Daily Hexagram
Monday, February 23, 2026
Napoleon Crossing the Alps
Jacques-Louis David, 1801
Hexagram 7
師
The Army
Active Line: 5
The Judgment
The mass needs organization to become a force. This requires a strong leader—not through brutality but through character that inspires loyalty. Discipline achieved through respect, not fear. Such leadership brings good fortune without blame.
Line 5
Game appears in the field—now is the time to act. Let the experienced leader command. If the young and inexperienced take charge, the result is corpses. Persisting with wrong leadership brings disaster.
The Army
Jacques-Louis David painted Napoleon on a rearing stallion, crossing the Alps in May 1801. The Neoclassical portrait shows the First Consul wrapped in a gold-trimmed cloak that billows dramatically behind him, his right arm extended to point forward toward the mountain passes. The horse's front hooves lift off rocky ground; Napoleon sits firmly in the saddle, his face calm despite the apparent motion. Behind him, barely visible in storm clouds, soldiers and artillery struggle upward through the snow. This is not documentary painting but propaganda—Napoleon actually crossed the Alps on a mule, in clear weather, with his army already ahead of him. David painted the ideal of command: one man directing collective force through sheer presence and will. This is Shī (師), which combines Water (☵) above and Earth (☷) below. The character 師 originally depicted a military division under organized command, the multitude given direction by leadership. Water stored within earth: hidden reserves, potential force held under control until the moment of deployment. David's composition embodies this structure—the general visible and elevated, the troops implied but subordinate, moving as one body toward a single objective. David painted Napoleon on horseback leading his army across the Alps in 1800. The Neoclassical portrait shows the commander directing his troops, illustrating organized military force under centralized leadership. The Judgment declares: "The army needs perseverance and a strong man. Good fortune without blame." David painted the strong man, but the historical Napoleon understood the deeper requirement—that armies move through persistence rather than momentary heroism, that discipline sustains force more reliably than charisma. Zhou Dynasty military texts associated with this hexagram emphasized supply lines, morale, the capacity to maintain order during the chaos of campaign. The Image Text reveals the foundation of legitimate military power: "In the middle of the earth is water: the image of the army. Thus the superior man increases his masses by generosity toward the people." Water nourishes earth; command sustains soldiers through care rather than coercion. Napoleon knew this principle—he reformed military logistics, promoted on merit, shared rations with his troops. In the I-Ching's sequence, Shī follows Sòng: when conflict cannot be resolved through mediation, organized collective action becomes necessary. David's painting shows conflict transformed into coordinated movement, individual wills subordinated to common purpose under leadership that earns rather than demands obedience.
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