Hexagram 35 — Prospering
King Wen #35 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing.
What Hexagram 35 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 35 places earth (坤) beneath fire (离) — receptive ground holding all things below, light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Prospering”: advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
明出地上，晉；君子以自昭明德。
(The trigram representing) the earth and that for the bright (sun) coming forth above it form Žin. The superior man, according to this, gives himself to make more brilliant his bright virtue.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The sun rising above the earth: progress. The wise make their own bright character ever more plainly seen.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 35 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Prospering describes advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: receptive ground holding all things, held inside a larger setting of light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Prospering about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing. When lines move in your cast, read them against this base — the moving lines show which part of the figure is awake for you, and the changed hexagram shows where it is heading.
Questions About Hexagram 35
What does 晉 (jìn) mean?
Hexagram 35 of the I Ching is named 晉 (jìn), usually rendered "Prospering" in English editions. Its figure is built from earth (坤) below and fire (离) above — receptive ground holding all things beneath light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates.
Is hexagram 35 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 35 is warm: it contains 4 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), and 2 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached (the text notes possible regret 悔 where the moment is mishandled).
What does hexagram 35 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Prospering points to advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing. The figure pairs earth (坤) beneath fire (离) — receptive ground holding all things meeting light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates — which is the traditional picture of how this energy behaves between two people. For how to phrase a love question before casting, see our guide to asking the I Ching about love.
What does hexagram 35 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Prospering through the figure itself: earth (坤) below, fire (离) above — receptive ground holding all things held inside light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates. The plain reading: Advancing like the rising sun. Progress comes by attracting others, not by pushing. The text carries 4 mentions of 吉 (good fortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 35 mean?
A cast of hexagram 35 can produce moving lines. Each of the six lines has its own statement (爻辭) in the classical text below, read from the bottom up, and a moving line is read as the part of the figure that is awake for your question. When a line moves it turns into its opposite, and the whole figure becomes a second hexagram: changing every line of 35 gives hexagram 5, 需 (Attending). Every line also has a page of its own on this site — Line 1 through Line 6 under this hexagram — with the classical Chinese and Legge's translation side by side.
How is hexagram 35 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 35 gives hexagram 5 — 需 (Attending). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 36 — 明夷 (Darkening of the Light). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 39 — 蹇 (Limping).
Cast it yourself
Shake the tube, watch your own coins fall.
- The hexagram's classical meaning — judgment and all six lines
- Moving lines marked — but not read for you
- No account, no email, nothing to pay
Get the reading, not just the text
Same cast, read all the way through:
- Every line read for you — what each moving line means inside your question
- The changed hexagram — where your situation is heading, and how to read the turn
- A closing that answers you directly — act, wait, or say it out loud
New to casting? How it works · All 64 hexagrams
Related Hexagrams 錯綜互
The Classical Text 經文
康侯用錫馬蕃庶，晝日三接。
In Jin we see a prince who secures the tranquillity (of the people) presented on that account with numerous horses (by the king), and three times in a day received at interviews.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
晉如摧如，貞吉。罔孚，裕無咎。
The first SIX, divided, shows one wishing to advance, and (at the same time) kept back. Let him be firm and correct, and there will be good fortune. If trust be not reposed in him, let him maintain a large and generous mind, and there will be no error.
晉如愁如，貞吉，受茲介福，于其王母。
The second SIX, divided, shows its subject with the appearance of advancing, and yet of being sorrowful. If he be firm and correct, there will be good fortune. He will receive this great blessing from his grandmother.
眾允，悔亡。
The third SIX, divided, shows its subject trusted by all (around him). All occasion for repentance will disappear.
晉如鼫鼠，貞厲。
The fourth NINE, undivided, shows its subject with the appearance of advancing, but like a marmot. However firm and correct he may be, the position is one of peril.
悔亡，失得勿恤，往吉，無不利。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows how all occasion for repentance disappears (from its subject). (But) let him not concern himself about whether he shall fail or succeed. To advance will be fortunate, and in every way advantageous.
晉其角，維用伐邑，厲吉無咎。貞吝。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows one advancing his horns. But he only uses them to punish the (rebellious people of his own) city. The position is perilous, but there will be good fortune. (Yet) however firm and correct he may be, there will be occasion for regret.
Line by Line 逐爻细读
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text.2 The Image (象傳) is an ancient text in the public domain; its plain-English gloss here is original to The Hexagrams, not a quotation from any copyrighted edition. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.