Hexagram 42 · 风雷益

Increase

Wood · Xun palace

Growth and benefit; a favourable time to act.

Meaning

Wind and thunder: forces that strengthen each other. Increase describes expansion and mutual benefit.

Decision Framework

Act on the opportunity; invest and expand.

Decision Guidance

Increase is one of the plainly favourable hexagrams. It appears when the situation is genuinely expanding—resources arriving, support available, effort producing more than it costs.

The classical advice is to act on it without delay, because this is described as the moment when moving benefits both the person who moves and the party affected. The hexagram particularly endorses investments made for others as well as yourself, framing shared gain as the most sustainable form of increase. Delay is the main risk; favourable seasons for expansion close.

Judgment — Classical Text

利有攸往，利涉大川。

EN It is favourable to set out; crossing the great water furthers.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

初九：利用为大作，元吉无咎。
EN Initial nine: it is favourable to undertake great work — supreme good fortune, no blame.
六二：或益之十朋之龟，弗克违。
EN Six in the second: someone adds a tortoise worth ten pairs of shells — you cannot refuse: lasting perseverance brings good fortune; the king sacrifices to the ancestor.
六三：益之用凶事，无咎。
EN Six in the third: increase it through unfortunate events — no blame; with sincerity and the seal, you walk the middle path and report to the lord.
六四：中行告公从，利用为依。
EN Six in the fourth: walking the middle path and reporting to the lord, he follows — useful for reliance and for moving the seat of power.
九五：有孚惠心，勿问元吉。
EN Nine in the fifth: with sincerity and a kindly heart, ask nothing — supreme good fortune; sincerity is your virtue.
上九：莫益之，或击之，立心勿恒，凶。
EN Topmost nine: no one increases him, someone strikes him; his purpose is not constant — misfortune.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 42, Increase hexagram, Yi hexagram meaning, hexagram for growth