Hexagram 07

Shī, leading

Gua Poem (the invocation):
Divination about leading
A respectable man
auspicious
Without fault

The great image says: Water in the earth: Legion or leader. The noble one tolerates the common people and watches over the crowds.

Shī: the ideogram and the story (NEW). What does it mean for your question?
This hexagram is complementary to hex.13. In 7 humanity is divided, in 13 it is united. Don't neglect the other side when you concentrate on one of the two, they need each other. Without 7 mankind will dissolve, without 13, army or leader has no cause.

Top 6: The great prince has the mandate to found a state and inherit the house. Small people should not be employed.
The weakest link defines the strength of a chain, and the weakest act or instrument defines the value of what you accomplish. Use the best means, avoid anything less.
(hex.7 its 4 Ignorance Don't fight the wrong, promote the right) Mirror

6 at 5: There is game in the fields. Harvest: catching it. Words. Without fault. The eldest son leads the legion, the younger brother carts the corpse. Divination pitfall.
Don't be inflexible, take chances when they appear, do not depend too much on rules, stay versatile. Learn to delegate, do what you're good at. A moving army needs food, so don't let rules prevent you from catching any game you spot.
(hex.7 its 29 The pit) Mirror

6 at 4: The legion encamps to the left. Without fault.
An (or your) army needs relaxation too. Discipline cannot endure without pause, make a balance.
(hex.7 its 40 Release Mirror

6 at 3: Maybe the legion carts corpses. Pitfall.
Take extraordinary measures if necessary, but stop with them as soon as they are no longer needed. And ask yourself about whatever occupies your mind, if it is true, relevant, living reality – or obsolete, a ghost, a corpse.
(hex.7 its 46 Ascent) Mirror

9 at 2: To live in the center of the legion. Auspicious. Without fault. The king confers three commands.
Live in the center of what you do or make. One with your army, one with your family, one with your guitar, one with whatever you undertake. Subject yourself to its rules and discipline.
(hex.7 its 2 The field) Mirror

Initial 6: The legion marches out according to rules. Not very good augury: pitfall.
For organizing, every action has to fit in. One deviating action can mess up all. One shot fired at the wrong moment, one false note in a concert, one wrong decision of a surgeon. All the details have to be right, and then the whole is an organic whole and a structure with power.
(hex.7 its 19 Overseeing) Mirror

No lines changing: you can try to do things, but they may fail or even backfire. If there's nothing that should (or can) be done, then this might be a good time to relax and refuel. The Poem and the Image are guides that show you the best way to do that.

Trigrams offer possibilities that the hexagram-texts don't show.

More about the lines and their characters