Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward → Hexagram 53: Development

Pushing Upward
Earth / Wind
Development
Wind / Mountain
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 5, 6).

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 5

六五 貞吉升階。

zhēnpersistence
promising
shēngthe advance
jiēby in steps

Six in the fifth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. One pushes upward by steps.

Line 6

上六 冥升。利于不息之貞。

míngthe blind
shēngadvance
worthwhile
to
not being
laxity
zhīin
zhēnpersistence

Six at the top means: Pushing upward in darkness. It furthers one To be unremittingly persevering.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramEarth WindThe Receptive → The Gentle
Lower TrigramWind MountainThe Gentle → Keeping Still

Yilin Verse

南行逐羊,予利喜亡。陰孽為病,復返其邦。

Journeying south to chase the sheep; profit and joy are lost. Yin's mischief becomes an illness; one returns again to one's own land.

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

Commentary

Wood grows within the earth, and someone travels south chasing profit like a shepherd chasing sheep, but joy and gain are both lost along the way. Dark forces breed illness in the body, and the traveler is forced to return to his own country empty-handed and afflicted. The southward pursuit of quick wealth ends in disappointment and sickness — a venture that promised gain delivers only physical affliction, forcing retreat to familiar ground. Wind over mountain, the image of Development, shows a tree growing gradually on the mountaintop over many seasons. From Pushing Upward to Development, the ascending impulse encounters a demand for patience it refuses to meet. The hasty chase short-circuits the gradual process that true growth requires.

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