Hexagram 7: The Army
Outer trigram (upper)
Khôn
Earth · Earth
Inner trigram (lower)
Khảm
Water · Water
Judgment
師：貞，丈人吉，无咎.
Sư: Trinh, trượng nhân cát, vô cứu.
Translation
An army raised for a right and proper cause, led by an experienced commander, brings good fortune and no blame.
Commentary
Why should Earth above and Water below signify a crowd, or an army? The Commentary on the Images explains that Khôn is earth and Khảm is water: water gathering within the earth is the image of many people massing together into a body. The Commentary on the Judgment adds that going to war is a dangerous and harmful undertaking (the danger belongs to Khảm), but when an army is raised for a just cause — to put down tyranny and bring peace to the people — the people will follow it willingly (the obedience belongs to Khôn), will support the one who leads them, and will let themselves be directed. In that case the outcome is good: a true ruler can be established over the realm, and there is no fault in it.
Line Readings
Line 1 (yin)
初六：師，出以律，否臧，凶.
Translation
Line 1, yin: When an army marches out, it must have discipline; without it (the phrase means 'lacking in what is good'), the result is misfortune.
Commentary
This is the very first step of a campaign, so caution is essential: discipline must be strict, yet applied skillfully, so as not to lose the trust of the people or the troops.
Line 2 (yang)
九二：在師，中，吉，无咎，王三錫命.
Translation
Line 2, yang: Within the army, holding to the virtue of balance brings good fortune and no blame, and the ruler rewards this line three times over.
Commentary
This is the only yang line in the whole hexagram, and it commands all the yin lines around it. It has both firmness and balance, and it corresponds with yin Line 5 above, much as a head of state grants full authority to a general in the field. Because it holds to balance, it meets with good fortune, incurs no blame, and receives repeated reward.
Line 3 (yin)
六三：師，或輿尸，凶.
Translation
Line 3, yin: out of place (a yin line occupying a yang position) and off balance — misfortune. The battle is lost, and the dead may have to be carried home.
Commentary
Line 3 is soft and yielding by nature, and on top of that it is out of place (a yin line in a yang position) and off balance. The result is misfortune: the campaign fails, and the army may return carrying its dead.
Line 4 (yin)
六四：師，左次，无咎.
Translation
Line 4, yin: Having marched out, the army withdraws and camps to the rear — no blame.
Commentary
Though this line is off balance, it is in its proper place. It lacks great ability (being a yin line), but it knows its own limits: it withdraws rather than advancing, so as not to exhaust its troops. This is the ordinary rule that when the enemy is strong, one steps back — and for that reason there is no blame.
Line 5 (yin)
六五：田有禽，利執言，无咎，長子師師，弟子輿尸，貞凶.
Translation
Line 5, yin: Like wild game trampling the fields, it is advantageous to capture the intruders. Put an experienced elder in command of the army; if the young and inexperienced are given command instead, the dead will be carried home, and even a righteous cause will end in misfortune.
Commentary
Line 5, yin, occupies the position of highest honor, the image of a ruler who is gentle and follows the path of balance, not one who seeks war. But when the enemy crosses the border — like wild animals coming out of the forest to trample the fields — the ruler must drive them off and capture them, and in doing so incurs no blame. This ruler entrusts command to the experienced elder below (Line 2), the one truly fit for it; if command is given instead to the young and untested (like Line 3), or if such people are allowed to take part, the campaign will fail — even a righteous war will end with the dead carried home and honor lost.
Line 6 (yin)
上六：大君有命，開國承家，小人勿用.
Translation
Line 6 (top), yin: After the triumphant return, when the ruler issues commands concerning the founding of states and the governing of families, petty people should not be entrusted with such matters, however great their record in battle.
Commentary
This line stands at the very top, at the moment of success, when the ruler reviews the army's achievements and grants rewards. A petty person may well be skilled in battle and may have earned real merit, but such a person should be rewarded with wealth alone, not granted land to govern or placed in a position of real authority in the state — for building and governing a nation requires people of both ability and character to carry the weight of it.