Hexagram 42: Increase (I Ching)

Hexagram 42: Increase (I Ching)

Hexagram 42, Yì (益) — translated as Increase or The Augmenting — is one of the most psychologically and spiritually practical hexagrams in the I Ching. It addresses the moment when life itself seems to be pouring energy into your cup, and the question becomes: what will you do with what is being given?

The Structure: Wind Above, Thunder Below

Hexagram 42 is built from Xun (Wind/Wood) above Zhen (Thunder/Wood) below. Two wood trigrams stacked on top of one another — a forest image where branches grow upward toward the sky while roots simultaneously drive down into the earth. The same element appears twice, which is itself a sign of abundance. Wood, in the Five Phase cycle, is also the resource that feeds Fire — meaning what is accumulated here is fuel for a future transformation.

This hexagram is the deliberate inverse of Hexagram 41, Decrease. In 41, the top trimation is cut away and given to the bottom (a superior sacrifices to lift the inferior). In 42, the same sacrifice happens — but the natural direction is more obviously fortunate. The superior descends to bless the inferior, and the inferior rises to meet the superior. Energy flows both ways at once. The image is mutual flourishing, not one-sided extraction.

The Judgment: "It Furthers One to Undertake Great Things"

The judgment text is unusually direct: Increase. It furthers one to undertake great things. It furthers crossing the great water. The great water is the moment of radical transition — leaving the known, committing to something irreversible. The hexagram is saying: this is the time to act boldly, because the conditions are aligned in your favor.

But the gift of Hexagram 42 is not a license to grab. It is a license to give. The classical commentary is blunt: "The superior person, when he sees what is good, imitates it; when he has faults, he rids himself of them." Increase operates through self-improvement, not self-enrichment. The growth being offered is the growth of character, capability, and influence — and it comes most reliably to those who use their surplus to lift others.

The Six Lines: A Map of How Increase Moves

Line 1 — Yang at the base: "It furthers one to accomplish great deeds. Supreme good fortune. No blame." Energy is rising from the very bottom. When increase is at its earliest stage, act decisively. Hesitation now wastes the momentum.

Line 2 — Yin: "Someone does indeed increase him. Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Constancy brings good fortune." This is the moment of confirmation. Help arrives — from a mentor, an ally, a stroke of luck — and the oracle insists: stay the course, do not overthink the gift.

Line 3 — Yang, in the center of the lower trigram: "One is enriched through unfortunate events. No blame, if one is sincere." A reminder that increase sometimes arrives disguised as a loss. A job loss that opens a better one. A relationship ending that clears the way. The character of the person receiving the increase matters as much as the increase itself.

Line 4 — Yin, at the base of the upper trigram: "If you walk in the middle and report to the ruler, he will follow." Now the person in the lower position has become the one with something valuable to offer. Speak honestly upward. The hierarchy is not offended by truth from someone who has earned it.

Line 5 — Yang, the ruler's place: "If in truth you have a kind heart, ask not. Supreme good fortune. Truly kindness will be recognized as your virtue." The ruler of this hexagram does not need to request loyalty. Their visible generosity is the magnet. The most powerful form of increase is the kind that costs you something.

Line 6 — Yin at the top: "He does not increase his ruler. Some pursue him to kill him. Do not set out on the course." The shadow of 42. At the very top, a person may consume all the increase and share none of it. Greed at the summit is a death sentence. The hexagram's warning is severe: hoarding what was meant to flow downward triggers collapse.

The Gift and the Shadow

The gift of Hexagram 42 is access to a season of real expansion — in wealth, in skill, in love, in influence. The energy of the situation is with you.

The shadow is the temptation to take personally what is meant to circulate. Increase that is held becomes Decrease. Increase that is passed through you multiplies.

Practical Guidance

When Hexagram 42 appears in a reading, the practical work is usually threefold:

1. Recognize the surplus. Name what is genuinely abundant in your life right now — money, time, attention, talent, support.

2. Move it downward. Invest in someone younger, less established, more vulnerable. Mentor. Fund. Create opportunity.

3. Initiate something bold. The judgment explicitly blesses great undertakings. Stop waiting for permission. The conditions are already favorable — they are why this hexagram arrived.

The deepest teaching of Yì is that increase is not a number on a ledger. It is a circulation. The moment you stop being a channel and start being a reservoir, the hexagram will turn.