Hexagram 35 for work
Hexagram 35 Advancing for work and career
At work Jin is the hexagram of advancement in the light: the sun over the earth, a capable person recognised by a bright superior and received openly. The Judgment's prince is rewarded 'with many horses' for securing peace, which is to say that the advancement follows from service, not from campaigning for it. The Great Image makes the method explicit — make your own virtue visible — and the trigrams give the structure: the lower trigram is the obedient staff rising together, the upper is the clear-sighted leadership that receives them.
The lines mark the stages of a career or a project's rise. One is turned back at first and must be patient; two does right without support and is rewarded later for its correctness; three advances with the whole team behind it. Four is the person who has climbed into a role beyond their footing and holds it by anxiety. Five is the leader who promotes without keeping accounts. Six is drive with nowhere left to go but one's own department. A changing line below says keep advancing correctly; above, it asks whether the position you have reached is really yours.
The hexagram in brief
The sun rising over the earth: progress. The capable prince is rewarded with horses and received three times in a day — advancement in the light.
Advance openly and brighten your own virtue; progress is steady when it is visible and deserved.
The judgment
晉：康侯用錫馬蕃庶，晝日三接。In Žin 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.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 晉 Advancing has its own page:
- 初六Six at the beginningpressed back · not yet trusted · generosity
- 六二Six in the second placeadvancing in sorrow · the grandmother's blessing · central and correct
- 六三Six in the third placetrusted by all · moving upward together · regret vanishes
- 九四Nine in the fourth placethe marmot · greedy advance · out of place
- 六五Six in the fifth placegain and loss aside · the bright ruler · going forward
- 上九Nine at the topadvancing with horns · one's own city · not yet glorious
The same hexagram for
Questions
- What does hexagram 35, Advancing, mean for a career question?
- At work Jin is the hexagram of advancement in the light: the sun over the earth, a capable person recognised by a bright superior and received openly. The Judgment's prince is rewarded 'with many horses' for securing peace, which is to say that the advancement follows from service, not from campaigning for it. The Great Image makes the method explicit — make your own virtue visible — and the trigrams give the structure: the lower trigram is the obedient staff rising together, the upper is the clear-sighted leadership that receives them.
- What does Hexagram 35, 晉 Advancing, mean?
- The sun rising over the earth: progress. The capable prince is rewarded with horses and received three times in a day — advancement in the light.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).