I Ching Shi Meaning: Hexagram 7 Explained

Draw Shi 師 and students often hear it as war, as unlucky, as “who do I have to fight.” Shi does have the image of troops. It is more everyday: whenever you gather a host to do something dangerous or laborious, that is Shi.

Leading a project, surgery, disaster relief, taking a tour group, a family joining to do a great matter: all count. Shi is not telling you to be brave. It is telling you to use a host. Using a host fears two things: no law, and a small person with merit being put in a great seat.

Why after Song 訟 is Shi? The Xugua says after contention there must be a host rising. One quarrel and people take sides; take sides and it becomes an army. If you asked about “one person’s private worry” and drew Shi, it often means this matter is already not one person’s private worry.

The image: Kun above Kan below, The Army

Shi is Kun 坤 above, Kan 坎 below. Earth above, Water below: The Army. Water in the earth, water hidden in soil, like troops hidden in the people, force hidden in a host. Kun is the host, following, carrying; Kan is danger, labor, ditches. A host walking in danger: that is Shi.

Do not write it as Water-Earth. Water-Earth is Bi 比, holding together, alliance. Shi is Earth above, Water below: the host must be carried, danger contained. Reverse it and you read leading a team as making friends, and the law goes slack.

The Xugua says: 「訟必有眾起，故受之以師。師者眾也。」 Shi’s first meaning is a host. Draw Shi and first count people: whom you lead, who listens to you, who only came to make up numbers. Headcount is not atmosphere. It is this hexagram’s material.

The judgment: 「師：貞，丈人吉，無咎。」 Correctness: going out must have a right reason and a right aim. 丈人 is a seasoned person, experienced, who can hold the field — not a hot-blooded youth. Luck is in the elder; no blame is also in the elder. In other words, this matter can be done; the person leading has to be seasoned enough. Young people have heat; they can put in force in the army. They should not start as the great ruler.

The Xiang says water in the earth, Shi; the superior person contains the people and raises a host. Contain people, feed a host. Leading a team is not volume. It is whether you can keep people, feed them, receive their fear. Draw Shi and cannot contain different views, and the host will scatter before you have fought.

Career and wealth when you draw Shi

Ask about career and draw Shi: you have mostly entered a stage that “needs a group of people to finish.” A new department, a large project, a merger, a shop that needs shifts, a campaign that needs organizing, surgery and collective action: all here. One person’s talent is not enough. You use a host.

The first thing is setting law. The initial six already wrote: the army goes out with law; if the law is not good, unlucky. The troop has not left the door; the rules are already there. How lateness is counted, how money is reported, who may change a decision, who is responsible for error: if that is unclear, carrying corpses will come later. 輿尸 is coming back with bodies. In a project it is finishing a round with people hurt, names hurt, goods ruined.

The elder is lucky. Choose a responsible person who can hold the field, not the one best at presenting, best at pleasing the boss. Nine in the second, in the midst of the army, luck and no blame, the king confers the mandate three times: the person truly working in the middle of the troop will be given authority again and again. For wealth, Shi’s money is army rations, a project budget, money to raise a host. There can be benefit; the benefit is in finishing the fight and feeding people. Ask about a windfall, personal side wealth: Shi does not give much. Hide the rations and the host will turn.

Surgery, a litigation team, a building site, a performance: draw Shi and the point is who is the elder, whether the law is there. A patient’s family asking about surgery and drawing Shi is not scaring you. This knife is collective action: surgeon, anesthesia, nursing. Miss a corner and it is not correct. Choosing a hospital and a lead surgeon fits the hexagram better than choosing an auspicious day.

There is another sentence to say early: the upper six, the great ruler issues a mandate, found a state, receive a household; do not use small people. When the fight is won, at the time of enfeoffment, do not put a small person who has done merit into the seat of founding and receiving. The workplace translation is plain: when a project ends, you can reward merit. Promotion to manager is another exam of character. Having merit and being able to take charge are not the same paper.

Love and people when you draw Shi

Ask about love and draw Shi: the relationship often does not have only two people. Family stepping in, friends taking sides, each pulling a group to prove who is right. Shi in love is not necessarily a breakup war. It can also be preparing a wedding, truly using a host: both sets of parents, vendors, friends, a group walking a ritual in danger.

Correctness matters then. Turning a wedding into a campaign for face, guests all becoming troops, and luck will run. The elder is lucky: find a senior or a planner who can hold the field, more useful than two people issuing military orders to each other.

If you are single and draw Shi, you may be seeing someone who “comes with a host”: a strong circle of friends, a strong family. What you face is a host, not an isolated person. If you can contain the people and raise a host, the stretch can go. Demanding from day one that they leave everyone is reading Shi as an elopement of two. The qi does not match.

If you are already together, Shi also asks you to see who is leading this relationship’s rhythm. Both wanting to be the great ruler: carrying corpses. One as the elder, the other able to match in the midst of the army: more like nine in the second and six in the fifth, a structure that can hold and can receive. Family quarrel and Shi: do not let children, do not let outsiders, go as disciples to carry corpses. The eldest son commands the army; disciples carry corpses; even if correct, unlucky. The one who leads must be right. Too many people going along and giving blind orders, and a correct matter will also be unlucky.

Workplace people and Shi: you are not making friends. You are forming a troop. Closeness can exist; law must come before closeness. Put private relations in front of law and the troop goes out with a bad law.

Five lines of Shi you must know

Shi needs more lines recognized than other hexagrams, because the pits of using a host are more concrete.

Initial six: 師出以律，否臧凶. The troop goes out with law. If the law is not good, discipline ruined, unlucky. Draw the initial six: project launch day, first day of a shop, before surgery, a team’s first gathering — speak the rules to death. Do not say we are familiar, we will talk after we start. Familiarity is not law. Familiarity without law, once something happens, familiarity turns into turning on each other.

Nine in the second: 在師中，吉無咎，王三錫命. In the midst of the army, not a deserter, not shouting from the farthest edge. Luck, no blame; above confers the mandate, authority, affirmation three times. Draw nine in the second: you are the one who can fight, suited to middle rank, to being authorized. You can receive the mandate; still stay in the midst of the army. Do not take the mandate and become a hero detached from the troop.

Six in the third: 師或輿尸，凶. Perhaps returning with corpses. 或 is possible, not certain; once it happens it is unlucky. Draw six in the third: wrong people, command split, someone who should not lead troops leading them: most common. Disciples exceeding authority, amateurs leading professionals, sending people to the front on feeling: all carry corpses. If you can stop, stop. If you can change commanders, change. That looks more like saving a life than adding fuel.

Six in the fifth: 田有禽，利執言，無咎。長子帥師，弟子輿尸，貞凶. There is game in the field; it is beneficial to take the words clearly, hold the responsibility, no blame. Then it turns hard: the eldest son leading the army is fine; disciples also commanding and bringing back corpses, even if the motive is correct, still unlucky. Draw six in the fifth: the enemy, the target, the problem objectively exists; you can act. Only let one responsible person act. Two voices ordering at once and the patient will lie between two plans.

Upper six: 大君有命，開國承家，小人勿用. The fighting is winding down; the ruler issues a mandate; some found a state, some receive a household. Do not use small people. Draw the upper six: the matter is near an end — project close, election over, surgery done, the company through danger. You can reward. You cannot enfeoff wildly. Put people who only charge, only fight, only flatter into the seat of founding and receiving, and the next Shi will start fighting from inside.

Law, the middle, corpses, the eldest son, small people: remember five words and Shi will not be read as a hot-blooded slogan.

The classroom move I correct most often

Students draw Shi and think “unity is strength,” then pull everyone in. A host is not the more people the better. Raising a host is a host you can feed, not a host on a contact list. People you cannot feed come in and the law breaks first.

Second error: win the fight and then count merit. The upper six is cold: a small person can have merit and still not be used. In class I have students split the list in two columns: who had merit in this fight, and who can take charge. Only people who overlap both columns can found and receive. Left column only, no right: give money, a prize, leave — not the seal.

Third: Shi’s correctness. The reason for going out must be right. To vent, for face, to prove a former employer misjudged, taking a host to war: even the elder is not lucky. If the name is not right, the host will ask why they have to pay. If you cannot answer, the “perhaps” of carrying corpses becomes real.

Draw Shi: find the elder first, write the law, then go out the door. Reverse the order and heat becomes carrying stretchers.

I Ching Shi further reading

Shi comes from Song; after contention there is a host. Compare: I Ching Song Meaning | Hexagram 6 How to Read: Conflict and How to Stop. After a host rises there must be holding together; the next hexagram is: I Ching Bi Meaning | Hexagram 8 How to Read: Holding Together and Alliance. If leading a host needs the place put right, Qian (Modesty) 謙 is also useful: I Ching Qian (Modesty) Meaning | Hexagram 15 How to Read: All Six Lines Fortunate.

I Ching Shi FAQ

Does drawing Shi mean war, blood?

It may be real conflict, surgery, handling an accident. It may only be a team fighting a campaign. First look at the question. Ask about surgery, a knife, and Shi is very common. The point is whether the lead surgeon is like an elder, whether the team has law — not changing the date to flee as soon as you draw Shi. Collective action that should be done, kept correct, can be without blame.

I am young. Does drawing Shi mean I cannot lead a team?

The judgment leans toward the elder. The young can put in force in a nine-in-the-second place in the midst of the army, receive a mandate. They should not start as the great ruler founding a state. First run the law until it is familiar, first lead one small one through, then take a large one. Heat is not seniority.

A small person has merit. Truly cannot use them at all?

Use, depending on where. Charging, getting things done, a short task: you can use them. Founding, receiving, giving a seal, personnel power, letting them manage a host: no. The upper six’s “do not use” is about enfeoffing a seat, not denying they put in force. Mix the two and people with merit will resent, people with virtue will leave.

Six in the third, carrying corpses: the project is already rotten. What now?

Stop the loss first, unify command. The corpse is already on the cart; adding disciples to command only adds a few more. Issue fewer victory drafts outside; inside, pull responsibility back onto one elder. Close if you can close; change commanders if you can. Shi allows retreat. Six in the fourth has the army camping to the left, no blame. Camping first does not necessarily mean you must attack.

For an online hexagram, try free love divination and match both birthdays with this reading.