# Hexagram 7: The Army

Canonical page: https://thefreeiching.com/library/7
Last updated: 2026-10-07

```
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━━━━━━━
━━━  ━━━
```

- **Upper trigram:** [Kun 坤](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kun), Earth, the receptive, yielding
- **Lower trigram:** [Kan 坎](https://thefreeiching.com/trigrams/kan), Water, the abysmal, danger
- **Lines, bottom to top:** 010000 (1 = solid yang, 0 = broken yin)

## Contemporary judgment

The army: organized force in the service of a just cause. Success depends on inner discipline and on a leader whose purpose is clear. Without order, strength scatters. Without a worthy aim, even well-organized strength ends in regret.

## Image

Water within the earth. Hidden depths brought into formation. The superior person nurtures those around them and builds the strength of the whole.

## Counsel

Clarify your purpose before you act. Organize yourself; half-measures fail where whole-hearted ones would succeed. Lead with steadiness rather than charisma, and trust those whose competence you have tested. The right cause held firmly carries many with it.

## The six lines

*Numbered from the bottom upward. These line texts are read when that line is changing in a cast.*

### Line 1

> A six at the beginning means:
> An army must set out in order.
> If the order is not good, misfortune threatens.

### Line 2

> A nine in the second place means:
> In the midst of the army!
> Good fortune! No blame!
> The king bestows a threefold distinction.

### Line 3

> A six in the third place means:
> The army perhaps carries corpses in the wagon. Misfortune!

### Line 4

> A six in the fourth place means:
> The army retreats. No blame.

### Line 5

> A six in the fifth place means:
> Game is in the field.
> It is favorable to catch it.
> No blame.
> Let the eldest lead the army.
> The younger carries corpses;
> there perseverance brings misfortune.

### Line 6

> A six at the top means:
> The great prince issues commands,
> founds states, enfeoffs families.
> Petty people should not be employed.

## Related hexagrams

- **Nuclear (lines 2 to 5):** [24 Return](https://thefreeiching.com/library/24)
- **Inverse (turned upside down):** [8 Holding Together](https://thefreeiching.com/library/8)
- **Opposite (every line flipped):** [13 Fellowship](https://thefreeiching.com/library/13)

## If one line changes

| Changing line | Relating hexagram |
| --- | --- |
| Line 1 | [19 Approach](https://thefreeiching.com/library/19) |
| Line 2 | [2 The Receptive](https://thefreeiching.com/library/2) |
| Line 3 | [46 Pushing Upward](https://thefreeiching.com/library/46) |
| Line 4 | [40 Deliverance](https://thefreeiching.com/library/40) |
| Line 5 | [29 The Abysmal](https://thefreeiching.com/library/29) |
| Line 6 | [4 Youthful Folly](https://thefreeiching.com/library/4) |

Previous: [6 Conflict](https://thefreeiching.com/library/6). Next: [8 Holding Together](https://thefreeiching.com/library/8). [All sixty-four hexagrams](https://thefreeiching.com/library).

*The judgment, image and counsel are original contemporary paraphrases written for The Free I Ching. The line text is the CC0 translation from [jesshewitt/i-ching](https://github.com/jesshewitt/i-ching), derived from Richard Wilhelm's 1924 German edition.*

## Cite this page

The Free I Ching. "Hexagram 7: The Army." https://thefreeiching.com/library/7 (updated 2026-10-07).

*The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice. Short quotations with a link back are welcome. Please do not republish a page in full. The open data files at [/data](https://thefreeiching.com/data) are licensed CC BY 4.0.*

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Source: The Free I Ching (https://thefreeiching.com/library/7). The I Ching is a tool for reflection, not a prediction. Nothing here forecasts events or replaces professional advice.