升
“Ascending” — King Wen #46
Ascending like a growing tree. Advance steadily toward the capable and the wise.
The Judgment 卦辞
元亨，用見大人，勿恤。南征吉。
Sheng indicates that (under its conditions) there will be great progress and success. Seeking by (the qualities implied in it) to meet with the great man, its subject need have no anxiety. Advance to the south will be fortunate.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
允升，大吉。
The first SIX, divided, shows its subject advancing upwards with the welcome (of those above him). There will be great good fortune.
孚乃利用禴，無咎。
The second NINE, undivided, shows its subject with that sincerity which will make even the (small) offerings of the vernal sacrifice acceptable. There will be no error.
升虛邑。
The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject ascending upwards (as into) an empty city.
王用亨于岐山，吉無咎。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject employed by the king to present his offerings on mount Kh?. There will be good fortune; there will be no mistake.
貞吉，升階。
The fifth six, divided, shows its subject firmly correct, and therefore enjoying good fortune. He ascends the stairs (with all due ceremony).
冥升，利于不息之貞。
The sixth six, divided, shows its subject advancing upwards blindly. Advantage will be found in a ceaseless maintenance of firm correctness.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 46 places wind (巽) beneath earth (坤) —gentle influence working inward below, receptive ground holding all things above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Ascending”:ascending like a growing tree. Advance steadily toward the capable and the wise Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 46
What does 升 (shēng) mean?
Hexagram 46 of the I Ching is named 升 (shēng), usually rendered "Ascending" in English editions. Its figure pairs wind (巽) below with earth (坤) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 46?
坤 (Earth) sits above and 巽 (Wind) sits below — the classical picture is gentle influence working inward beneath receptive ground holding all things.
How is hexagram 46 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 46 gives hexagram 25 — 无妄 (Without Embroiling). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 45 — 萃 (Clustering). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 54 — 歸妹 (Converting the Maiden).
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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.