Increase is the inverse of Decrease, and the pairing matters. Where 41 removes what is not load-bearing, 42 describes something being added from above — support arriving, and the obligation that comes with it.
The structure: Wind over Thunder
Thunder below, wind above. Movement at the base and something carrying it further — growth that is being fed rather than merely begun.
The Judgment
Increase. It furthers one to undertake something. It furthers one to cross the great water.
Both clauses are about action, and that is the distinction from Decrease. This is the moment to use what has arrived rather than to husband it.
The Image
Wind and thunder: the image of Increase. Thus the superior man: if he sees good, he imitates it; if he has faults, he rids himself of them.
The instruction is interesting because it is immediate: correction without delay, imitation without deliberation. Increase is described as something you must keep up with.
The lines
- Line 1 — It furthers one to accomplish great deeds. Supreme good fortune. No blame.
- Line 2 — Someone does indeed increase him; ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose this.
- Line 3 — One is enriched through unfortunate events. No blame, if you are sincere and walk in the middle.
- Line 4 — If you walk in the middle and report to the prince, he will follow you.
- Line 5 — If in truth you have a kind heart, ask not. Supreme good fortune.
- Line 6 — He brings increase to no one. Someone strikes him. Misfortune.
The arc turns on line 6, which is the only unfavourable line: increase received and not passed on. That is the obligation the Judgment implied.
How to read it
Increase is commonly misread as simple good news about growth. The text is describing a flow that has to continue moving, and line 6 is what happens when it stops.
Line 3 is the other one to note — the gain arrives packaged as an unfortunate event, which only reads as gain if the response is sincere.
Why decrease comes first
Hexagrams 41 and 42 are structural inverses, and the sequence puts reduction before gain. The reading is that increase only lands where something has already been cleared to receive it.
Line 6 makes the consequence explicit: increase that stops moving becomes a liability rather than an asset.
In a reading, this distinguishes gain you can act on from gain that merely accumulates.