Hexagram 13 — Concording People
King Wen #13 · plain-language meaning, the Image, and the classical text
Fellowship in the open. Shared purpose with the right people gives strength for a great goal.
What Hexagram 13 Means 白话解读
Hexagram 13 places fire (离) beneath heaven (乾) — light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates below, creative force pressing upward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Concording People”: fellowship in the open. Shared purpose with the right people gives strength for a great goal. Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
The Image 象傳
天與火，同人；君子以類族辨物。
(The trigrams for) heaven and fire form Thung Zăn. The superior man, in accordance with this, distinguishes things according to their kinds and classes.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
Heaven and fire together: fellowship. The wise sort what belongs together from what does not.— plain-English rendering by The Hexagrams2
Hexagram 13 in Real Questions 實問實答
With money and work
Concording People describes fellowship in the open. Shared purpose with the right people gives strength for a great goal — and that is the posture the tradition recommends for practical matters under this figure: light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates, held inside a larger setting of creative force pressing upward. It names a shape of timing, not a sum.
For a decision
If you cast Concording People about a choice, the figure's counsel is the same movement it pictures: fellowship in the open. Shared purpose with the right people gives strength for a great goal. When lines move in your cast, read them against this base — the moving lines show which part of the figure is awake for you, and the changed hexagram shows where it is heading.
Questions About Hexagram 13
What does 同人 (tóng rén) mean?
Hexagram 13 of the I Ching is named 同人 (tóng rén), usually rendered "Concording People" in English editions. Its figure is built from fire (离) below and heaven (乾) above — light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates beneath creative force pressing upward.
Is hexagram 13 a good omen?
The received text of hexagram 13 is warm: it contains one occurrence of 吉 (good fortune), and 1 of 無咎 (no blame). The classical verdict is broadly favourable — with the lines' own conditions attached (the text notes possible regret 悔 where the moment is mishandled).
What does hexagram 13 mean in love?
In a relationship reading, Concording People points to fellowship in the open. Shared purpose with the right people gives strength for a great goal. The figure pairs fire (离) beneath heaven (乾) — light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates meeting creative force pressing upward — which is the traditional picture of how this energy behaves between two people. For how to phrase a love question before casting, see our guide to asking the I Ching about love.
What does hexagram 13 mean for career and money?
Career and money questions read Concording People through the figure itself: fire (离) below, heaven (乾) above — light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates held inside creative force pressing upward. The plain reading: Fellowship in the open. Shared purpose with the right people gives strength for a great goal. The text carries 1 mention of 吉 (good fortune), so it is read as workable — provided the conduct the lines describe is kept.
What do the changing lines of hexagram 13 mean?
A cast of hexagram 13 can produce moving lines. Each of the six lines has its own statement (爻辭) in the classical text below, read from the bottom up, and a moving line is read as the part of the figure that is awake for your question. When a line moves it turns into its opposite, and the whole figure becomes a second hexagram: changing every line of 13 gives hexagram 7, 師 (Leading). Every line also has a page of its own on this site — Line 1 through Line 6 under this hexagram — with the classical Chinese and Legge's translation side by side.
How is hexagram 13 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 13 gives hexagram 7 — 師 (Leading). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 14 — 大有 (Great Possessing). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 44 — 姤 (Coupling).
Cast it yourself
Shake the tube, watch your own coins fall.
- The hexagram's classical meaning — judgment and all six lines
- Moving lines marked — but not read for you
- No account, no email, nothing to pay
Get the reading, not just the text
Same cast, read all the way through:
- Every line read for you — what each moving line means inside your question
- The changed hexagram — where your situation is heading, and how to read the turn
- A closing that answers you directly — act, wait, or say it out loud
New to casting? How it works · All 64 hexagrams
Related Hexagrams 錯綜互
The Classical Text 經文
同人于野，亨。利涉大川，利君子貞。
Tong Ren (or 'Union of men') appears here (as we find it) in the (remote districts of the) country, indicating progress and success. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to maintain the firm correctness of the superior man.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
同人于門，無咎。
The first NINE, undivided, (shows the representative of) the union of men just issuing from his gate. There will be no error.
同人于宗，吝。
The second SIX, divided, (shows the representative of) the union of men in relation with his kindred. There will be occasion for regret.
伏戎于莽，升其高陵，三歲不興。
The third NINE, 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.
乘其墉，弗克攻，吉。
The fourth NINE, undivided, (shows its subject) mounted on the city wall; but he does not proceed to make the attack (he contemplates). There will be good fortune.
同人，先號咷，而後笑，大師克相遇。
In the fifth NINE, undivided, (the representative of) the union of men first wails and cries out, and then laughs. His great host conquers, and he (and the subject of the second line) meet together.
同人于郊，無悔。
The topmost NINE, undivided, (shows the representative of) the union of men in the suburbs. There will be no occasion for repentance.
Line by Line 逐爻细读
1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text.2 The Image (象傳) is an ancient text in the public domain; its plain-English gloss here is original to The Hexagrams, not a quotation from any copyrighted edition. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.