Hexagram 42 for love
Hexagram 42 Augmenting in love and relationships
Yi is wind over thunder, each strengthening the other: when thunder rolls the wind rises, when wind blows the thunder carries. The Tuan reads it as the upper giving to the lower and 'the people's joy without limit' (民說無疆). In a relationship this is the picture of generosity that flows downward and comes back up — one partner gives freely, the other answers with sincere gratitude, and both grow. The Great Image describes the inner work: 'seeing good, move toward it; having faults, correct them' (見善則遷，有過則改), which is simply what two people do when they are good for each other.
For a question about love, the hexagram is warmly favourable so long as the giving stays sincere. Line five is the heart of it: kindness that does not need to ask whether it is appreciated. Line two shows the one who receives and must hold steady. The top line is the warning: a partner who keeps asking for more, with no settled heart, finds that gifts turn into blows. A changing line below concerns what you bring; above, how it is returned.
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
- Is hexagram 42, Augmenting, a good sign for love?
- Yi is wind over thunder, each strengthening the other: when thunder rolls the wind rises, when wind blows the thunder carries. The Tuan reads it as the upper giving to the lower and 'the people's joy without limit' (民說無疆). In a relationship this is the picture of generosity that flows downward and comes back up — one partner gives freely, the other answers with sincere gratitude, and both grow. The Great Image describes the inner work: 'seeing good, move toward it; having faults, correct them' (見善則遷，有過則改), which is simply what two people do when they are good for each other.
- 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).