07 · King Wen sequence
Hexagram 7: The Army
师 · Shī · upper Earth over lower Water
This hexagram is about collective effort under discipline: water held within the earth, the many organized around one center.
The reading
The Army is the hexagram of collective action. Water beneath the earth: the people, the resources, the latent force, all gathered and waiting for direction. One strong line stands among five yielding ones: the leader among the led. This hexagram appears whenever you are part of something larger than yourself, or trying to build it. Its first question is blunt: is there a center? A group with shared purpose and trusted leadership can do extraordinary things; without them, the same group is just a crowd.
The second question is about discipline. Armies do not run on enthusiasm; they run on order, and so does every team. The hexagram is clear: unclear commands at the start lead to disaster at the end. If you lead, be worthy of following: competence first, then care. If you follow, give the mission your weight; half-commitment in a group effort drags everyone. And choose the right leader for the task: the elder leads the campaign, says the old wisdom, meaning experience, not age, should command.
The image
Water under the earth: a hidden reservoir, power gathered in the dark. The old image is an army camped in a valley at night, quiet, ordered, waiting for the order.
Many hands need one mind, or they pull in many directions.
When you cast this hexagram
- A group effort needs clear leadership; provide it or demand it.
- For the task ahead, discipline matters far more than enthusiasm.
- Choose the right person to lead this particular effort now.
- First unite everyone around one shared purpose, then act together.
In love and relationships
In love, The Army speaks of family as a unit: the household, the partnership as a team facing the world. It asks whether you two operate with shared purpose or as two individuals sharing an address. For new relationships, it suggests taking the lead with confidence: plan, name what you want, rather than drifting. The warning is against turning love into a campaign: strategy has its place, but a relationship run like a military operation will feel like one. Discipline yes; drill sergeants no.
In work and career
This is a strong organizational hexagram. It favors building teams, launching coordinated efforts, and taking command of messy situations. If you are starting a company or leading a project, the message is: establish clear roles and a single decision-maker before you need them. Promotions favor those who can organize others, not just perform solo. The caution is about the wrong leader: authority without competence is the fastest route to disaster. If your leadership is failing, replace the leader, not the mission.
When you have a decision to make
Decisions under The Army are organizational decisions: who leads, who follows, what the objective is. Before deciding anything else, decide the command structure: unclear authority now guarantees confusion later. Then decide the objective in one sentence; if you cannot, you are not ready. The hexagram also permits the hard call: removing someone from a role they cannot fill is not cruelty, it is care for the whole. Make the structural decision first; the tactical ones become easy after.
The six changing lines
Read only the lines that came up moving in your own cast. If none did, stay with the hexagram as a whole. Each line below links to the hexagram that line turns into.
The victory is won; now distribute the rewards with fairness. Honor those who served well, and do not empower the petty.
There is a right objective here worth pursuing. Let experience take the lead and keep the inexperienced in supporting roles.
A strategic retreat at this point is wisdom, not defeat. Pull back in good order, preserve your people, and regroup.
The leadership here is failing and the cost is becoming real. Change the leader now, before the damage spreads further.
The right person stands at the center and is duly recognized. Trust their command and give it your full support.
Establish discipline now, at the very beginning of the undertaking. An orderly start is what prevents disaster later on.
How it relates to the other hexagrams
These links are derived from the line structure, not from editorial opinion. Flip a line, reverse the stack, or read the inner lines, and you land on a specific neighbour.
Nuclear · 互卦
Lines 2–4 and 3–5 of this hexagram form another one. It is the inner situation — what is really going on underneath what you were asking about.
Complementary · 错卦
Every line flips. This is the exact opposite stance: the position you are not taking, which is often the thing the reading is contrasting you with.
Inverse · 综卦
Turn the whole stack upside down and you get this. The same circumstance seen from the other end — usually the person on the other side of it.
If one line changes
Same upper or lower trigram
Scholar's details
| Number | 07 of 64 |
|---|---|
| Binary (bottom → top) | 010000 (1 = yang, 0 = yin) |
| Upper trigram | ☷ 坤 Kūn — Earth, Earth, Mother |
| Lower trigram | ☵ 坎 Kǎn — Water, Water, Middle Son |
| Key ideas | the army, hexagram 7, shi, teamwork, leadership, discipline |
Have a question of your own?
This page tells you what the hexagram means. A casting tells you which one you are actually in.