Hexagram 13 · 天火同人

Fellowship

Metal · Li palace

Shared purpose across differences; open alliance.

Meaning

Fire rising into heaven: light shared by all, belonging to no one private. Fellowship concerns cooperation that is based on a principle rather than on a personal attachment.

Decision Framework

Align openly around a shared aim.

Decision Guidance

Fellowship is about cooperation that works because people agree on the goal, not because they happen to be close. It appears when a genuine common interest can be identified and used to bring different parties into the same effort.

The hexagram's emphasis is on openness. Cliques, hidden agendas and private deals undermine exactly the kind of broad alignment this reading is describing. State the shared objective plainly, include people who are not your usual circle, and let the common aim do the organising work.

Judgment — Classical Text

同人于野，亨。利涉大川，利君子贞。

EN Fellowship in the open country — success. Crossing the great water furthers; the noble one's perseverance furthers.

The Six Lines — Classical Text

初九：同人于门，无咎。
EN Initial nine: fellowship at the gate — no blame.
六二：同人于宗，吝。
EN Six in the second: fellowship only within the clan — regret.
九三：伏戎于莽，升其高陵，三岁不兴。
EN Nine in the third: hiding weapons in the thicket and climbing the high ridge — three years without rising.
九四：乘其墉，弗克攻，吉。
EN Nine in the fourth: mounting the wall but not attacking — good fortune.
九五：同人，先号咷而后笑，大师克相遇。
EN Nine in the fifth: fellowship — first weeping and wailing, then laughter; the great armies meet at last.
上九：同人于郊，无悔。
EN Topmost nine: fellowship in the outskirts — no regret.

Keywords

I Ching hexagram 13, Fellowship hexagram, Tong Ren hexagram meaning, hexagram for cooperation