Hexagram 13, line 3
九三Line 3 of People United
Nine in the third place · 同人 tóng rén
爻辭 The line text
伏戎于莽，升其高陵，三歲不興。The third line, undivided, (shows its subject) with his arms hidden in the thick grass, and at the top of a high mound. (But) for three years he makes no demonstration.
伏戎于莽，敵剛也。三歲不興，安行也。'He hides his arms in the thick grass:'—because of the strength of his opponent. 'For three years he makes no demonstration:'—how can he do anything?
In plain words
Line three 'hides soldiers in the thicket, climbs the high hill, and for three years does not rise.' Strong, not central, at the top of Li, it sits next to the yin at two and wants her — but she belongs to five, who is far stronger. So it lays an ambush and watches from a height, and does nothing for years. The small Image explains both halves: the hiding is 'because the enemy is strong' (敵剛也), and the three years' stillness is 'how could he go?' (安行也). This is fellowship perverted into rivalry: the desire to unite turned into a plot against the one who already has the union.
If this line is changing
If you are quietly plotting against someone who has what you want, recognise that you cannot win and that the waiting is already costing you years; let it go.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 6: both lines are yang, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
同人 People United becomes ䷘ 25 无妄 Without Falsehood
Thunder under heaven: things moving by their innate nature. Great success for what is correct and unplanned; scheming brings misfortune, and some misfortune simply arrives undeserved.
What it becomes25 · 无妄 Without Falsehoodwú wàngThe six lines of 同人 People United
- 初九Nine at the beginningat the gate · open fellowship · no partiality
- 六二Six in the second placefellowship with kin · clannishness · regret
- 九三Nine in the third placearms hidden in the grass · spying from the hill · three years
- 九四Nine in the fourth placeon the wall · does not attack · returns to the rule
- 九五Nine in the fifth placeweeping then laughing · the great army · they meet
- 上九Nine at the topin the outskirts · no regret · aim unfulfilled
Read 同人 People United for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine in the third place of hexagram 13, People United, mean?
- Line three 'hides soldiers in the thicket, climbs the high hill, and for three years does not rise.' Strong, not central, at the top of Li, it sits next to the yin at two and wants her — but she belongs to five, who is far stronger. So it lays an ambush and watches from a height, and does nothing for years. The small Image explains both halves: the hiding is 'because the enemy is strong' (敵剛也), and the three years' stillness is 'how could he go?' (安行也). This is fellowship perverted into rivalry: the desire to unite turned into a plot against the one who already has the union.
- What does hexagram 13 become when line 3 changes?
- People United becomes hexagram 25, 无妄 Without Falsehood: Thunder under heaven: things moving by their innate nature. Great success for what is correct and unplanned; scheming brings misfortune, and some misfortune simply arrives undeserved.
- Is line 3 of People United in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).