Tongren (同人): how wide is the circle

Heaven with fire: the shape of Tongren

Tongren (同人) sets Li (離, fire) under Qian (乾, heaven), and is read as Li below, Qian above. Only its second line is a broken yin line, and it sits exactly in the middle of the lower trigram; the other five lines are yang. In the Shuo Gua the word for Li is "clinging" and the word for Qian is "strength".

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Tongren and its inverse hexagram Shi: a figure with its yin in place two and a figure with its yang in place two are each other's inverse.

The Judgment: gathering in the wild

The Judgment of Tongren reads: "Gathering with others in the wild: success. It is fitting to cross the great river; it is fitting for the noble person to be steadfast." The Commentary on the Judgments' explanation has two layers: first where the name comes from, and then the Judgment itself, quoted and carried forward.

In the second layer the Commentary on the Judgments brings the Judgment in: "Tongren, it says: gathering in the wild, success; fitting to cross the great river is the action of Qian." The words "it says" seem to let the Judgment speak for itself, and "crossing the great river" is credited to Qian's action. Then comes praise for the whole figure: "bright and strong, central and upright and answering: this is the noble person's uprightness".

Only the noble person is able to bring the aims of all under heaven through to one another.

That is the last sentence of the Commentary on the Judgments. The word "wild" is never glossed, but the tone of the whole passage is large.

The Great Image: heaven with fire, and sorting the clans

The Great Image (大象) of Tongren reads: heaven together with fire, Tongren; the noble person uses it to sort the clans and distinguish things. The first half is the figure, heaven (Qian) with fire (Li). The second half names two actions: sorting the clans and distinguishing things. Sorting is classifying, a clan is a kindred group, distinguishing is telling apart, and things are the objects around.

This hexagram is about coming together, yet the conduct it asks for is classifying and distinguishing. Before people are gathered, kinds have to be told apart and things made clear.

Six lines: gate, clan, thicket, wall, outskirts

Almost every one of the six statements names a place. It sets out at the gate and goes through the clan, the undergrowth and the wall, all the way to the outskirts.

First nine stands at the gate, and the moment he steps out he gathers with others, so there is "no blame", and the Small Image (小象) asks "who could blame him?". Six in the second place is "in the clan": a clan is a kindred group, the gathering stays among one's own, and the result is "regret", with the Small Image comment "the way of regret".

Nine in the third place: "he hides armed men in the thickets and climbs the high hill; for three years he does not rise". The Small Image comments that "the opponent is firm" and asks how he could go on. Nine in the fourth place: "he mounts the wall but cannot attack: good fortune". The Small Image reads it as "in right he cannot win" and "pressed, he returns to the rule": hemmed in, he returns to the norm.

Nine in the fifth place: "joining others: first wailing, then laughing. The great army overcomes and they meet." The Small Image's two comments are "because he is central and straight" and "it speaks of their overcoming one another". Top nine: "gathering in the outskirts: no regret". The outskirts are the land just outside a town, and the Small Image says "his aim is not yet achieved".

The neighbors of Tongren: Shi, Dayou and Gou

The inverse hexagram of Tongren is Shi: every line is flipped, the yin becomes yang, and the odd line still stands in place two. Turn the figure upside down and the yin line climbs to place five, giving its reversed hexagram Dayou, which is also the very next hexagram. The nuclear hexagram is Gou, built from the middle four lines as a new pair of trigrams, Xun below and Qian above.

Things cannot be blocked forever, so it was followed by Tongren.

The Xu Gua puts Tongren after Pi: a blockage cannot run to the end, so a hexagram of gathering follows. For what comes next, Dayou, its reason is that things must return to the one who is with others. The Za Gua gives Tongren a single word: "closeness".