Hexagram 13 of 64
Fellowship
同人 Tóng Rén
Upper trigram: 乾 Qián, heaven
Lower trigram: 離 Lí, fire
The judgment
同人于野，亨。利涉大川，利君子貞。
Fellowship in the open country. Success. It is fitting to cross the great river. It is fitting for the noble person to hold firm.
The Great Image
天與火，同人；君子以類族辨物。
Heaven and fire: Fellowship. In the same way, the noble person sorts clans by kind and tells things apart.
The six lines
Lines are counted from the bottom. Read a line closely when it changes in your cast.
Line 1 初九
同人于門，無咎。
Fellowship at the gate. No blame.
The gate is where you step outside your own house. Consider one connection you could make just beyond your usual walls.
Line 2 六二
同人于宗，吝。
Fellowship within the clan. Shame.
Fellowship kept within the clan brings shame here. Ask whether loyalty to your own people may have closed you to everyone else.
Line 3 九三
伏戎于莽，升其高陵，三歲不興。
Troops hidden in the thick grass. Climbing its high hill. For three years no rising.
Soldiers hide in the grass and for three years nothing comes of it. Ask whether suspicion of someone has kept you crouched and watching longer than it has served you.
Line 4 九四
乘其庸，弗克攻，吉。
Mounting its wall, unable to attack. Good fortune.
The attacker is up on the wall and does not go through with it. Consider whether stopping at the edge of a fight you could start may be wise.
Line 5 九五
同人，先號啕而後笑。大師克相遇。
Fellowship: first wailing, and afterward laughter. The great army prevails, and they meet.
Wailing comes first and laughter after, when the great army meets. If a separation has been painful, ask what it could take to reach the other side of it.
Line 6 上九
同人于郊，無悔。
Fellowship in the outskirts. No regret.
The outskirts are a long way from the open country of the judgment. Consider whether a friendship of modest reach, with nothing to regret, could be enough for now.
What this hexagram says
This hexagram is fire below and heaven above. Fire rises toward the sky, and the two share one direction. It is about people coming together around what they have in common.
The judgment places fellowship in the open country, outside any family or faction, and connects it with crossing a great river. Ask who you could work with if you looked beyond your own circle.
If your question is about building a team or a community, tradition reads this as a time for open dealings and shared purpose. The lines caution against favoring your own clan and against hiding behind suspicion. The fifth line shows that fellowship can cost tears first.
A hexagram is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource text of the Zhou Yi (its page for this hexagram, 周易/同人), compared with the Project Gutenberg edition. The Great Image comes from the Wikisource page 周易/大象.
- Wikisource, 周易
Retrieved 2026-11-08
- Project Gutenberg eBook 25501, 易經
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Read this hexagram with its traditional commentaries in our library.
Where the sources differ
- In the fourth line, Wikisource reads 庸 and notes that it is also written 墉. Project Gutenberg reads 墉 (wall), the sense followed here.
- In the fifth line, Wikisource writes 號啕 and Project Gutenberg writes 號咷. Both mean wailing.
The English renderings and the advice are by Cast & Chart. The advice is a modern reading and is not part of the classical text.