師Shi · The Army
In one sentence
This is a hard battle that takes a lot of people. What matters most is the leader and the discipline.
It is like sending an army to war: the cause must be just, there must be method, and a steady, experienced person must be in command. First make sure the matter stands on solid ground. Set the rules, pick the right person to be in charge, then let go and let that person lead. Half-hearted trust and several people giving orders mean certain defeat.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- This is a hard campaign that takes many people; you cannot fight it alone. First make sure the cause can stand on its merits, then set the rules and divide the work, and let someone steady and experienced lead. Once that is decided, step back and let them lead. Several people giving orders, or orders that change from morning to evening, will certainly lose.
- Love
- This relationship is not easy right now. It is more like two people fighting a hard campaign together; passion alone will not hold it up, and it needs some order. First agree on the rules, let the steadier one decide the big things, do not each go your own way, and do not let too many outsiders give the orders. A relationship that cannot stand on its merits should not be started.
- Money
- Manage money the way you would lead troops, with discipline and with order. Before you commit it, ask one question: is this money being spent rightly, and can it stand on its merits? Put the accounts in the hands of one steady, reliable person, rather than several people each running their own corner. Moving large sums with no rules is certain defeat.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsYou must keep to the right course and have a mature, steady person in the lead. Good fortune, no blame.
The Tuan commentary
師，眾也。貞，正也。能以眾正，可以王矣。剛中而應，行險而順，以此毒天下，而民從之，吉又何咎矣。
Shi means the multitude. To stay true means to be correct. One who can make the multitude correct can be a king. The firm is in the center and is answered; it moves through danger and yet complies. By this one puts all under heaven through hardship, and the people follow. Good fortune; what blame could there be?
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
地中有水，師。君子以容民畜眾。
Water within the earth: Shi (The Army). The noble one shelters the people and gathers the multitude.
The lines
Six at the beginning
Text師出以律，否臧凶。An army sets out under discipline. If the order is not good, misfortune.In plain wordsAn army must set out with discipline. If there is no method from the very start: misfortune. In everything, be careful at the beginning and keep to the rules. More on this line →
Nine in the second place
Text在師中，吉无咎，王三錫命。In the midst of the army. Good fortune, no blame. The king confers his command three times.In plain wordsYou are the commander in the midst of the army, steady and centered. Good fortune, no blame, and you receive commendation and trust from above again and again. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text師或輿尸，凶。The army may cart back corpses. Misfortune.In plain wordsThe army may come back hauling corpses. Misfortune. Not enough ability but plenty of ambition, going off to do what is not yours to do: this is how it ends. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text師左次，无咎。The army camps in retreat. No blame.In plain wordsPull the army back and make camp. No blame. Knowing you cannot fight and withdrawing in one piece is far better than forcing it. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text田有禽，利執言，无咎。長子帥師，弟子輿尸，貞凶。There is game in the field. It is favorable to seize it. No blame. The eldest son leads the army. If the younger sons cart corpses, persisting brings misfortune.In plain wordsWild animals have come into the field, and catching them is right; no blame — others have attacked your door and you fight back because you must. But put your trust wholly in the one capable person. If you let him lead the troops and then let incapable people interfere as well, there is misfortune even with right on your side. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text大君有命，開國承家，小人勿用。The great ruler issues his commands: states are founded, houses are granted. Do not employ petty people.In plain wordsThe war is over; rewards are handed out according to merit, with lands granted and houses founded. But petty people, even if they have earned merit, should only be given money, never power or position. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Shi belongs to the second pentad of Start of Summer, “Earthworms come up” (May 11 to May 15, 2027).