Hexagram 13 of 64
同人 Tóng Rén · Fellowship
上 乾 Heaven (Qián) over 下 離 Fire (Lí)
Speak with those who share your road.
Judgment
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, judgment. English translation in preparation.
Image
In short: heaven with fire.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, Great Image. Short gloss by Koyonari; full translation in preparation.
Commentary
Tóng Rén represents heaven and fire rising together in the same upward direction; the nature of fire is to ascend, traveling with heaven. This is walking the same road, rather than having identical minds. Tóng Rén advises speaking with those sharing your heading: accord need not be total; shared direction suffices. Remaining disagreements can safely keep; preserving them saves far more trouble than arguing them out now.
Koyonari commentary.
The Six Lines
“Fellowship at the gate; no blame.” Going beyond the household to join with others means keeping relationships open beyond one’s own home. “No blame” means there is no fault and no cause for reproach. Tóngrén begins with reaching outward to form relationships, without first separating close relationships from distant ones.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 1. Koyonari translation.
“Going out of the gate for fellowship with men: who can blame him?” As soon as the Initial Nine steps outside the household gate, he harmonizes openly with others without harboring selfish partiality, acting uprightly and honorably so that naturally no one will reproach or blame him.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 2. Koyonari translation.
“Fellowship only within the clan brings distress.” Joining only with members of the same clan limits closeness to one’s own kinship circle. “Humiliation” means that this approach leaves something to be ashamed of or rue. Tóngrén calls for seeking common ground widely; concentrating only on closeness to one’s own people reveals a narrow outlook.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 3. Koyonari translation.
“Fellowship with men in the clan: the way of hardship.” The Second Six achieves fellowship only within his private clan or a narrow circle, confining himself to personal favoritism and clannish factionalism; this is a course that leads toward narrow restriction and regret.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 4. Koyonari translation.
“Hiding troops in the thicket, ascending the high mound; for three years unable to rise.” Troops are concealed in undergrowth; a high hill is climbed to keep watch, but no campaign begins for three years. Zhū Xī’s Běnyì (Original Meaning) says the third Nine seeks union with the second Six but fears the fifth Nine’s strength, so it only sets ambushes and watches, continually postponing action.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 5. Koyonari translation.
“He hides troops in the thicket, because the adversary is unyielding. For three years he cannot rise up: how could he advance?” The Nine in the Third conceals troops among the thick brushwood because his adversary is unyielding and strong. Unable to mobilize military action for three full years, how could he possibly make an advance?
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 6. Koyonari translation.
“Climbing the battlements, unable to attack; good fortune.” Having climbed the city wall, one cannot attack. Willingness to stop without attacking brings “good fortune,” an auspicious outcome. (The base text places the pause after “cannot,” followed by “attack, good fortune”; the usual punctuation reads “cannot attack; good fortune.”) The Xiàngzhuàn (Commentary on the Images) explains that difficulty leads one back to conduct within proper rules.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 7. Koyonari translation.
“Mounting its wall, but in righteousness he cannot prevail. His good fortune comes from turning back to rule after being blocked.” The Nine in the Fourth climbs onto the ramparts intending to attack, yet he lacks moral justification and cannot possibly prevail. That he turns to good fortune is because, upon meeting obstruction and adversity, he knows to retreat and return to observing proper laws and the correct path.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 8. Koyonari translation.
“Fellowship: first weeping and wailing, then laughter. Great armies overcome obstacles and meet.” People sharing the same aims first weep aloud because obstacles keep them apart. Later, when they can meet, their tears turn to laughter. Dàshī means a large army: military force must overcome the obstacles before the two sides can come together. Though their wish to unite is shared, reaching one another still involves hardship.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 9. Koyonari translation.
“‘The beginning of fellowship’: this is due to being centered and upright. ‘The great armies encounter each other’: this means they overcome each other.” “The beginning of fellowship” refers to the line statement’s mention of weeping and wailing first: the Nine in the Fifth seeks union with a centered and upright heart, yet being blocked, he cries out in sorrow first. “The great armies encounter each other” means that only by using a massive army to defeat the obstructing adversary can he finally join with the Six in the Second.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 10. Koyonari translation.
“Fellowship in the suburbs; no remorse.” Seeking common ground with others on the outskirts places one far from the center of rivalry. “No regret” means there is nothing to regret. Yet the outskirts are remote, so the scope for finding common ground remains limited. At the end of Tóngrén, competition is slight, but broad fellowship has still not been achieved.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 11. Koyonari translation.
“Fellowship with men in the outskirts: the ambition is not yet achieved.” The Top Nine is situated at the outermost edge of the hexagram, achieving fellowship only in the outskirts; although the line statement says there is no regret, his aspiration to unite all under heaven has not yet been fulfilled.
Zhouyi, hexagram 13, line 12. Koyonari translation.