比 → 同人
Hexagram 8: Holding Together → Hexagram 13: Fellowship
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初六 有孚比之。无咎。有孚盈缶。終來有它吉。
Six at the beginning means: Hold to him in truth and loyalty; This is without blame. Truth, like a full earthen bowl: Thus in the end Good fortune comes from without.
Line 3
六三 比之匪人。
Six in the third place means: You hold together with the wrong people.
Line 4
六四 外比之。貞吉。
Six in the fourth place means: Hold to him outwardly also. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 6
上六 比之无首。凶。
Six at the top means: He finds no head for holding together. Misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
仁智隱伏，麟不可得。龍蛇潛藏，虛居堂室。
Benevolence and wisdom lie hidden; the qilin cannot be found. Dragon and serpent conceal themselves; the hall and chamber stand empty.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Water upon earth should gather the worthy, but here the virtuous remain hidden. The wise and humane lie concealed; the qilin cannot be found. Dragons and serpents stay submerged, and halls stand vacant. This resonates with the captured-qilin tradition: when the auspicious beast cannot appear, it means the age lacks a sage to summon it forth. The dragons and serpents recall the Yi's own imagery of the hidden dragon in Qian's first line — potential withheld from a world not yet ready. From Holding Together to Fellowship, the irony sharpens: Tongren's fire and heaven should illuminate all under the sky, bringing kindred spirits together. Yet the verse says the gathering fails. The alliance exists in potential but cannot manifest when talent refuses to emerge.
The Six Lines app includes all 4,096 Yilin verses, each with original ink brush artwork and full commentary. Download on the App Store