉。无咎。

wángthe sovereign
yòngwill make
hēngoffering(s)
to
Split
shānMountain
promising
not(hing) (is)
jiùwrong

Six in the fourth place means: The king offers him Mount Ch'i. Good fortune. No blame.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth ThunderThe Receptive → The Arousing
Lower TrigramWind EarthThe Gentle → The Receptive

Yilin Verse

上无飛鳥,下无走獸。擾亂未清,民勞於事。

Above, no birds in flight; below, no beasts that run. Turmoil not yet settled, the people toil in their labors.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Wood grows within the earth, but above there are no flying birds and below no running beasts — the land has been stripped of all living creatures. Disorder remains uncleared and the people are exhausted by unending labor and conscription. A landscape empty of wing and hoof signals a world drained by misgovernance, where even animals have fled the oppressive conditions. Thunder emerging from the earth, the image of Enthusiasm, should inspire music and collective celebration. From Pushing Upward to Enthusiasm, the steady ascent should culminate in communal joy and ritual harmony. Instead, the people's vitality has been consumed by ceaseless demands, leaving a barren realm where the conditions for celebration simply do not exist.

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