Hexagram 46, line 6
上六Line 6 of Ascending
Six at the top · 升 shēng
爻辭 The line text
冥升，利于不息之貞。The sixth line, divided, shows its subject advancing upwards blindly. Advantage will be found in a ceaseless maintenance of firm correctness.
冥升在上，消不富也。'He blindly advances upwards,' and is in the highest place:—but there is decay in store for him, and he will not (preserve) his riches.
In plain words
At the top: 'ascending in darkness — favourable only for unceasing steadiness' (冥升，利於不息之貞). Yin at the extreme of Kun, this line keeps climbing when there is nothing left to climb; it has risen past the ruler and past the point of sense, and the darkness is its own blindness to the end. The small Image: climbing blindly at the top is a waning, not an enrichment (消不富也). The text does not say misfortune. Instead it redirects the drive: the only ascent still worth making is inward, an unceasing steadiness of character, because any further outward rise is loss disguised as gain.
If this line is changing
You have gone past the top and are still pushing; stop measuring progress by position and turn the same persistence toward holding your own ground steadily.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the upper trigram 坤 Kun (the Receptive) (earth).
- 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
升 Ascending becomes ䷑ 18 蠱 Corruption
Wind below the mountain: stagnation that has bred corruption, like a bowl of worms. Great success for the one who steps in to repair what earlier generations spoiled.
What it becomes18 · 蠱 CorruptiongǔThe six lines of 升 Ascending
- 初六Six at the beginningwelcomed ascent · trusted rise · same mind above
- 九二Nine in the second placesincerity · the small offering · joy
- 九三Nine in the third placethe empty city · unopposed · no hesitation
- 六四Six in the fourth placeoffering on Mount Qi · service that fits · the king's trust
- 六五Six in the fifth placeascending the steps · steadiness · great success
- 上六Six at the topclimbing in the dark · ceaseless steadiness · wealth that wanes
Read 升 Ascending for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six at the top of hexagram 46, Ascending, mean?
- At the top: 'ascending in darkness — favourable only for unceasing steadiness' (冥升，利於不息之貞). Yin at the extreme of Kun, this line keeps climbing when there is nothing left to climb; it has risen past the ruler and past the point of sense, and the darkness is its own blindness to the end. The small Image: climbing blindly at the top is a waning, not an enrichment (消不富也). The text does not say misfortune. Instead it redirects the drive: the only ascent still worth making is inward, an unceasing steadiness of character, because any further outward rise is loss disguised as gain.
- What does hexagram 46 become when line 6 changes?
- Ascending becomes hexagram 18, 蠱 Corruption: Wind below the mountain: stagnation that has bred corruption, like a bowl of worms. Great success for the one who steps in to repair what earlier generations spoiled.
- Is line 6 of Ascending in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).