Hexagram 35 · 火地晋

Progress

Fire · Qian palace

Rising into the light; advancement through merit.

Meaning

Fire above the earth: light climbing into the sky. Progress describes genuine advancement, generally arrived at through merit rather than manoeuvring.

Decision Framework

Advance; the opening is real.

Decision Guidance

Progress is a favourable reading about advancement. It appears when effort is converting into movement — a promotion, an expansion, recognition, or a project gaining real ground.

The hexagram's caution concerns how you handle the rise. The classical text associates progress with steady, well-founded promotion rather than sudden elevation, and warns against letting a period of visibility turn into complacency or self-importance. Continue to work on the substance that got you here; that is what makes the advance durable.

Judgment — Classical Text

康侯用锡马蕃庶，昼日三接。

EN The prosperous lord is granted many horses, and in one day is received three times.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

1. 初六：晋如摧如，贞吉。

   EN Initial six: advancing and being repulsed — perseverance brings good fortune; without trust, be calm and generous.

2. 六二：晋如愁如，贞吉。

   EN Six in the second: advancing with sorrow — perseverance brings good fortune; you receive great blessing from the ancestress.

3. 六三：众允，悔亡。

   EN Six in the third: the crowd agrees — regret vanishes.

4. 九四：晋如鼫鼠，贞厉。

   EN Nine in the fourth: advancing like a rat — perseverance brings danger.

5. 六五：悔亡，失得勿恤。

   EN Six in the fifth: regret vanishes; do not worry over gain and loss — going brings good fortune, nothing unfavourable.

6. 上九：晋其角，维用伐邑，厉吉无咎。

   EN Topmost nine: advancing with horns — fit only for punishing one's own town: danger, yet good fortune and no blame.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 35, Progress hexagram, Jin hexagram meaning, hexagram for advancement