I Ching Hexagram 42 (Increase): Meaning in Love, Career and Life
Hexagram 42 is the increase hexagram of the I Ching: wind and thunder together, the movement and its carrier reinforcing each other. Its classical judgment reads "favorable to have somewhere to go; favorable to cross the great water" (利有攸往，利涉大川), and its image — wind and thunder — says the noble one "when he sees good, moves toward it; when he has fault, corrects it" (见善则迁，有过则改). When Hexagram 42 appears in a reading, it describes gain: the addition that arrives from the right direction — and the hexagram's exact counsel about what increase actually is and where it runs out.
The Story of Hexagram 42: Wind and Thunder
The scene is a storm moving as one system. Thunder sounds; the wind carries it. Neither is the passenger and neither is the driver — they are the same movement at two scales. The old commentators read the hexagram from that reinforcement: 益 is increase, and increase is what happens when two forces add to each other instead of subtracting.
The judgment grants both of the Book's movement blessings — 利有攸往 and 利涉大川 — somewhere to go and the great water crossable. Increase is not a static blessing; it is fuel for motion. And the image says what the increase is actually made of: 见善则迁，有过则改 — seeing good and moving toward it; having fault and correcting it. The addition that the hexagram describes is the addition of virtue: movement toward the good, correction of the fault, each one a gain.
The lines trace the arc of the increase and its one hard limit. The first line is the hexagram's foundation: 利用为大作 — favorable for the great work — 元吉，无咎. The increase at the beginning is for building. The second is the hexagram's first gift: the ten-pair tortoise cannot be refused (十朋之龟，弗克违), and the king uses it in offering to the High Lord (王用享于帝，吉) — the gain that is consecrated. The third is the increase used for the ominous matter (益之用凶事) — the gain spent on the hard, necessary thing, with the hexagram's conditions: sincerity and the middle path (有孚中行，告公用圭). The fourth is the increase that moves the state (利用为依迁国) — the addition large enough to relocate a kingdom. The fifth is the hexagram's center: 有孚惠心 — the sincerity that benefits the heart — and the hexagram's strange arithmetic: 勿问元吉. Do not ask. Supreme good fortune. And the final line is the hexagram's warning: 莫益之，或击之 — no one increases him, and someone strikes him — 立心勿恒，凶. The position that receives nothing and gives nothing, whose heart does not hold constant, is ominous.
The storm carries the thunder. The increase is real — until the sixth line, where the wind stops asking.
What Is Hexagram 42?
- Name: 益 (Yì), traditionally rendered Increase; also translated as Gain, Addition, or Benefit
- Structure: Wind over Thunder — the movement and its carrier, adding to each other
- Position: 42 of 64, the hexagram after Decrease; what was subtracted arrives
- Element: Wood on the body trigram — the lower trigram (thunder) belongs to Wood; wind above belongs to Wood
- Body trigram: the lower trigram (thunder, Wood), which in plum blossom divination represents the self
- Core images: wind and thunder, the great work, the consecrated gift, the migrated state, the heart that benefits, the strike at the end
The Core Meaning of Hexagram 42
The judgment of Hexagram 42 grants the two movement blessings at once — somewhere to go, the great water crossable — which makes it one of the Book's active, favorable configurations. Increase is not possession; it is capacity for motion. And the image defines what the increase actually is: 见善则迁，有过则改. The addition the hexagram describes is the addition of virtue — movement toward the good and correction of the fault, each one a real gain.
Three things this hexagram is telling you, each standing on its own:
Increase is for building, first. The opening line is 利用为大作 — favorable for the great work. The increase at its foundation is not for enjoying; it is for constructing. What arrives at the beginning of a 益 season is raw material, and the hexagram's first counsel is to build with it (元吉 — the work itself is the supreme fortune).
The gain must move through the middle path. The third line is the hexagram's condition: 有孚中行 — sincerity and the middle path. The increase used for the ominous matter (益之用凶事) — the hard, necessary, unpopular thing — requires the sincerity and the centered conduct to be spent correctly. The image's two disciplines are the same teaching: toward the good (迁) and correcting the fault (改), both of them the middle way in motion.
Increase that stops circulating becomes the strike. The final line is the hexagram's only hard verdict: 莫益之，或击之 — nobody increases him, and someone strikes him. The position at the top of the increase, receiving nothing and giving nothing, with the heart that does not hold constant (立心勿恒), is ominous (凶). Increase is a current; the dam at the end of it is what breaks.
The question Hexagram 42 answers is not "how much did I gain?" It is: is the increase moving — toward the good, through the middle, for the great work — and is it still circulating at the top?
Hexagram 42 in Love and Relationships
If you are single: Hexagram 42 describes the season of gain — the self increasing, the capacity for connection growing. The hexagram's counsel for the single season is its first line: use it for the great work (利用为大作). The increase at this stage is for building the self that will meet someone, not for the search itself. And its image is the single-season discipline: 见善则迁，有过则改 — the gains are the corrections.
In an early or uncertain stage: Early love under Hexagram 42 is the increase phase — two people adding to each other, the bond gaining. The hexagram's lines are its counsel: the great work (line 1) is the bond built with what arrives; the consecrated gift (line 2) is the exchange that is honored; the ominous matter (line 3) is the hard thing the increase is spent on, with sincerity and the middle path. And the fifth line is its early-bond promise: 有孚惠心，勿问元吉 — do not ask; the good fortune is already there.
In a stable relationship: A stable relationship drawing Hexagram 42 is in its increase phase — the bond gaining, the two lives adding. The hexagram's counsel for the long term is its center: 有孚惠心 — the sincerity that benefits the heart, and its arithmetic: 勿问元吉. Do not audit the gain; the gain is real. And its final line is its long-bond warning: 莫益之 — the position that receives and gives nothing. Increase in a long bond is a current, and the current is kept by the middle path.
In a crisis: If the relationship is at the final line — no one increases him, and someone strikes him — Hexagram 42's verdict is 凶, and its diagnosis is named: 立心勿恒. The heart did not hold constant. The crisis of increase is the moment when the flow stopped — the receiving without giving, the position at the top that forgot it was part of a current. The repair is the image's first discipline: 有过则改.
Hexagram 42 in Career, Money and Decisions
Career: This is the increase hexagram of professional life — the gain, the growth, the capacity for the great work. Its career counsel is the judgment: 利有攸往，利涉大川 — the increase is for motion, for the crossing. The first line is its career instruction: use it for the great work (利用为大作). The image is its career discipline: toward the good, correcting the fault. And the final line is its career warning: 莫益之，或击之 — the position that receives nothing and gives nothing gets struck.
Money: Hexagram 42 is one of the Book's favorable gain signs for money — its judgment grants the crossing (利涉大川) to the increase. Its financial counsel is the hexagram's structure: build with what arrives (line 1), consecrate the gain (line 2), spend it on the necessary hard thing with the middle path (line 3), and keep it circulating — the fifth line's heart that benefits (惠心) is the financial current, and the final line's dam (莫益之) is the financial failure.
Decision: Hexagram 42 says: increase is for motion. If you are deciding what to do with what has arrived — the gain, the resource, the capacity — the hexagram's test is its image: is it moving toward the good (迁), is it correcting the fault (改), and is it being spent through the middle path (中行)? The decision it blesses is the great work built with the gain; the decision it marks is the dam at the end of the current.
The Changing Lines of Hexagram 42: Six Scenes
Each line of Hexagram 42 is one scene in the life of an increase — its great work, its consecration, its ominous matter, its migration, its heart, and its strike.
Line 1 (初九) — Favorable for the great work; supreme good fortune; no blame. The scene: the increase at its foundation, spent on construction. The modern reading: the opening line. 利用为大作，元吉，无咎 — what arrives at the beginning of an increase is for building, and the building itself is the supreme fortune. The gain is not for holding.
Line 2 (六二) — Someone gives the ten-pair tortoise; it cannot be refused; perpetual perseverance is favorable; the king uses it in offering to the High Lord; good fortune. The scene: the priceless gift, and its consecration. The modern reading: the gift line. 或益之十朋之龟，弗克违 — the gain that cannot be sent back. And the king's offering (享于帝) — the increase is consecrated, made sacred, given upward. What arrives at this line is not for the self.
Line 3 (六三) — Increase used for the ominous matter; no blame; with sincerity and the middle path, report to the duke with the jade tablet. The scene: the gain spent on the hard, necessary thing. The modern reading: the condition line. 益之用凶事，无咎，有孚中行，告公用圭 — the increase spent on the ominous matter, blameless, with the two conditions named: sincerity and the middle path. Some gains exist for the hard work.
Line 4 (六四) — The middle path reported to the duke and followed; favorable to use it in relocating the state. The scene: the increase large enough to move a kingdom. The modern reading: the scale line. 中行告公从，利用为依迁国 — the centered report, the duke's following, and the state relocated. The increase at this line is structural: it moves the whole house.
Line 5 (九五) — With sincerity, the heart benefits; do not ask — supreme good fortune; with sincerity, my virtue is benefited. The scene: the increase at the center, and its arithmetic. The modern reading: the center line and the hexagram's keystone. 有孚惠心，勿问元吉 — do not audit the gain. The sincerity that benefits the heart is its own supreme fortune, and the hexagram refuses to let you compute it.
Line 6 (上六) — No one increases him; someone strikes him; the heart does not hold constant; misfortune. The scene: the dam at the end of the current. The modern reading: the warning line and the hexagram's only hard verdict. 莫益之，或击之，立心勿恒，凶 — the position that receives and gives nothing, and the strike that arrives. The heart that does not hold constant is what stopped the flow.
When all six lines change: Hexagram 42 turns toward Hexagram 43 — increase completed becomes breakthrough. The current that has flowed becomes the decision it demands.
How to Read Hexagram 42 with the Number Oracle
Hexagram 42 reaches you the same way every hexagram does: through three numbers that arise naturally while you hold your question — a clock, a receipt, a page number, a number that simply surfaces. The first number sets the upper trigram, the second the lower trigram, and the third identifies the changing line. Enter your three numbers and your question at numbers-oracle.com and you will get the hexagram plus an AI interpretation written for your situation — free, no registration. For the mechanics, read how three numbers become a hexagram →
Your lucky energy for Hexagram 42: Wood element (the body trigram, thunder below). Lucky colors are green and tender sprout tones; the matching crystal is malachite, traditionally associated with growth, renewal, and fresh starts.
Related hexagrams: Hexagram 41 (Decrease) — the subtraction that became this; Hexagram 55 (Abundance) — the increase at full scale; Hexagram 15 (Modesty) — the redistribution the increase owes.
Hexagram 42: Common Questions
What does hexagram 42 mean in one sentence?
Hexagram 42 means increase — the gain that arrives as capacity for motion, granted the crossing, with the hexagram's definition of increase as movement toward the good and correction of the fault.
Is hexagram 42 always good?
Hexagram 42 grants both movement blessings (利有攸往，利涉大川) and one of the Book's most unusual promises at its center — 勿问元吉, do not ask, supreme good fortune. Its one hard verdict is the final line: the position that receives and gives nothing gets struck (莫益之，或击之，凶). The hexagram is favorable for increase in motion and unfavorable for increase dammed.
What should I do when I receive hexagram 42?
Check which line changed. The great work (line 1) means build with what arrived; the consecrated gift (line 2) means give the gain upward; the ominous matter (line 3) means spend it on the hard thing, through the middle path; the relocated state (line 4) means the increase moves the whole structure; the benefiting heart (line 5) means do not audit the gain; the strike (line 6) means the current has stopped — restart the giving.
Why is hexagram 42 called "Increase"?
Because its image is wind and thunder together — 风雷 — two forces adding to each other, the same movement at two scales. The old translators rendered it Increase or Gain because the hexagram's subject is addition in motion: what arrives, what it is for, and the one position where the receiving-without-giving becomes the strike.
Do not ask. The good fortune is already moving.