晉
“Prospering” — King Wen #35
Advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing.
The Judgment 卦辞
康侯用錫馬蕃庶，晝日三接。
In Jin we see a prince who secures the tranquillity (of the people) presented on that account with numerous horses (by the king), and three times in a day received at interviews.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
晉如摧如，貞吉。罔孚，裕無咎。
The first SIX, divided, shows one wishing to advance, and (at the same time) kept back. Let him be firm and correct, and there will be good fortune. If trust be not reposed in him, let him maintain a large and generous mind, and there will be no error.
晉如愁如，貞吉，受茲介福，于其王母。
The second SIX, divided, shows its subject with the appearance of advancing, and yet of being sorrowful. If he be firm and correct, there will be good fortune. He will receive this great blessing from his grandmother.
眾允，悔亡。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject trusted by all (around him). All occasion for repentance will disappear.
晉如鼫鼠，貞厲。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject with the appearance of advancing, but like a marmot. However firm and correct he may be, the position is one of peril.
悔亡，失得勿恤，往吉，無不利。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows how all occasion for repentance disappears (from its subject). (But) let him not concern himself about whether he shall fail or succeed. To advance will be fortunate, and in every way advantageous.
晉其角，維用伐邑，厲吉無咎。貞吝。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows one advancing his horns. But he only uses them to punish the (rebellious people of his own) city. The position is perilous, but there will be good fortune. (Yet) however firm and correct he may be, there will be occasion for regret.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 35 places earth (坤) beneath fire (离) —receptive ground holding all things below, light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Prospering”:advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 35
What does 晉 (jìn) mean?
Hexagram 35 of the I Ching is named 晉 (jìn), usually rendered "Prospering" in English editions. Its figure pairs earth (坤) below with fire (离) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 35?
离 (Fire) sits above and 坤 (Earth) sits below — the classical picture is receptive ground holding all things beneath light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates.
How is hexagram 35 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 35 gives hexagram 5 — 需 (Attending). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 36 — 明夷 (Darkening of the Light). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 39 — 蹇 (Limping).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.