师 The Army
Upper trigram: Earth (the earth) · Lower trigram: Water (water)
Discipline and collective effort — organization over inspiration.
Modern interpretation
This situation needs organization, not inspiration. Appoint a clear leader — possibly yourself — set the rules, and move as one. A righteous cause plus strict discipline is the ancient formula for prevailing.
The Judgment · 卦辞
贞丈人吉，无咎。
“Sze indicates how, in the case which it supposes, with firmness and correctness, and (a leader of) age and experience, there will be good fortune and no error.” — James Legge, The Yî King (1882)
The six lines · 爻辞
Read from the bottom line upward. Each line pairs the received Chinese text with Legge's English translation.
师出以律，否臧凶。
“The first line, divided, shows the host going forth according to the rules (for such a movement). If these be not good, there will be evil.”
在师中吉，无咎，王三锡命。
“The second line, undivided, shows (the leader) in the midst of the host. There will be good for- tune and no error. The king has thrice conveyed to him the orders (of his favour).”
师或舆尸，凶。
“The third line, divided, shows how the host may, possibly, have many inefficient leaders. There will be evil.”
师左次，无咎。
“The fourth line, divided, shows the host in retreat. There is no error.”
田有禽。利执言，无咎。长子帅师，弟子舆尸，贞凶。
“The fifth line, divided, shows birds in the fields, which it will be advantageous to seize (and destroy). In that case there will be no error. If the oldest son leads the host, and younger men (idly occupy offices assigned to them), however firm and correct he may be, there will be evil.”
大君有命，开国承家，小人勿用。
“The topmost line, divided, shows the great ruler delivering his charges, (appointing some) to be rulers of states, and others to undertake the headship of clans ; but small men should not be employed (in such positions).”
About changing lines
In a real I Ching reading, hexagrams are built by casting coins or yarrow stalks six times, bottom line first. Some lines come out “old” (unstable) — an old yin or old yang flips into its opposite, producing a second hexagram that shows where the situation is heading. The changing lines are the moving parts of your answer: read their individual line statements above, and they point to the direction of change.
Ask a question and cast the coins — free, with a plain-English interpretation grounded in the classical text.
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