Leading (7)
2
The Judgement
THE ARMY. The army needs perseveranceAnd a strong man.
Good fortune without blame.
The Image
In the middle of the earth is water:The image of THE ARMY.
Thus the superior man increases his masses
By generosity toward the people.
Line Poems
- 6 - The great prince issues commands, Founds states, vests families with fiefs. Inferior people should not be employed.
- 5 - There is game in the field. It furthers one to catch it. Without blame. Let the eldest lead the army. The younger transports corpses; Then perseverance brings misfortune.
- 4 - The army retreats. No blame.
- 3 - Perchance the army carries corpses in the wagon. Misfortune.
- 2 - In the midst of the army. Good fortune. No blame. The king bestows a triple decoration.
- 1 - An army must set forth in proper order. If the order is not good, misfortune threatens.
Commentary
This hexagram is made up of the trigrams K’an, water, and K’un, earth, and thus it symbolizes the ground water stored up in the earth.In the same way military strength is stored up in the mass of the people—invisible in times of peace but always ready for use as a source of power.
The attributes of the two trigrams are danger inside and obedience outside.
This points to the nature of an army, which at the core is dangerous while discipline and obedience must prevail outside.
Of the individual lines, the one that controls the hexagram is the strong
nine in the second place, to which the other lines, all yielding, are
subordinate.
This line indicates a commander, because it stands in the
middle of one of the two trigrams.
But since it is in the lower rather than the
upper trigram, it represents not the ruler but the efficient general, who
maintains obedience in the army by his authority.
