Hexagram 42 as yes or no
Hexagram 42 Augmenting as a yes-or-no answer
As an answer to a yes-or-no question Yi is one of the clearest yeses in the book: 'favourable to go somewhere, favourable to cross the great river' — the time supports movement and even a risk that would normally be too large. The Tuan ties this to the central and correct positions of lines two and five, giver and receiver in harmony, and to the image of wood, the boat that carries you across. The one condition is the Great Image's: move toward the good and correct what is wrong as you go.
A changing line in the lower trigram, Zhen, says act — but line one demands that you finish well, line two says hold what you receive steadily, and line three says the yes may come wrapped in a hardship you must handle sincerely. A changing line in the upper trigram, Xun, shifts the question to motive: line four says yes if you gain nothing personally, line five says yes without further asking, and the top line is the single no — if the question is about getting still more for yourself, stop.
The hexagram in brief
Wind and thunder strengthening each other: increase. Favourable to undertake something and to cross the great river; those above give to those below, and everyone rejoices.
Use the favourable wind to move, improve and give; see good and move toward it, see faults and correct them.
The judgment
益：利有攸往，利涉大川。Yî indicates that (in the state which it denotes) there will be advantage in every movement which shall be undertaken, that it will be advantageous (even) to cross the great stream.
Which line changed?
A changing line sharpens the answer. Each line of 益 Augmenting has its own page:
- 初九Nine at the beginninggreat undertaking · a low position · only great success clears it
- 六二Six in the second placegifts from outside · lasting steadiness · offering to heaven
- 六三Six in the third placeincrease through hardship · sincere middle course · report with the jade
- 六四Six in the fourth placethe middle course · advice followed · moving the capital
- 九五Nine in the fifth placesincere kindness · no need to ask · goodness acknowledged
- 上九Nine at the topno one adds · someone strikes · an unsteady heart
The same hexagram for
Questions
- Does hexagram 42, Augmenting, mean yes or no?
- As an answer to a yes-or-no question Yi is one of the clearest yeses in the book: 'favourable to go somewhere, favourable to cross the great river' — the time supports movement and even a risk that would normally be too large. The Tuan ties this to the central and correct positions of lines two and five, giver and receiver in harmony, and to the image of wood, the boat that carries you across. The one condition is the Great Image's: move toward the good and correct what is wrong as you go.
- What does Hexagram 42, 益 Augmenting, mean?
- Wind and thunder strengthening each other: increase. Favourable to undertake something and to cross the great river; those above give to those below, and everyone rejoices.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).