7. The Army
師 · shī · L'Esercito · lines from the bottom: 010000
The two trigrams
The Judgement
The Army speaks of every situation in which you must organise a collective force and lead it towards a goal: a team at work, a family facing a move or an illness, a group of friends mobilising for a cause. The Judgment is short but says it all: with firmness and correctness, and with a leader of age and experience, there will be good fortune and no error. There are two conditions. The first is inner discipline: an army, like a family or a company, holds together only if the one leading it is firm in purpose and correct in method, with no favouritism and no shortcuts. The second is the right guide: it takes a mature person who has already seen and lived through similar situations, and in whom the others can place their full trust. If these days you find yourself having to coordinate people, that is no accident: someone has placed that trust in you. If instead you are the one looking for a guide, choose experience over charisma. Practical advice: before you move the group, settle who decides, for what righteous purpose, and by which rules. With those three points clear, the undertaking will be fortunate.
Source: James Legge, The Yî King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI) (1882) · read the original passage
The Image
The Image is the earth with water gathered in its midst: as water is not outside the earth, so soldiers are not outside the people. The wise person, Legge says, in accordance with this nourishes and educates the people, and collects from among them the multitudes of the hosts. For you the lesson is concrete: the strength you will be able to draw on tomorrow depends on how you treat those around you today. If you want a team that responds in hard moments, a company, a group of volunteers, your own children, you must first have nourished it with attention, training, respect. Advice: invest time in the people who work with you, even when there is no emergency.
Source: James Legge, The Yî King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI) (1882) · read the original passage
The six lines
First line
First line: the host goes forth according to the rules for such a movement; if these be not good, there will be evil. Everything depends on how you begin. If you are about to launch a collective action, a grievance, a group project, a renovation, ask yourself two things: is the purpose righteous? Is the manner right? An army setting out in disorder, or for a crooked cause, gets lost along the way. Advice: write down the rules of the game and share them with everyone before you start.
Source: James Legge, The Yî King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI) (1882) · read the original passage
Second line
Second line: the leader is in the midst of the host; there will be good fortune and no error, and the king has thrice conveyed to him the orders of his favour. This is the line of the trusted commander: you are at the centre, in touch with your people, and whoever stands above you has given you full confidence. Do not take that threefold mandate as a reward, but as a complete responsibility. If you have been given an assignment, a role, an important delegation, stay among the people, not above them: the good fortune comes from direct contact.
Source: James Legge, The Yî King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI) (1882) · read the original passage
Third line
Third line: the host may possibly have many inefficient leaders, and there will be evil. When everyone wants to command and nobody knows how, the group falls apart. If in your company, in your building, in your extended family everyone pulls their own way and decisions pile on top of each other, be careful: this is the evil the line speaks of. Do not add your voice to the chorus. Advice: propose that there be one single person responsible for each matter, and be the first to respect that.
Source: James Legge, The Yî King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI) (1882) · read the original passage
Fourth line
Fourth line: the host is in retreat; there is no error. Not every step back is a defeat. If you realise that pressing on, in a negotiation, an expansion, an attempt at reconciliation, would lead to disaster, retreating is the regular course, the right one. If you feel guilty for having given up, this line absolves you: you have preserved your strength for a better moment. Advice: announce the retreat clearly, without excuses, and reorganise your energies.
Source: James Legge, The Yî King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI) (1882) · read the original passage
Fifth line
Fifth line: there are birds in the fields, and it will be advantageous to seize them; in that case there will be no error. If the oldest son leads the host while younger men idly occupy the offices assigned to them, however firm and correct he may be, there will be evil. The birds in the fields are those who come to plunder your harvest: defending what is yours is legitimate, attacking is not. But if the one in charge is capable and those who should help him sit on their hands, the undertaking fails all the same. Advice: when you hand out a task, check that each person really does their part.
Source: James Legge, The Yî King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XVI) (1882) · read the original passage
Sixth line
Sixth line: the great ruler delivers his charges, appointing some to be rulers of states and others to head the clans; but small men should not be employed in such positions. The campaign is over, and now the recognitions are handed out. If you are the one distributing roles, rewards, responsibilities after an intense period, give each according to merit, but do not place people of petty character in positions of command: they can be rewarded in other ways. Advice: reward the work, but entrust power only to those who have proved their integrity.