Hexagram 46
Pushing UpwardShēng 升
Also translated as Ascending, Rising, Growing Upward.
Earth above Wind / Wood below
A tree grows up out of the earth, slowly and steadily, bending around obstacles. Sheng is gradual rise through effort and adaptability: progress made step by step, without force, in a time when the way upward is open. Seek out those who can help, don't worry, and keep growing. Small, consistent gains accumulate into something great.
Judgment
升：元亨，用見大人，勿恤，南征吉。
Rising: supreme success. Go to see the great person; have no anxiety. Marching south brings good fortune.
Image
地中生木，升；君子以順德，積小以高大。
Trees grow up from inside the earth: rising. Taking this as a model, the noble one follows virtue and piles up small things until they are tall and great.
- Gradual rise
- Steady effort
- Adaptability
- Seeking support from above
- Confidence in growth
- growth
- ascent
- progress
- effort
- adaptability
- patience
- Great things grow from many small steps.
- Bend around obstacles like a growing plant.
- Seek out people who can help you rise.
The six lines
Lines are numbered from the bottom. In a reading, only the lines that are changing apply to your cast.
Line 1Six at the beginning 初六
Line text
允升，大吉。
Rising, welcomed: great good fortune.
From a modest starting point, you are welcomed and supported by those above. Trust and confidence carry you upward.
- Welcome support
- Modest beginnings
- Doubting the support you receive
- Rising with the help of others
Line 2Nine in the second place 九二
Line text
孚乃利用禴，无咎。
With sincerity, even a simple spring offering is favorable. No blame.
Your resources may be modest and your manner plain. Sincerity is what counts, and it is recognized.
- Sincerity over display
- Modest means
- Trying to impress with display
- Recognition for genuine effort
Line 3Nine in the third place 九三
Line text
升虛邑。
Rising into an empty town.
Progress meets no resistance at all, as if entering an empty city. Make use of it, but stay aware that unusually easy advance may not last.
- Unobstructed progress
- Awareness amid ease
- Overconfidence when nothing resists
- Advancing quickly while the way is open
Line 4Six in the fourth place 六四
Line text
王用亨于岐山，吉无咎。
The king makes an offering on Mount Qi: good fortune, no blame.
You reach a place of honor and are entrusted with something meaningful. Gratitude and respect for what is greater than yourself keep you grounded.
- Honor and recognition
- Gratitude
- Forgetting where your rise came from
- A meaningful role or responsibility
Line 5Six in the fifth place 六五
Line text
貞吉，升階。
Steadfastness: good fortune. Rising up the steps.
You are near the top. Keep climbing one step at a time; don't try to skip ahead. Steady, careful progress brings you to your goal.
- Step-by-step ascent
- Patience near the goal
- Skipping steps when close to success
- Reaching the goal through method
Line 6Six at the top 上六
Line text
冥升，利于不息之貞。
Rising in the dark. Favorable: steadfastness that never rests.
Blind ambition, pushing upward without seeing where you are going, is risky. Only relentless commitment to what is right can keep this from becoming exhaustion.
- Blind ambition
- Need for clarity
- Climbing without knowing why
- Reorienting toward lasting values
Related hexagrams
Have a question on your mind?
Cast a readingChinese text: Zhouyi 周易 (received classical text). English rendering and notes: Site rendering. About our sources
Commentary
Wind, here also wood, below earth: a plant pushing up through the soil. Unlike Progress (35), where the sun rises easily, Sheng requires effort: growth that is gradual, organic and persistent. The reading may suggest a favorable time to advance in your career, studies or personal development, provided you do it step by step.
The judgment adds two encouragements: go to see the great person, and don't be anxious. Help is available, and worry only slows you down. The image summarizes the method: accumulate small things until they become great. In relation to a question, Sheng may emphasize patience, consistent effort, flexibility around obstacles and willingness to seek guidance.