(If you see tiny squares where Chinese characters should be you are probably using Internet Explorer. Switch to Firefox, it does a much better job.)
Most Yijing translations translate sheng 升, the name of hexagram 46, as ‘pushing upwards’, ‘advancing’ or ‘ascending’. ‘Pushing upwards’ and ‘advancing’ are not good translations to my taste, but ‘ascending’ is perfectly alright. But there is more to this character (as always), if we look at the etymology and the first uses of this character, we can get a picture of what is ascended and why. The text of the Yijing also helps getting this clear. Continue reading