Hexagram 35: Advance
By Wendy Zhang, Founder of Solacely · Updated
晉 · Jìn
Advance. The marquis who brings peace is given many horses, and is received three times in a single day.
The judgment
康侯用錫馬蕃庶，晝日三接。
Advance. The marquis who brings peace is given many horses, and is received three times in a single day.
The image
明出地上，晉；君子以自昭明德。
Brightness rising over the earth: the image of Advance. The noble person makes their own bright virtue shine.
The sun climbs above the earth, its light spreading easily. A yielding, receptive base supports clarity rising into view.
What Advance means
Advance pictures the sun coming up over the land: progress that is easy, visible, and well received. The judgment’s image is a loyal noble who has served well and is honored by the ruler with gifts and repeated audiences in one day. This hexagram describes a time when your efforts are recognized and your position improves, usually through good relationships with those who have more authority. The Image adds a key point: the noble person brightens their own virtue. Progress comes from clarity and genuine merit, not from self-promotion. Commentators emphasize that the lower trigram is receptive and devoted, the upper bright; real advancement rests on loyalty and service joined to clear understanding. Be visible, be generous with credit, and keep your intentions transparent. Avoid grasping at status or pushing past others, since the lines warn that greed and overreach can turn a bright advance into exposure.
In love and relationships
Things move into the light in love. Feelings may become clearer, a relationship may become public or more committed, or you may simply be seen more warmly by someone you like. Openness and warmth help now. Let your real qualities show rather than performing for approval.
At work
This is a promising time for recognition, promotion, or a well-received presentation. Supportive relationships with managers or clients carry you forward. Share credit and stay honest about what you can deliver. Progress built on visible competence and good faith is likely to keep rising, while shortcuts or competitiveness could dim it.
The six lines
Read a line when it is a changing line in your cast (a 6 or a 9).
晉如，摧如，貞吉。罔孚，裕无咎。
Advancing, yet held back. Persistence brings good fortune. If you are not yet trusted, stay generous and calm, and there is no blame.
You want to move forward but meet resistance, perhaps because others do not yet know or trust you. This is normal at the start. Keep your integrity and avoid getting defensive. A relaxed, open attitude while you wait for trust to form is exactly right. Your progress is delayed, not denied.
晉如，愁如，貞吉。受茲介福，于其王母。
Advancing, yet sorrowful. Persistence brings good fortune. You receive great blessing from your grandmother.
Progress may feel lonely or uncertain, as if no one sees your effort. This central, correct line suggests that steadiness will be rewarded, often through a supportive, nurturing figure, an older woman or a gentle authority. Keep going quietly. Help is likely to arrive from someone who values sincerity over show.
眾允，悔亡。
All are in agreement. Regret disappears.
You do not advance alone. People around you support your direction, and that shared trust compensates for any weakness in your position. If you have doubted yourself, the line suggests your peers or community stand with you. Move forward together; collective backing makes progress steady and removes old regrets.
晉如鼫鼠，貞厲。
Advancing like a squirrel. Persistence is dangerous.
The 鼫鼠 is a greedy, timid creature that hoards and hides. This strong line in an unfitting place holds a high position without real merit or with hidden motives. If you are gaining ground through grabbing, secrecy, or appearing more capable than you are, the line warns it will not hold. Become transparent before exposure forces the issue.
悔亡，矢得勿恤，往吉无不利。
Regret disappears. Do not worry about gain or loss. Going forward brings good fortune; nothing that is not favorable.
In the ruler’s place, this yielding line leads through openness and generosity. Stop fretting about whether each step wins or loses. Your clear intentions and good relationships are enough. Advance with a light heart; the line strongly favors moving ahead and suggests results will follow when you stop clutching at them.
晉其角，維用伐邑，厲吉无咎，貞吝。
Advancing with the horns. Use it only to discipline your own city. Danger, yet good fortune and no blame. Persisting brings humiliation.
At the top, advance has become forceful, butting like horns. Such aggression is appropriate only for correcting matters within your own domain, such as your habits or your own team. Turned outward, it causes harm. Apply firmness to yourself, not others, and do not keep pushing once the correction is made.
Advice
Let your real work and character be seen. Advance through clarity and good relationships, not by grasping.
A question to reflect on
What part of my work or character am I ready to let shine more openly?