Hexagram 42 of 64
益 yì
Increase
巽 (xùn, Wind) above · 震 (zhèn, Thunder) below
The Judgment 卦辞
The time favors increase — resources, energy and good will flow toward you. Use the surplus to cross the great river you could not cross before.
The Image 大象
Wind and thunder: increase. The wise person, seeing the good, moves toward it; having faults, corrects them.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 益 has its own classical text. If a line in your cast is changing, its text is the heart of your reading.
Line 1 · 初九
The time favors big undertakings. Supreme good fortune, no blame — build.
「利用为大作，元吉，无咎」
Line 2 · 六二
Gain beyond refusing — permanence sought and held. Long steadiness, good fortune.
「或益之十朋之龟，弗克违，永贞吉」
Line 3 · 六三
Using the increase for emergencies — no blame. Sincerity on the middle path, the jade tablet presented.
「益之用凶事，无咎。有孚中行，告公用圭」
Line 4 · 六四
Walk the middle, tell the prince, and he follows — even moving the capital becomes possible.
「中行告公从，利用为依迁国」
Line 5 · 九五
A heart that genuinely gives — do not even ask: supreme good fortune. Sincerity returns as blessing.
「有孚惠心，勿问元吉。有孚惠我德」
Line 6 · 上九
No one adds; some attack. A heart that cannot hold its aim — misfortune.
「莫益之，或击之，立心勿恒，凶」
If you drew this in a reading
A favorable pattern. Among the sixty-four patterns, this one belongs to the favorable family: its core movement supports what you would do with it. Favorable does not mean automatic — the hexagram still asks you to hold up your end with steadiness and good faith.
In yes/no questions this hexagram leans yes — the pattern supports proceeding.
The trigrams give the flavor: 巽 (Wind) above — gentle penetration — gradual influence, flexibility, patience — over 震 (Thunder) below — arousing shock — movement, initiative, sudden change. Where those two energies meet, 益 is born.
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