同人 → 比
Hexagram 13: Fellowship → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 同人于門。无咎。
Nine at the beginning means: Fellowship with men at the gate. No blame.
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 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
白龍黑虎，起伏俱怒，戰於阪兆；蚩尤走敗，死於魯首。
White dragon, black tiger, both rise in fury. They clash upon the hillside. Chi You flees in defeat and dies at Lushou.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and fire form Fellowship, but here fellowship is forged through cosmic battle. A white dragon and black tiger rise together in fury, clashing on the slopes. This evokes the Yellow Emperor's primordial war against Chi You — the foundational conflict that established civilization itself. Chi You flees in defeat and dies at Lushou. The violence is not gratuitous but generative: from this battle, order emerges. From Fellowship to Holding Together, the transformation reveals that unity sometimes requires the expulsion of chaos. Water rests upon the earth in Holding Together as the ancient kings established the myriad states. Only after the raging beast is slain can the nations gather in peace.
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