Hexagram 46: Pushing Upward

The Sierra Nevada, 1868. Albert Bierstadt paints the view from valley floor to mountain summit—a lake in the foreground reflects surrounding peaks, waterfalls cascade down cliff faces, the eye travels upward through successive ridges to the highest snow-covered crests. The massive canvas leads the viewer's gaze through vertical stages, each elevation revealing the next. Bierstadt made the journey west during the era of Manifest Destiny, documenting the ascent from lowland to alpine heights.

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This is Shēng (升), Pushing Upward, the hexagram of gradual but steady elevation. The character shows a vessel used for measuring grain—advancement through accumulated small increments rather than sudden leaps. The trigram structure places Earth (Kūn) above Wind (Xùn): receptive ground receiving the gentle, persistent penetration of wind from below, the way seeds push through soil toward light. Bierstadt's composition mirrors this vertical structure—the painting climbs from shadowed foreground through illuminated middle ground to brilliant peaks, each section building on the one below.

The Judgment text states: "Pushing Upward has supreme success. One must see the great man. Fear not. Departure toward the south brings good fortune." The text promises success through upward movement but emphasizes the need for guidance (seeing the great man) and proper direction. Bierstadt's painting includes tiny human figures and animals at the lake's edge, dwarfed by the surrounding peaks—scale establishing the magnitude of the ascent before them. In Zhou Dynasty practice, this hexagram appeared when officials received promotions through merit, when students advanced through examinations, when building projects proceeded stage by stage toward completion. The counsel addresses sustainable climb rather than reckless scrambling, advancement that builds on solid foundation.

The Image Text observes: "Within the earth, wood grows: the image of Pushing Upward. Thus the superior person of devoted character heaps up small things in order to achieve something high and great." The image of a tree growing from seed through soil captures the hexagram's essential principle—organic upward development, growth that accumulates incrementally. Bierstadt's waterfalls demonstrate this same principle in reverse and then forward—water descends from heights, collects in the lake, then evaporates to form clouds that rise again to the peaks. In the I-Ching sequence, Shēng follows Cuì (gathering together): after people collect comes the potential for collective elevation, the gathered energy directed upward. The painting's vertical composition creates visual ascent, the eye pushed upward from lake to waterfall to ridge to summit, each stage of the climb visible in the towering landscape.