Hexagram 42, line 6
上九Line 6 of Augmenting
Nine at the top · 益 yì
爻辭 The line text
莫益之，或擊之，立心勿恆，凶。In the sixth line, undivided, we see one to whose increase none will contribute, while many will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart. There will be evil.
莫益之，偏辭也。或擊之，自外來也。'To his increase none will contribute:'—this expresses but half the result. 'Many will seek to assail him:'—they will come from beyond (his immediate circle) to do so.
In plain words
At the top the hexagram turns: 'no one increases him; someone strikes him; he sets his heart without constancy — misfortune' (莫益之，或擊之，立心勿恆，凶). The one who has reached the end of increase has gone on seeking increase for itself: yang in a yin place at the extreme of Xun, high and without a correct correlate. The small Image reads 'no one increases him' as only half the story (偏辭也) and adds that the blows come from outside (自外來也), the same phrase used of the gifts at line two — what came unsought as help now comes unsought as attack. The fault named is a heart without a fixed rule.
If this line is changing
Stop reaching for more; the resentment gathering around you is the sign that increase is over, and the only remedy is to settle your heart on one steady principle.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 巽 Xun (the Gentle) (wind).
- It corresponds (應) with line 3: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
益 Augmenting becomes ䷂ 3 屯 Sprouting
Thunder under water: a sprout pushing through hard ground. Beginnings are chaotic and effortful; the growth is real, but it needs order and helpers.
What it becomes3 · 屯 SproutingzhūnThe six lines of 益 Augmenting
- 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
Read 益 Augmenting for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the top of hexagram 42, Augmenting, mean?
- At the top the hexagram turns: 'no one increases him; someone strikes him; he sets his heart without constancy — misfortune' (莫益之，或擊之，立心勿恆，凶). The one who has reached the end of increase has gone on seeking increase for itself: yang in a yin place at the extreme of Xun, high and without a correct correlate. The small Image reads 'no one increases him' as only half the story (偏辭也) and adds that the blows come from outside (自外來也), the same phrase used of the gifts at line two — what came unsought as help now comes unsought as attack. The fault named is a heart without a fixed rule.
- What does hexagram 42 become when line 6 changes?
- Augmenting becomes hexagram 3, 屯 Sprouting: Thunder under water: a sprout pushing through hard ground. Beginnings are chaotic and effortful; the growth is real, but it needs order and helpers.
- Is line 6 of Augmenting in its correct place?
- It is not in its correct place (不當位): a yang line in an even position or a yin line in an odd one, which the tradition reads as a line under some strain — often the reason a text sounds a warning.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).