Reading
Judgment
The Army needs perseverance
and a strong man.
Good fortune without blame.
An army is a mass that, to become an army, requires organization. Without firm discipline nothing can be achieved. But this discipline cannot be enforced by violent means; it requires a strong man toward whom hearts turn, who awakens enthusiasm. For him to unfold, he needs the unconditional trust of his ruler, who must leave him full responsibility as long as the war lasts.
War, however, is always something dangerous, and brings harm and devastation with it. Therefore one must not undertake it lightly, but only as a poisonous remedy, as a last resort. The just cause and a clear, understandable war aim must be made plain to the people by an experienced leader. Only when there is a completely definite war aim, for which the people can consciously engage themselves, does the unity and strength of conviction arise that leads to victory. But the leader must also see to it that in the passion of war and the intoxication of victory nothing unjust occurs that does not find general acknowledgment. Justice and perseverance are the basic conditions for all going well.
Image
In the midst of the earth is water: the image of the Army.
Thus the noble one increases their multitudes by broadheartedness toward the people.
Groundwater is invisibly present in the midst of the earth. Likewise the war-power of a people is invisibly present in its masses. Every farmer, when danger threatens, becomes a soldier, and after the end of the war returns to their plow. Whoever is broadhearted toward the people gains the people's love, and a people that lives under a mild government grows strong and vigorous. Only an economically strong people can matter as a military power. One must therefore cultivate this power by promoting the people's economic relations and by humane government. Only where this invisible bond between government and people is present, where the people is sheltered beneath it as groundwater is in the earth, is it possible to wage a war victoriously.
Commentary
The hexagram is composed of the primary hexagrams K'an, water, and K'un, earth. Thereby groundwater is symbolized, which collects within the earth. Likewise the army's force gathers within the mass of a people: in peacetime invisible, but at all times available as a source of power. The attributes of the primary hexagrams are: danger within and obedience without. This points to the essence of an army, which is at its innermost something dangerous, while outwardly discipline and obedience must prevail.
Looked at in terms of the individual lines, the ruling line of the hexagram is the strong nine in the second place, to which the other soft lines subordinate themselves. This line denotes the commander, since it stands at the center of one of the two primary hexagrams. But since it stands in the lower and not the upper primary hexagram, it is not the image of the ruler but of the capable general, who keeps the army in obedience through his authority.
Changing Lines
Line 1
A six at the beginning means:
An army must set out in order.
If the order is not good, misfortune threatens.
Commentary
At the beginning of a military undertaking, order must prevail. There must be a just and valid cause, and the obedience and interplay of the troops must be well organized, otherwise failure is the inevitable consequence.
Line 2
A nine in the second place means:
In the midst of the army!
Good fortune! No blame!
The king bestows a threefold distinction.
Commentary
The leader must be in the midst of his army. He must be in contact with it and share good and evil with the masses he leads. Only in this way is he equal to the heavy demand resting upon him. He also needs the acknowledgment of the ruler. The distinctions he receives are justified, since this is not a matter of personal favor; rather, in the leader the whole army is honored, in whose midst he remains.
Line 3
A six in the third place means:
The army perhaps carries corpses in the wagon. Misfortune!
Commentary
One explanation points to a defeat resulting from someone other than the appointed leader interfering in the command. The other explanation agrees in sense, only that the expression "carrying corpses in the wagon" is interpreted differently. At funerals and offerings to the dead in China, it was customary for the deceased, to whom the offering was made, to be represented by a boy of the family, who sat in the place of the corpse and was honored in the place of the deceased. From this, this explanation takes the sense that a "corpse-boy" sits on the wagon, that is, that authority does not proceed from the place appointed for it, but is usurped by others. Perhaps the whole difficulty can be resolved by assuming a scribal error (fan, "all," for shih, "corpse"). Then the sense would simply be: if the multitude in the army makes itself lord (rides on the wagon), that is disastrous.
Line 4
A six in the fourth place means:
The army retreats. No blame.
Commentary
When one faces a superior enemy with whom battle is hopeless, an orderly retreat is the only right course, because through it the army is preserved from defeat and dissolution. It is by no means a sign of courage or strength to want to accept a hopeless battle under all circumstances.
Line 5
A six in the fifth place means:
Game is in the field.
It is favorable to catch it.
No blame.
Let the eldest lead the army.
The younger carries corpses;
there perseverance brings misfortune.
Commentary
The game is in the field, that is, it has abandoned its haunt, the forest, and broken into the fields in devastation. This points to an incursion by the enemy. In this case energetic combat and punishment are entirely justified. But the fight must be conducted by the rules. It must not become a wild confusion in which each defends themself on their own. That, despite the greatest perseverance and bravery, would lead to misfortune. Rather the army must be led by an experienced leader. War must be waged as war. The multitude must not simply slay whatever falls into their hands; otherwise one suffers a defeat, and despite all perseverance misfortune threatens.
Line 6
A six at the top means:
The great prince issues commands,
founds states, enfeoffs families.
Petty people should not be employed.
Commentary
The war is victoriously ended. The victory is won, and the king distributes fiefs and family possessions among his loyal followers. But it is important here that petty people not attain power. If they have helped, one may pay them off with money. But one should not bestow on them lands or rights of rule, so that no misuse occurs.