In love
A couple gains by organizing: dividing roles, holding a clear framework, avoiding one commanding while the other submits.
Hexagram 7
I Ching hexagram 7: The Army (Shi)
Shi, the Army, is the hexagram of organized effort: fair leadership and clear rules bring forces together.
- organization
- discipline
- leadership
The essentials
Shi at a glance
For you, Shi describes a collective effort: entrust the lead to a capable person and hold to a clear framework.
A strength
A way of organizing energies: a framework, a recognized leader, a shared mission that gives the effort direction.
Something to watch
Handing leadership to someone unable to hold it: collective force then turns against itself.
- What it advises
- Set a clear framework, entrust the lead to someone capable, and stay fair to those who follow.
- Its opposite
- 13. Fellowship with Men (Tong ren)
The situation
Shi is the hexagram of the army, in the old sense of a troop gathering. A single solid line amid five broken ones: one leadership, surrounded by many. The ancient text asks for firmness, an experienced and respected leader, and concludes that there is then no fault.
What you read in it is less war than the art of organizing a group: a common framework, known rules, someone who leads. Force has value only if it serves what is fair.
Shi is read as a moment of collective effort, where the quality of leadership counts for more than numbers.
The image: Earth above Water
- AboveEarth: the welcome that carries
- BelowWater: the risky passage
Earth over Water: water hides within the earth, like a troop among the people. The ancient commentaries conclude that a leader generous to the population gathers forces without imposing them.
Consult the I Ching
Throw three coins six times: your hexagram, the lines that change, and the direction they point to.
Free, no account · nothing is sent · no predictions
The six lines
- 1st line (bottom) · brokenSetting out according to the rules: if they are not good, the result is bad. The framework must be right from the very first step.
- 2nd line · solidStaying in the heart of the troop: a favorable omen, and the sovereign’s recognition, three times over, confirms this role.
- 3rd line · brokenThe troop may have several leaders: confusion is to be feared. Shared leadership without agreement weakens the whole.
- 4th line · brokenFalling back: this is no fault. Knowing how to retreat before an unfavorable situation is part of wisdom.
- 5th line · brokenGame in the fields: acting is favorable. But entrusting the lead to the elder alone, and leaving the younger ones in place, is a sign of failure.
- 6th line (top) · brokenThe great sovereign hands out posts and domains: small people are not employed in this, for they do not know how to hold a role.
Shi in your life
At work
Team effort under capable leadership is favored: clear objectives, known rules, merit recognized fairly by everyone.
The I Ching helps you reflect on how to act: it does not say what is coming.
How is it built?
- Character
- 師 (shī)
- Number
- 7 in the King Wen sequence
- Trigrams
- Earth (坤) above, Water (坎) below
- Inner hexagram
- 24. Return (Fu) (lines 2 to 4 and 3 to 5)
- Read upside down
- 8. Holding Together (Bi)
- Symbol
- ䷆ (U+4DC6)
The English names are the usual renderings of the Chinese characters; the texts rely on the Chinese and on early public-domain translations (Legge, 1882; Philastre, 1885–1893).
Sources
- Wikipedia (English), “List of hexagrams of the I Ching,” read on October 15, 2026: numbers, characters, pinyin, lower and upper trigrams.
- Wikipedia (English), “Bagua,” read on October 15, 2026: lines of the eight trigrams, from bottom to top.
- James Legge (1815–1897), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI, 1882 (Wikisource): public domain.
- Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre (1837–1902), Le Yi King ou Livre des changements de la dynastie des Tsheou, Annales du Musée Guimet, 1885–1893: public domain (the author died more than 70 years ago).
Frequently asked questions about hexagram 7
What does hexagram 7 of the I Ching mean?
Hexagram 7, Shi, means the army: organized collective effort under fair leadership, where framework and trust count as much as strength.
Is Shi really about war?
The images are military, but they are read as a situation: organizing a group, leading, dividing roles. The hexagram predicts no conflict; it describes a way of leading an effort.