above Kiën, the Creative, heaven · below Li, the Clinging, fire
This sign is about fellowship with other people. The Judgement speaks of fellowship ‘in the open’, frank and without hidden motives. Lasting fellowship never grows from the private aims of the self; only goals that concern everyone create it. Look for people who want what you want, including outside your usual circle, and talk openly about your aim together. Then even difficult tasks succeed. Don’t use the fellowship for your own ends, and don’t give up what is yours: real fellowship is not a merging of individuals.
Who do you share a goal with that is bigger than your own advantage?
The image of the upper primary sign, Kiën, is heaven; that of the lower, Li, is the flame. It is the nature of fire to blaze up towards heaven. This gives the idea of fellowship. It is the second line that, by its central nature, unites the five strong lines around itself. The sign is the counterpart of No. 7, The Army. There: danger within, obedience without, as the nature of the warlike army, which needs the one strong line among the many weak ones to hold it together. Here: clarity within, strength without, as the nature of the peaceful union of men, which needs the one yielding line among the many firm ones to hold it together.
Some old words keep coming back in Wilhelm’s sayings:
Fellowship with men in the open: success.It is favourable to cross the great water.The perseverance of the noble one is favourable.
True fellowship among men must come about on the basis of a sympathy of cosmic scope. It is not the private aims of the self but the goals of mankind that bring about lasting fellowship among men; that is why it says: fellowship with men in the open has success. When such unity prevails, even difficult and dangerous tasks, such as crossing the great water, can be accomplished. But to be able to bring about such fellowship, a persevering and enlightened leader is needed, one who has clear, convincing and inspiring goals and knows how to carry them through with strength. (The inner sign means clarity, the outer strength.)
Heaven joined with fire:the image of fellowship with men.So the noble one sets the clans in order and distinguishes between things.
Heaven has the same direction of movement as fire, and yet it is distinct from fire. Just as the luminous bodies in the sky serve to divide and order time, so human society and all things that truly belong together must be organically ordered. Fellowship should not be a mingling of individuals and a mingling of things (that would be chaos, not fellowship); it needs ordered diversity if it is to lead to order.
Wilhelm placed the signs ○ and □ after certain lines (p. 334 f.). They mark the rulers of the hexagram. □ stands by the constituting ruler: the line that gives the hexagram its meaning, however high it stands and whatever its character. ○ stands by the governing ruler. It is always of good character and becomes ruler through the meaning of the time and its position, usually in the fifth place. Where a line is both, it carries ○.
Fellowship with men in the gateway. No blame.
Here a fellowship begins outside the door, where everyone is equally close and no one is pursuing aims of their own. Keep the foundations of a shared undertaking equally open to everyone involved. That way you make no mistake; secret arrangements, on the other hand, turn out badly.
The beginning of a union of men should take place in front of the door. All are equally close to one another. No separate aims of any kind exist as yet. So one makes no mistake. The foundations of every union must be equally accessible to all concerned. Secret agreements bring misfortune.
Fellowship with men within the clan: humiliation.
The line warns against a fellowship that closes ranks around its own people and shuts others out. Factions like this grow from selfish motives and in the long run lead to humiliation. Don’t let yourself be drawn into a group that has to condemn others in order to hold together.
Here there is the danger of a faction founded on personal and selfish interests. Such factions, which are exclusive and have no room for all, which must condemn one part of mankind in order to rally the rest, arise from low motives and therefore in the long run lead to humiliation.
Hides arms in the thicket,goes up the high hill before it.For three years he does not rise.
Here fellowship has turned into mistrust: people keep their weapons hidden, watch each other from afar and harbour hidden motives of their own. That is exactly what deepens the mistrust. Check whether you are plotting something yourself; the longer this lying in wait goes on, the further apart you drift.
Here fellowship has turned into mistrust. One mistrusts the others, lays a secret ambush and tries to spy on the other from afar. One is dealing with a tough opponent who cannot be overcome in this way. What is shown here are obstacles that stand in the way of fellowship with others. One harbours ulterior motives oneself and looks for a chance to take the other by surprise. But that is exactly what makes one mistrustful: one suspects the same tricks in the opponent too and tries to spy them out. As a result one moves further and further away from true fellowship. The longer this goes on, the more estranged one becomes.
He mounts his wall; he cannot attack. Good fortune!
After a falling-out, reconciliation draws nearer, even though walls still stand between those involved. The difficulties are too great for a fight, and distress brings everyone to their senses. Don’t see this as failure: it turns out well precisely because you cannot attack.
Here reconciliation after the quarrel draws nearer. True, there are still dividing walls on which the two sides stand facing each other. But the difficulties are too great. One falls into distress, and distress brings one to one’s senses. One cannot fight, and it is precisely on this that good fortune rests.
Those joined in fellowship at first weep and wail,but later they laugh.After great struggles they manage to meet.
Two people are outwardly apart and joined at heart, with many obstacles between them. Stay true to the other person, even if it costs struggle and grief. The line promises that after great efforts the two find each other, and their sadness turns to joy.
Here two people are outwardly separated but united in their hearts. They are kept apart by their stations in life. Between them rise many obstacles and hindrances that cause them grief. But they let no obstacle part them, and remain true to each other. And although it takes hard struggles to overcome these obstacles, they will nevertheless prevail, and then their sadness will turn into joy when they find each other.
Kungtse says of this:
‘By many-coloured, winding paths life leads the earnest man.At times the vigour of his course is checked, then straight it runs again.Here an eloquent mind may pour itself out freely in words,there the heavy burden of knowledge must lock itself away in silence.But where two people are of one mind in their inner hearts,they break even the strength of iron or of ore.And where two people wholly understand each other in their inner hearts,their words are as sweet and strong as the scent of orchids.’
Fellowship with men on the common: no remorse.
You join others, yet the warmth of the heart is missing; you belong only in an outward way, like people who simply live side by side. The final goal of true fellowship has not been reached yet. Even so, don’t reproach yourself: join without hidden motives, and you will have nothing to regret.
What is lacking here is the warm attachment of the heart. In truth one already stands outside fellowship with others. But one joins in. The fellowship does not embrace everyone, only those who outwardly live together. The common is the pasture outside the town. The final goal of the union of mankind has not yet been reached here. Yet one need not reproach oneself. One joins the community without separate aims.
Would you like to put your own question to the I Ching? Six throws of three coins, and the answer appears straight away.
Consult the I ChingTexts by Richard Wilhelm: I Ging. Das Buch der Wandlungen (first edition Jena 1924), translated into English by NUMEN COMPASS from the Diederichs edition, Munich 1996. Wilhelm’s German text is in the public domain. The section ‘What the hexagram says today’, the question for you and the short notes under the lines are our own reading. The I Ching is no substitute for medical, legal or psychological advice.