同人 → 臨
Hexagram 13: Fellowship → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 2
六二 同人于宗。吝。
Six in the second place means: Fellowship with men in the clan. Humiliation.
Line 3
九三 伏戎于莽。升其高陵。三歲不興。
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 4
九四 乘其墉。弗克攻。吉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He climbs up on his wall; he cannot attack. Good fortune.
Line 5
九五 同人先號咷而後笑。大師克相遇。
Nine in the fifth place means: Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament, But afterward they laugh. After great struggles they succeed in meeting.
Line 6
上九 同人于郊。无悔。
Nine at the top means: Fellowship with men in the meadow. No remorse.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
出門逢患，與福為怨；更相擊刺，傷我手端。
Stepping out the gate, one meets disaster; fortune becomes a grudge. Exchanging blows and stabs; my hand is wounded.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and fire form Fellowship, but stepping outside the door one meets disaster. What should bring fortune turns into enmity; those who should be companions strike and stab at each other, wounding the hand. The verse inverts Fellowship's promise: the open field becomes an ambush, and allies become attackers. From Fellowship to Approach, the transformation carries a bitter irony. Lake beneath the earth in Approach, the ruler draws near to teach and protect without limit. But here the approach is hostile — those drawing near bring blades, not guidance. The wound to the hand suggests agency itself is damaged: one cannot grasp opportunity when the grasping hand is cut.
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