Also known as Fellowship, Fellowship with Others, Gathering People.
The characters 同人 mean "the same" and "people". Hexagram 13 is about joining with others around a shared aim, openly and not as a private clique. Its strength comes from including people, not from keeping them out.
The figure
Heaven over Fire. Fire flames upward toward the sky, so both move the same way. One broken line, the second, sits at the center of the lower half, and the five strong lines gather around it.
The judgment
Meeting people out in the open, not behind doors. This is the moment for the big crossing, and it pays to hold.
The classical text sets this fellowship "in the open country", far from home and family ties. A group built on a shared purpose can take on big things.
The image
Sky and fire, both of them rising. Sort what belongs with what, and tell things apart.
Real unity doesn't mean everyone being the same. It means knowing each person's part and fitting the parts together.
The six lines
Counted from the bottom, the way the figure is built when you cast it.
- Line 1, at the bottom. Fellowship at the gate, at the very start, before any private interests form. Not a mistake.
- Line 2. Fellowship only within your own clan. Embarrassment. A circle that serves only itself falls short.
- Line 3. Weapons hidden in the undergrowth, watching from a high hill. For three years, no move is made. Suspicion keeps people apart, and nothing comes of it.
- Line 4. Climbing onto the wall, but not attacking. It goes well. Stopping short of a fight opens the way back to working together.
- Line 5. Allies cry out in grief at the start, and later burst out laughing. After a hard struggle, they finally meet.
- Line 6, at the top. Fellowship out in the meadow, at the edge of things. No regret, though no great union either.
Reading it for a question
Hexagram 13 says find your allies and work in the open. Build around a shared goal, not around who you already know. If there's suspicion in the group, line 3 says to name it, or nothing moves.