The judgment
升:元亨,用見大人,勿恤,南征吉。
Pushing upward. Supreme success. It is fit to see a great person; do not worry. Marching south is lucky.
Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex46.judgment.
The image
象曰:地中生木,升。君子以順德,積小以高大。
Wood grows out of the earth: pushing upward. A capable person follows virtue and piles small things into something high.
Received text; plain English after the Chinese. Source: 周易經傳 (public-domain). Passage: hex46.image.
Rise by accumulation, not by jump.
The six lines
Each line is a stage, from the bottom of the hexagram to the top. Open any line to read it in plain English.
初六 允升,大吉。 A trusted rise. Great good fortune: you are lifted because people agree, not because you pushed.
A trusted rise. Great good fortune: you are lifted because people agree, not because you pushed.
九二 孚乃利用禴,無咎。 With sincerity, even a simple offering is enough. No blame.
With sincerity, even a simple offering is enough. No blame.
九三 升虛邑。 Rising into an empty town. The way is open and there is no resistance: do not mistake emptiness for achievement.
Rising into an empty town. The way is open and there is no resistance: do not mistake emptiness for achievement.
六四 王用亨於岐山,吉無咎。 The king offers sacrifice at Mount Qi. Good fortune, no blame: the rise is legitimate and public.
The king offers sacrifice at Mount Qi. Good fortune, no blame: the rise is legitimate and public.
六五 貞吉,升階。 Stay true and it is lucky. Rising step by step: the stairs are the point.
Stay true and it is lucky. Rising step by step: the stairs are the point.
上六 冥升,利於不息之貞。 Rising in the dark. It is favorable only for unceasing constancy: keep climbing without seeing, and do not pretend you can see.
Rising in the dark. It is favorable only for unceasing constancy: keep climbing without seeing, and do not pretend you can see.