# Hexagram 35: Progress

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/35
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Li 離](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/li), Fire, the clinging, clarity
- **Lower trigram:** [Kun 坤](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kun), Earth, the receptive, yielding
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 000101 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

Progress. The sun rises and illuminates what has been obscure. Recognition, advancement, and forward movement are at hand. What has been prepared in hidden work now becomes visible. Step forward openly; this is not a moment for false modesty.

## Image

The sun rising above the earth. The superior person brightens their own bright virtue.

## Counsel

Take the visible step. Be willing to be seen. Do not manufacture drama or take credit you have not earned, but also do not shrink from what is genuinely yours. Continue your inner work even as outer things bloom; the brightness lasts only as long as the root is sound.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> Progressing, but rebuffed.
> Perseverance brings good fortune.
> If one finds no trust, let one remain calm.
> No fault.

### Line 2

> A six in the second place means:
> Progressing, but in sorrow:
> Perseverance brings good fortune.
> One will then obtain great happiness from one's ancestress.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> All are in agreement. Remorse vanishes.

### Line 4

> A nine in the fourth place means:
> Progress like a hamster.
> Perseverance brings danger.

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> Remorse vanishes.
> Take not to heart gain and loss.
> Undertakings bring good fortune.
> Everything is furthering.

### Line 6

> A nine at the top means:
> Progressing with the horns one may do only
> to chastise one's own territory.
> Awareness of danger brings good fortune.
> No blame.
> Perseverance brings humiliation.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [39 Obstruction](https://thefreeiching.com/library/39)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [36 Darkening of the Light](https://thefreeiching.com/library/36)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [5 Waiting](https://thefreeiching.com/library/5)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [21 Biting Through](https://thefreeiching.com/library/21) |
| Line 2 | [64 Before Completion](https://thefreeiching.com/library/64) |
| Line 3 | [56 The Wanderer](https://thefreeiching.com/library/56) |
| Line 4 | [23 Splitting Apart](https://thefreeiching.com/library/23) |
| Line 5 | [12 Standstill](https://thefreeiching.com/library/12) |
| Line 6 | [16 Enthusiasm](https://thefreeiching.com/library/16) |

Previous: [34 Great Power](https://thefreeiching.com/library/34). Next: [36 Darkening of the Light](https://thefreeiching.com/library/36). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 35: Progress." https://thefreeiching.com/library/35 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/35). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.