I Ching · King Wen 35
Hexagram 35: Progress
䷢ 晉 Jìn · also called Advance, Prospering, Flourishing · The Clinging above The Receptive
The sun rising over the earth: rapid, easy progress, and a leader who is rewarded and received three times a day.
advancerecognitionclaritymomentumvirtue
The meaning of Hexagram 35
Earth below, fire above: the sun climbing above the land, light spreading. Progress is the hexagram of advance that meets no serious resistance, of the capable person recognised by an enlightened superior. The tradition's judgement is of a powerful prince honoured with horses in large numbers and received in audience three times in a single day. The reading says the way is open and the advance is favoured, and the image adds the condition: the wise person brightens their own virtue. Progress of this kind is sustained by clarity of character, not by the momentum alone.
The image. The sun rises over the earth; the wise person brightens their own bright virtue.
- Advice
- Advance while the road is open, and keep your conduct as clear as the light.
- Warning
- Progress that outruns one's character, or that grasps for gain, loses the recognition that made it.
over
Structure: ☷ The Receptive (Earth) below, ☲ The Clinging (Fire) above. Nuclear hexagram 39, Obstruction. Every line reversed: 5, Waiting.
Hexagram 35 for love and relationships
Things are moving forward easily and being met with warmth. Enjoy the advance and keep your conduct clear. The lines warn against pressing on when the advance is not being received, and against advancing in the wrong spirit.
Hexagram 35 for career
Rapid, recognised progress: the right superior, the open road, the rewards arriving. Advance confidently and keep your character bright; the reading ties the durability of the progress to the clarity of the person making it.
Hexagram 35 for money
Gains come easily and are recognised. Advance, but do not chase; the reading supports progress that follows from real merit and warns against grasping for more than is being offered.
Hexagram 35 for decisions
Take the forward option. The conditions favour advance and the door is open. Make the decision in the spirit of someone whose conduct can bear being seen in full daylight.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Progressing with the horns. Use only for punishing one's own city. Awareness of danger brings good fortune. Persistence brings humiliation.
At the top, the advance turns aggressive, and the line permits force only inward: for correcting one's own people, one's own faults. Used outward, it brings humiliation. The reach is at its limit.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm. Read line 6 →
Remorse disappears. Do not take gain and loss to heart. Undertakings bring good fortune.
The one in the enlightened position, advancing without anxiety about the outcome. Not indifferent to results, but not clutching at them. The line frees the person to act, and promises fortune to the undertaking.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 12, Standstill. Read line 5 →
Progress like a hamster. Persistence brings danger.
Advancing by stealth and accumulation, hoarding in the dark, in a position where such behaviour is exposed. The line warns that this kind of progress cannot survive daylight; persisting in it is dangerous.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart. Read line 4 →
All are in agreement. Remorse disappears.
Advance carried by the support of everyone around you. Whatever doubt or regret existed dissolves because the movement is shared. The line is the strength of a common purpose.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 56, The Wanderer. Read line 3 →
Progressing, but in sorrow. Persistence brings good fortune. Great happiness is received from one's ancestress.
Advance blocked by a barrier between you and the person who could help. Sorrow is the honest response, and persistence is the right one; help comes, from an unexpected and gentle source.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 64, Before Completion. Read line 2 →
Progressing but turned back. Persistence brings good fortune. Meeting no confidence, remain calm; no mistake.
The first attempt to advance is rebuffed and you are not yet trusted. The line asks for calm: keep to what is right, do not force the matter, and the confidence comes. No error has been made.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 21, Biting Through. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 35 mean?
- The sun rising over the earth: rapid, easy progress, and a leader who is rewarded and received three times a day. Earth below, fire above: the sun climbing above the land, light spreading. Progress is the hexagram of advance that meets no serious resistance, of the capable person recognised by an enlightened superior. The tradition's judgement is of a powerful prince honoured with horses in large numbers and received in audience three times in a single day. The reading says the way is open and the advance is favoured, and the image adds the condition: the wise person brightens their own virtue. Progress of this kind is sustained by clarity of character, not by the momentum alone.
- What does Hexagram 35 mean for love?
- Things are moving forward easily and being met with warmth. Enjoy the advance and keep your conduct clear. The lines warn against pressing on when the advance is not being received, and against advancing in the wrong spirit.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 35 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 21, Biting Through; line 2 gives Hexagram 64, Before Completion; line 3 gives Hexagram 56, The Wanderer; line 4 gives Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart; line 5 gives Hexagram 12, Standstill; line 6 gives Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 5, Waiting.