I Ching Hexagram 35: Progress - Meaning, Changing Lines and Guidance

Hexagram 35 of the I Ching, Progress (Jin), is fire above earth: the sun clearing the horizon, an advance that is granted and witnessed rather than seized. This guide covers its Judgement of horses and three audiences, its Image of self-brightened virtue, all six changing lines, the nuclear hexagram 39 and opposite hexagram 5, and how Hexagram 35 reads for a decision, a relationship and work.

What does I Ching Hexagram 35, Progress, mean?

I Ching Hexagram 35, Progress, means advance that happens in daylight, in front of witnesses, with the ground underneath cooperating instead of resisting. Its Chinese name is Jin, which the Sequence of the Hexagrams glosses as to advance. It arrives directly after Hexagram 34, The Power of the Great, on the reasoning that great strength cannot stay put and must move out into the open. The figure is the trigram Li, fire, standing over the trigram Kun, earth, which gives the picture that names the hexagram: the sun clearing the horizon at dawn. Nothing in the arrangement is forcing anything. Earth does not push the sun up and the sun does not scorch the earth. Light simply increases, and whatever the light reaches becomes visible. Hexagram 35 turns up for situations that are opening rather than closing, where recognition is arriving and work done quietly is about to be looked at. The classical caution attached to Progress is not about failure. It is about the temptations that come with being visible: grabbing, self-advertisement, and mistaking being seen for being good.

The particular flavor of hexagram 35 progress is that the advance is granted rather than taken. Four of its six lines are yin, including the fifth line that rules the hexagram, so the whole figure leans toward receiving. The two yang lines sit at the fourth and sixth places, and both attract warnings in the line texts, which tells you exactly where the trouble in Progress lives: in the pushing element, not the yielding one. Practitioners read Jin as sunrise rather than noon. The light is climbing but has not peaked, so the correct posture is to keep rising steadily rather than to announce arrival. That is also why Hexagram 35 is paired in the King Wen sequence with Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light, the same two trigrams inverted, the sun sunk beneath the earth. The pair covers the two halves of one day, so Progress is a phase with a schedule, not a permanent condition.

Is Hexagram 35, Progress, a favorable hexagram?

Hexagram 35 is among the more favorable figures in the I Ching. Its Judgement contains no warning clause, only gifts and audiences, and four of its six lines end in good fortune, freedom from blame, or the disappearance of remorse. The cautions are confined to the two yang lines.

What is the Chinese name of Hexagram 35?

The Chinese name of Hexagram 35 is Jin. Wilhelm renders it Progress, and other translators give Advancing or Prospering. The Sequence commentary defines it in three characters that amount to Jin means to advance, making it one of the least ambiguous hexagram names in the book.

Where does Hexagram 35 sit in the I Ching sequence?

Hexagram 35 is the thirty-fifth of sixty-four and sits early in the second half of the King Wen arrangement, which begins at Hexagram 31. It follows Hexagram 34, The Power of the Great, and precedes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light, its inverted twin.

Which trigrams form Hexagram 35, and why does fire over earth mean Progress?

Hexagram 35 is built from Li, the Clinging, fire, in the upper position and Kun, the Receptive, earth, in the lower position. Li carries brightness, the sun, the eye, clarity, and also dependence, since fire has to cling to something to burn. Kun carries earth, the multitude, service, yielding, and the plain surface that accepts whatever is set on it. Stack fire above earth and you get sunrise, which is the image the hexagram is named for. The reason this combination produces Progress rather than some other meaning is structural. Kun below offers no resistance at all, being the most yielding figure in the whole system, so there is nothing underfoot to slow the advance. Li above offers no concealment, so the advance cannot happen privately. A hexagram with Gen, mountain, or Kan, water, underneath gives you obstruction or danger instead. A hexagram with a dark trigram on top keeps the movement hidden. In Hexagram 35 you have unimpeded movement combined with full visibility, which is precisely the position of an official being presented at court.

The trigram relationship in i ching hexagram 35 also explains the hexagram's emotional temperature. Li is warm but not hot, because at sunrise the sun is low and its light is horizontal rather than punishing. Kun is patient and plural, standing for the many rather than the one, so the ground on which the light falls is a population, a team, a household, a market. Progress in this hexagram is therefore always progress in relation to other people, never solitary achievement. Nobody is promoted in an empty room. There is also a dependency built into Li that a good reading should not skip: fire clings to fuel and goes out without it. The brightness on top of Hexagram 35 rests on Kun, which is to say on the goodwill and labor of whoever is underneath, and advance that burns its own base extinguishes itself.

What does the Li trigram contribute to Hexagram 35?

Li, fire, contributes visibility, clarity and recognition to Hexagram 35. It is the trigram of the sun and the eye, so it makes the advance public and legible. Li also contributes dependence, because fire clings to its fuel, which is why Progress in this hexagram relies on support from below.

What does the Kun trigram contribute to Hexagram 35?

Kun, earth, contributes the frictionless ground that lets Progress happen in Hexagram 35. As the most yielding trigram it offers no resistance to the rising light. Kun also brings the sense of the multitude, so what rises in Hexagram 35 rises in front of and on behalf of many people.

How does Hexagram 35 differ from Hexagram 36, which uses the same trigrams?

Hexagram 35 places Li above Kun, the sun over the earth at dawn. Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light, reverses them, putting Kun above Li, the sun buried under the earth. Hexagram 35 asks you to be seen and to advance. Hexagram 36 asks you to veil your brightness and survive.

What is the Judgement of Hexagram 35, and who is the powerful prince?

The Judgement of Hexagram 35 reads: Progress. The powerful prince is honored with horses in large numbers, and in a single day he is granted audience three times. The prince is Kang Hou in the Chinese, the Marquis of Kang, traditionally identified as a younger brother of King Wu of Zhou who received the territory of Kang as a fief. Two rewards are described and they are different in kind. Horses in large numbers is material wealth of a productive sort, since horses breed and pull and carry, unlike ornaments. Three audiences in one day is access, and access is the scarcer prize. A ruler who sees you three times before sundown has put you inside the circle where decisions are actually made. Read together, the Judgement of hexagram 35 progress describes a subordinate who has been both enriched and trusted by a superior in the same stroke. What is missing from the Judgement is any warning at all, which is unusual in the I Ching and marks this as one of the plainly favorable oracles in the book.

The grammar of the Judgement matters for i ching progress readings. The prince does not conquer, campaign or petition. Every verb in the sentence has him receiving, which sets the whole tone of Hexagram 35: the correct move is to be worthy of what is being offered and then to accept it cleanly. A person who negotiates hard for more horses has misread the oracle, and the fourth line shows what that person becomes. A second detail is worth holding onto: the reward comes with a fief attached, so the prince is not only honored but given responsibility for a place and its people. Progress in this hexagram is never a pure gain, it is always a gain paired with a charge. Practitioners answering career questions with Hexagram 35 flag this immediately, since the promotion under discussion tends to arrive with a territory that has problems of its own. The nuclear hexagram, Obstruction, sits inside the figure for exactly that reason.

What do the horses in the Judgement of Hexagram 35 signify?

The horses in the Judgement of Hexagram 35 signify productive wealth given at scale, not decoration. Horses in Zhou-era terms were breeding stock, transport and military capacity in one, so the gift represents capability handed to the prince rather than a token. The phrase specifies large numbers, meaning the reward is generous enough to change his standing.

Why does Hexagram 35 mention three audiences in one day?

The three audiences in Hexagram 35 measure access rather than honor. Being received once is ceremony. Being received three times before the day ends means the ruler is consulting you, which places the prince inside working decisions. In a modern reading this is the difference between a title and genuine proximity to whoever decides.

Does the Judgement of Hexagram 35 promise success unconditionally?

The Judgement of Hexagram 35 carries no explicit condition, which is rare, but the conditions arrive in the Image and the line texts instead. The Image demands that you brighten your own virtue, and lines four and six spell out how the advance goes wrong. The Judgement grants the opportunity, the rest of the hexagram governs the conduct.

What is the Image of Hexagram 35, and what does brightening your own bright virtue ask of you?

The Image of Hexagram 35 reads: the sun rises over the earth, the image of Progress, and thus the superior person brightens his own bright virtue. The whole instruction turns on the word own. The Chinese phrase puts a reflexive marker before the verb, so the sentence is not brighten virtue but brighten your own brightness, and that distinction is the ethical core of hexagram 35 meaning. The light in a period of Progress does not come from the office, the title, the horses or the audiences at court. It was already there, and outward advance is simply the occasion that makes it visible to more people. The Image therefore asks for interior work at exactly the moment when exterior rewards are arriving, which is the hardest timing for that work. A person who lets the rank do the shining will find that the rank has nothing behind it. The practical instruction in a reading is to spend the period of Progress raising your standard of conduct rather than lowering it to match your new latitude.

The Image also fixes the tempo of Hexagram 35. It says the sun rises, not the sun shines or the sun stands at noon, and a rising sun is defined by increase rather than by maximum. Applied to a reading, this means that the correct response to Progress is a rate of improvement, not a single act of arrival. Anyone treating a promotion, a launch or a public acknowledgment as the endpoint has stopped the sun mid-climb. A second reading of the Image is worth knowing. Because Kun stands for the multitude, the earth in this picture is not scenery, it is everyone the light falls on, so brightening your own virtue in front of them is a form of governing. That is why the Image speaks of the superior person rather than the successful person.

What does brightening bright virtue mean in practice in Hexagram 35?

In practice the Image of Hexagram 35 means raising your own standard of conduct while your standing rises. It looks like keeping the promises you made before the promotion, crediting the people underneath you, and refusing shortcuts that the new position now makes available. The light is character, and the office only points a spotlight at it.

Why does the Image of Hexagram 35 use sunrise rather than noon?

Sunrise fixes Hexagram 35 as an increasing situation rather than a peak. A rising sun still has the whole day ahead, so the reading favors steady continuation over declaring victory. Noon would have implied Hexagram 55, Abundance, where the classical warning is that what has reached its height must begin to decline.

What does Hexagram 35 say about accepting honors?

Hexagram 35 says to accept honors cleanly and then get back to work. The prince in the Judgement receives horses and audiences without bargaining, and the Image immediately redirects attention inward to virtue. Refusing recognition is not modesty here, but treating recognition as the achievement is the error line four punishes.

What do changing lines one, two and three of Hexagram 35 mean?

The first three hexagram 35 changing lines cover the experience of advancing without authority. Line one, a yin line at the bottom, reads: progressing, but turned back, and perseverance brings good fortune; if one meets with no confidence, one should remain calm, and there is no blame. You have made your move and been rebuffed, and the instruction is to hold position without complaint. Line two, yin in the second place, reads: progressing, but in sorrow, and perseverance brings good fortune, and then one obtains great happiness from one's ancestress. Here the advance continues but the recognition does not arrive, and the relief comes from an unofficial source rather than the chain of command. Line three, yin in the third place, reads: all are in accord, and remorse disappears. This line completes the trigram Kun, and its point is that the three yin lines rise together. Progress at line three of Hexagram 35 comes from collective backing rather than personal standing, and the earlier regret about being blocked dissolves once the group moves with you.

Line correspondence explains why these three lines feel so different from one another. Line one pairs with line four, and that partner is the hoarding rodent, so the support waiting above the beginner is unreliable, which is why the text says calm rather than push. Changing at line one turns Hexagram 35 into Hexagram 21, Biting Through, the hexagram of forcing a blockage open by punitive means, which is the road you are being told not to take. Line two has no correspondent at all, since line five is also yin and two yin lines do not resonate, and that is the technical source of the sorrow in the text. The blessing arrives instead from the ancestress, the royal mother, read as line five in its maternal aspect. Changing at line two produces Hexagram 64, Before Completion. Line three changes into Hexagram 56, The Wanderer, a pointed reminder that standing built on other people's goodwill travels with you but is never actually owned.

What does changing line one of Hexagram 35 mean?

Line one of Hexagram 35 means an advance that gets turned back at the start. The text tells you to persevere, stay calm when you are not trusted, and accept that no blame attaches to the setback. It changes into Hexagram 21, Biting Through, the forced solution the line is warning you away from.

Who is the ancestress in line two of Hexagram 35?

The ancestress in line two of Hexagram 35 is wang mu, the royal mother, usually read as the fifth line seen in its maternal rather than official capacity. She represents help that arrives through an inherited, familial or informal channel when the formal channel offers nothing. Line two changes into Hexagram 64, Before Completion.

Why is line three of Hexagram 35 free of remorse?

Line three of Hexagram 35 is free of remorse because all are in accord. The line sits at the top of Kun and moves with the two yin lines beneath it, so the advance is carried by unanimous support rather than by personal position. Changing at line three yields Hexagram 56, The Wanderer.

What do changing lines four, five and six of Hexagram 35 mean?

The upper hexagram 35 changing lines cover power, and two of the three carry warnings. Line four, yang in a yin place just below the ruler, reads: progress like a large rodent, and perseverance brings danger. The creature named is the shi shu, glossed in the old commentaries as the animal of five skills that can fly, climb, swim, burrow and run without doing any of them well, and that hoards what it does not need. Line four is the senior figure who uses proximity to the throne for accumulation. Line five, yin in the ruling position, reads: remorse disappears, take not gain and loss to heart, undertakings bring good fortune, and everything serves to further. This is the sun's own center and the ruler of Hexagram 35, and its instruction is to stop keeping score. Line six, yang at the top, reads: making progress with the horns is permissible only for the purpose of punishing one's own city; to be conscious of danger brings good fortune and there is no blame, but perseverance brings humiliation.

The transformations sharpen all three. Changing at line four turns Hexagram 35 into Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart, in which the single top line is about to fall off a stack of yin lines, which is precisely what happens to a hoarder whose base has been eaten away. Changing at line five produces Hexagram 12, Standstill, heaven and earth pulling apart so that nothing circulates, and the lesson is exact: a ruler who starts weighing personal gain and loss stops the flow that made Progress possible. Line five is the only line told to be indifferent, and it is the one with the most to be indifferent about. Line six changes into Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm, where the same hard yang energy becomes the drumbeat that rallies a group instead of the horn that gores an opponent. Force at the end of Progress has only one legitimate direction, which is inward, at your own household, team or conduct, and even there it must not become a habit.

What is the rodent in line four of Hexagram 35?

The rodent in line four of Hexagram 35 is the shi shu, traditionally described as the creature with five skills and no mastery, a hoarder that stores far more than it needs. It stands for an official who converts closeness to power into accumulation. The line changes into Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart.

Why is line five the ruling line of Hexagram 35?

Line five rules Hexagram 35 because it is the yin center of Li, the sun's own middle, sitting in the position of authority. A yielding ruler in a hexagram of granted advance is exactly right. Its instruction to ignore gain and loss is the moral center of the hexagram, and changing it produces Hexagram 12, Standstill.

What does advancing with the horns mean in line six of Hexagram 35?

Advancing with the horns in line six of Hexagram 35 means pushing by force at the very end of the advance. The text permits it only for disciplining your own city, meaning your own people or your own conduct, and adds that keeping it up brings humiliation. Line six changes into Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm.

What are the nuclear and opposite hexagrams of Hexagram 35?

The nuclear hexagram of Hexagram 35 is Hexagram 39, Obstruction, and the opposite hexagram is Hexagram 5, Waiting. The nuclear figure is built from the inner lines: positions two, three and four of Hexagram 35 give the trigram Gen, mountain, and positions three, four and five give Kan, water, producing water over mountain, which is Hexagram 39. The interior of Progress is therefore an obstacle, and that single fact does more work in a reading than any other structural detail of the hexagram. The opposite hexagram is found by reversing every line: the four yin lines become yang and the two yang lines become yin, producing Kan over Qian, water above heaven, which is Hexagram 5, Waiting. The complementary shadow of an advance in daylight is strength held still in front of danger. Alongside these, Hexagram 35 turned physically upside down becomes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light, its partner in the King Wen pairing. Each of those neighbors names a situation Progress can slip into.

Practitioners use the nuclear hexagram of i ching hexagram 35 as a reality check. Hexagram 39, Obstruction, advises turning back rather than pressing on, working on yourself when the road is blocked, and seeking out someone more capable to help. Buried inside a hexagram of smooth advance, that advice reads as a warning that the promotion has a real problem in it, usually one that was not disclosed and often the reason the position became available. The fief given to the prince has terrain. Hexagram 5, Waiting, is the situation you would be in had every line gone the other way: pure strength below and danger above, counseling you to eat, drink and stay composed until the moment arrives. Holding the pair together gives a clean rule: Hexagram 35 is the phase when the waiting is over, and Hexagram 5 is where you land if you move too early or too hard.

What is the nuclear hexagram of Hexagram 35 and what does it reveal?

The nuclear hexagram of Hexagram 35 is Hexagram 39, Obstruction, formed from Gen in lines two to four and Kan in lines three to five. It reveals that a hidden difficulty sits inside the bright advance. Hexagram 39 counsels turning back, self-correction and seeking capable help when the direct route is blocked.

What is the opposite hexagram of Hexagram 35?

The opposite hexagram of Hexagram 35 is Hexagram 5, Waiting, produced by reversing all six lines to give Kan above Qian. Where Hexagram 35 advances in daylight, Hexagram 5 holds strength still in front of danger and counsels composure until the right moment. The two figures mark the end and the beginning of the same wait.

Which hexagram is Hexagram 35 turned upside down?

Turned upside down, Hexagram 35 becomes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light. The two form a King Wen pair covering one day: sun above the earth in Hexagram 35, sun buried beneath it in Hexagram 36. Drawing Hexagram 35 with no changing lines still implies that Hexagram 36 waits at the other end.

How does Hexagram 35, Progress, read for a decision?

For a decision, Hexagram 35 answers yes and places its conditions on how rather than on whether. The advance is supported, so the question is not whether to move but how to move without spoiling it. Four instructions come out of the hexagram directly. Move in the open, because Li on top means an advance made privately loses the hexagram's advantage. Accept the sponsorship being offered instead of bargaining for a better package, since the prince in the Judgement receives without haggling. Do not keep score once you are in, which is line five's counsel and the difference between Progress and Standstill. If you are being turned back at the outset, hold calmly rather than escalating, which is line one's counsel and the reason its transformation is Biting Through. Underneath all of it sits the nuclear hexagram, Obstruction, so the decision has a real difficulty in it that the surface case has not priced. Say yes with your eyes open, and expect the terrain that comes with the fief.

Timing under i ching progress is early and increasing. Sunrise means the situation has not peaked, so the reading favors starting now and building rather than waiting for a single decisive strike. It also means the window is directional: the sun goes on rising for a while, but Hexagram 36 is the other half of the day, so an opportunity offered under Hexagram 35 does not stay open forever. When a querent asks how big to go, the structure answers clearly. The lower trigram is entirely yielding, so a large move meets no resistance, but the fourth line makes the cost of overreaching explicit: the danger in Progress comes from taking more than the role warrants, not from taking too little. A decision made under Hexagram 35 should therefore be ambitious in scope and modest in claim. Commit fully to the work, understate what you are owed for it, and let the fifth line's indifference to gain and loss do the rest.

Does Hexagram 35 mean yes or no to a question?

Hexagram 35 means yes. Its Judgement contains no warning clause, its lower trigram offers no resistance, and four of its six lines are favorable. The yes carries conditions about conduct rather than about the action itself, and the nuclear hexagram, Obstruction, adds that the situation has a hidden difficulty to plan for.

What timing does Hexagram 35 indicate?

Hexagram 35 indicates early and rising timing, since the image is sunrise rather than midday. Situations under Progress are still gaining, which favors starting now and compounding rather than waiting. Because Hexagram 36 is the other half of the same day, the window closes eventually.

What should you avoid after drawing Hexagram 35 for a decision?

Avoid three specific moves after drawing Hexagram 35: hoarding what the role gives you, which is line four, tallying personal gain and loss, which is line five, and forcing an early rebuff into a confrontation, which is line one. Each has a named transformation attached, and none of the three outcomes is one you want.

How does Hexagram 35, Progress, read for a relationship and for work?

For a relationship, Hexagram 35 describes a connection moving from private into acknowledged, and for work it describes recognition arriving with access to whoever decides. In love, the sun coming over the horizon means the relationship stops being deniable. Introductions get made, plans get stated out loud, and the standing of the bond changes in front of other people. The trigram arrangement suggests one party supplying steady ground and the other supplying warmth and visibility, which works well as long as neither role is taken for granted. In work, the Judgement is unusually literal: hexagram 35 progress shows a subordinate given both material reward and repeated audiences, which maps cleanly onto a promotion that also comes with real proximity to leadership. The favorable lines say the advance is supported. The cautionary lines say what will wreck it. Line four flags the colleague or partner accumulating from the arrangement rather than contributing to it, and line six flags force turned on the household or the team when the advance meets its natural limit.

Two structural features refine both readings. First, Li clings, so the brightness at the top of hexagram 35 progress depends on fuel underneath. A relationship that runs on one person's steady provision while the other collects the visible warmth will dim, and a team whose leader shines on effort they never resupply does the same. Second, line two describes loving or working without being met, since it has no correspondent above, and its relief arrives through an older family channel rather than the person you were hoping to reach. For career questions, the line three transformation into Hexagram 56, The Wanderer, is the one worth quoting: advancement carried by peer goodwill is portable but never owned, so it should be converted into something with your own name on it before the goodwill moves on. The counsel across love and work is the same: take the recognition, keep supplying the base.

What does Hexagram 35 mean for a new relationship?

For a new relationship, Hexagram 35 means the connection is about to become public and acknowledged. The sun rising over the earth marks the point where a private understanding gains standing with friends and family. The advance is favorable and mutual, provided the person supplying the steady ground is not treated as scenery.

What does Hexagram 35 mean for a career or job question?

For a career question, Hexagram 35 means advancement with visibility and access, matching its Judgement of horses and three audiences in one day. Expect recognition, resources and closer contact with decision-makers. Expect also that the new position carries a territory of its own problems, which is the nuclear hexagram, Obstruction, showing through.

What does Hexagram 35 warn about at work?

Hexagram 35 warns at work about the person in line four, senior enough to be near the decision-maker and using that closeness to accumulate rather than to serve. It changes into Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart, where the top falls. The second warning, from line six, is force applied to your own team past the point of usefulness.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is I Ching Hexagram 35, Progress, in one sentence?

I Ching Hexagram 35, Progress, is fire over earth, the sun rising above the horizon, and it describes an advance that is granted, visible and steadily increasing rather than forced. Its Chinese name is Jin, glossed in the Sequence commentary simply as to advance. The Judgement shows a prince rewarded with horses and given three audiences in a single day, so the hexagram is about recognition and access, not struggle.

What are the changing lines of Hexagram 35, and which ones are warnings?

Hexagram 35 has four favorable lines and two cautionary ones. Lines one, two, three and five end in good fortune, the disappearance of remorse, or great happiness. The two warnings sit at line four, which advances like a hoarding rodent and is told that persistence brings danger, and line six, which advances with the horns and is permitted to use force only against its own city. Both warnings fall on the hexagram's only yang lines.

What is the Judgement of Hexagram 35?

The Judgement of Hexagram 35 reads: Progress. The powerful prince is honored with horses in large numbers, and in a single day he is granted audience three times. The prince is Kang Hou, traditionally identified as a younger brother of King Wu of Zhou who was enfeoffed at Kang. The Judgement of Hexagram 35 carries no warning clause at all, which is rare in the I Ching and marks Progress as one of the openly favorable figures.

What is the Image of Hexagram 35?

The Image of Hexagram 35 reads: the sun rises over the earth, the image of Progress, and thus the superior person brightens his own bright virtue. The Chinese phrase turns on the word self. The light of Hexagram 35 is not issued by the office, the promotion or the audience at court. It already belongs to the person, and the work in a period of Progress is to polish it so that character keeps pace with rank.

Is Hexagram 35, Progress, good for love?

Hexagram 35 is favorable for love in a specific way: it describes a relationship moving out of private territory into acknowledged, visible standing. Introductions get made, families get told, the connection stops being deniable. The caution in Hexagram 35 for love comes from line four, which flags a partner accumulating from the relationship rather than serving it, and from the trigram Li, which clings, meaning the warmth on top still needs fuel underneath.

What hexagram does each changing line of Hexagram 35 produce?

Changing line one of Hexagram 35 produces Hexagram 21, Biting Through. Line two produces Hexagram 64, Before Completion. Line three produces Hexagram 56, The Wanderer. Line four produces Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart. Line five produces Hexagram 12, Standstill. Line six produces Hexagram 16, Enthusiasm. Each transformation names the consequence of that line's advice being ignored or its situation being carried forward.

What is the difference between Hexagram 35, Progress, and Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward?

Hexagram 35, Progress, is advance in daylight with a sponsor above you, while Hexagram 46, Pushing Upward, is growth in the dark with nobody watching. Hexagram 35 puts fire on top, so the movement is seen and rewarded by a superior. Hexagram 46 puts earth on top of wood, a seedling under soil, so the movement is slow, unwitnessed and self-generated. Ask which one you drew before deciding whether to seek recognition or avoid it.