Hexagram 42 — Augmenting
King Wen #42 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Increase. The time favors bold generosity and beginning great works.
What Hexagram 42 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 42 places thunder (震) beneath wind (巽) — movement breaking out of stillness below, gentle influence working inward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Augmenting”: increase. The time favors bold generosity and beginning great works. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
風雷，益；君子以見善則遷，有過則改。
(The trigram representing) wind and that for thunder form Yî. The superior man, in accordance with this, when he sees what is good, moves towards it; and when he sees his errors, he turns from them.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Wind and thunder together: increase. The wise move toward good the moment they see it, and correct faults the moment they have them.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 42 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Augmenting describes increase. The time favors bold generosity and beginning great works — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: movement breaking out of stillness, held inside a larger setting of gentle influence working inward. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Augmenting about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: increase. The time favors bold generosity and beginning great works. 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 42
What does 益 (yì) mean?
Hexagram 42 of the I Ching is named 益 (yì), usually rendered "Augmenting" in English editions. Its figure is built from thunder (震) below and wind (巽) above — movement breaking out of stillness beneath gentle influence working inward.
Is hexagram 42 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 42 is warm: it contains 4 occurrences of 吉 (good fortune), 2 of 凶 (misfortune), and 2 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached.
What does hexagram 42 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Augmenting points to increase. The time favors bold generosity and beginning great works. The figure pairs thunder (震) beneath wind (巽) — movement breaking out of stillness meeting gentle influence working inward — 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 42 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Augmenting through the figure itself: thunder (震) below, wind (巽) above — movement breaking out of stillness held inside gentle influence working inward. The plain reading: Increase. The time favors bold generosity and beginning great works. The text carries 4 mentions of 吉 (good fortune) and 2 of 凶 (misfortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 42 mean?
A cast of hexagram 42 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 42 gives hexagram 32, 恆 (Persevering). 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 42 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 42 gives hexagram 32 — 恆 (Persevering). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 41 — 損 (Diminishing). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 23 — 剝 (Stripping).
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
利有攸往，利涉大川。
Yi indicates that (in the state which it denotes) there will be advantage in every movement which shall be undertaken, that it will be advantageous (even) to cross the great stream.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
利用為大作，元吉，無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, shows that it will be advantageous for its subject in his position to make a great movement. If it be greatly fortunate, no blame will be imputed to him.
或益之十朋之龜，弗克違。永貞吉；王用享于帝，吉。
The second SIX, divided, shows parties adding to the stores of its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells whose oracles cannot be opposed. Let him persevere in being firm and correct, and there will be good fortune. Let the king, (having the virtues thus distinguished), employ them in presenting his offerings to God, and there will be good fortune.
益之用凶事，無咎；有孚中行，告公用圭。
The third SIX, divided, shows increase given to its subject by means of what is evil, so that he shall (be led to good), and be without blame. Let him be sincere and pursue the path of the Mean, (so shall he secure the recognition of the ruler, like) an officer who announces himself to his prince by the symbol of his rank.
中行，告公從，利用為依遷國。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject pursuing the due course. His advice to his prince is followed. He can with advantage be relied on in such a movement as that of removing the capital.
有孚惠心，勿問元吉。有孚惠我德。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows its subject with sincere heart seeking to benefit (all below). There need be no question about it; the result will be great good fortune. (All below) will with sincere heart acknowledge his goodness.
莫益之，或擊之，立心勿恆，凶。
In the sixth NINE, undivided, we see one to whose increase none will contribute, while many will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart. There will be evil.
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.