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Hexagram 6 — Sheng, Pushing Upward
Chronological no. 6 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 46 · 升
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the mother
the eldest daughter
Within the Earth, wood grows: the image of pushing upward. The seed, unseen beneath the surface, patiently pushes toward the light without ever skipping a stage — a growth slow but unstoppable. This is the figure of ascent earned through constancy. Thus the noble one, yielding to virtue, accumulates the small to reach what is high and great: nothing that truly grows skips a step, everything is built layer upon layer.
To approach and to grow are a single vertical gesture. There is no real separation between drawing near one's goal and growing toward it — the two movements are one, as the growing stem is already, in seed, the tree to come. This line teaches the continuity between the small present gesture and the great future result.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, emptiness closes over: what was still an opening begins to fill.
The steadied earth reaches its limit: the solidity that upheld the structure is about to change its nature.
At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.
In the listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert itself.
At the sage's seat, emptiness fills: the suppleness that governed with discretion gathers a new force.
At the summit, emptiness reaches its fullest extent and closes: the furthest opening turns toward its opposite.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
Eight 12×12 Jacquard patterns are generated from this hexagram, one for each admissible family of the system. Each has its own page: cell, tiling, recolourings and data.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
5 — Ming Yi, Darkening of the Light · 7 — Tai, Peace
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☷ Kun): 0 — Kun, The Receptive · 1 — Fu, Return · 2 — Shi, The Army · 3 — Lin, Approach · 4 — Qian, Modesty · 5 — Ming Yi, Darkening of the Light · 7 — Tai, Peace
Same lower trigram (☴ Xun): 14 — Heng, Duration · 22 — Jing, The Well · 30 — Da Guo, Preponderance of the Great · 38 — Gu, Work on What Has Been Spoiled · 46 — Ding, The Cauldron · 54 — Xun, The Gentle, Wind · 62 — Gou, Coming to Meet
