同人

Hexagram 13: Fellowship → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer

同人
Fellowship
Heaven / Fire
The Wanderer
Mountain / Fire
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 4, 5).

Line 4

九四 乘其墉。弗克攻。吉。

chéngmounting
one's
yōngbattlement
but not
capable of
gōngto attack
promising

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。

tóngfellowship with
rénothers
xiānbegins
háowailing
táoweeping
érand then
hòufollows with
xiàolaughter
great
shīarmies
can manage
xiāngeach other
to entertain

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.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramHeaven MountainThe Creative → Keeping Still
Lower TrigramFire Fire

Yilin Verse

鳳凰在左,麒麟在右;仁聖相遇,伊呂集聚;傷害不至,時無殃咎,福為我母。

Phoenix on the left, qilin on the right. Benevolent sages meet together; Yi Yin and Lyu Shang gather. Harm does not arrive; the season brings no calamity. Blessing is our mother.

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

Commentary

Heaven and fire form Fellowship in its most exalted manifestation. The phoenix stands at the left, the qilin at the right — the two supreme auspicious creatures flanking a gathering of sages. The benevolent and the holy meet; Yi Yin and Lü Shang convene — the great ministers of Shang and Zhou united in one vision. No harm can approach; the age is free of calamity, and blessing becomes a nurturing mother. From Fellowship to the Wanderer, the transformation seems incongruous: from perfect assembly to homeless journeying. Yet fire upon the mountain in the Wanderer illuminates distant terrain. The sage assembly described here is portable — its fellowship travels, and wherever it alights, it creates a temporary paradise. Even the wanderer carries blessings.

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