同人

Hexagram 13: Fellowship → Hexagram 17: Following

同人
Fellowship
Heaven / Fire
Following
Lake / Thunder
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 3, 6).

Line 3

九三 伏戎于莽。升其高陵。三歲不興。

cache
róngweapons
in
mǎngunderbrush
shēngclimbing up
one's
gāohighest
línghills
sānthree
suìyears
of
xīngexuberance

Nine in the third place means: He hides weapons in the thicket; He climbs the high hill in front of it. For three years he does not rise up.

Line 6

上九 同人于郊。无悔。

tóngfellowship with
rénothers
in
jiāoouter districts
no
huǐto regret

Nine at the top means: Fellowship with men in the meadow. No remorse.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramHeaven LakeThe Creative → The Joyous
Lower TrigramFire ThunderThe Clinging → The Arousing

Yilin Verse

季姬踟躕,望我城隅;終日至暮,不見齊侯。君上無憂。

Lady Ji Jiang paces to and fro, watching from the city wall. From dawn until dusk; she does not see the Lord of Qi. The lord above has no worry.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Heaven and fire form Fellowship, but here the woman waits in vain. Lady Ji hesitates at the city wall, gazing from the corner tower, watching all day until dusk — yet the Lord of Qi never appears. The final line pivots: the ruler above has no cause for worry. Her longing is private; the state is secure. The verse resonates with Shijing imagery of women waiting at walls for absent lords. From Fellowship to Following, the transformation reframes unfulfilled desire as patient acceptance. Thunder rests within the lake in Following; the noble man retreats to rest at nightfall. The waiting woman, though her lord never comes, embodies following's deeper lesson: not all bonds require fulfillment to remain bonds.

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