Hexagram 13: Fellowship with Men

Five men in black coats and wide-brimmed hats sit around a table covered with red cloth, their attention directed toward someone beyond the frame. Rembrandt painted these guild syndics in 1662, capturing the Drapers' Guild officials during a meeting. Behind them, a servant leans forward. Before them, ledgers lie open. The painting records the moment when private individuals gather for public purpose, when separate interests align under common cause. Each figure maintains distinct features, distinct personality, yet they function as one body examining accounts, making decisions, representing their trade to the city.

This is Tóng Rén (同人), the Chinese hexagram meaning "fellowship with others" or "community with people." Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Heaven (Qián) sits above Fire (Lí): creative force above, clarity and illumination below, like people gathering in an open field under a bright sky where nothing stays hidden. The syndics embody this openness—their meeting happens in daylight, their records lie visible on the table, their authority derives from collective recognition rather than private power. In Zhou Dynasty practice, this hexagram appeared when alliances formed not from family obligation but from shared purpose, when people came together in the "great marketplace" where differences dissolved under common concern.

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The Judgment text emphasizes the open-field quality of true fellowship: "Fellowship with others in the open. Success. It furthers one to cross the great water. The perseverance of the superior person furthers." Public alignment, not secret faction. The syndics' work serves the guild openly—their authority comes from transparency, their power from acknowledged expertise. They don't scheme in shadows; they meet where their community can see them. Tang Dynasty administrators associated this hexagram with meritocratic selection, when positions went to those qualified rather than to relatives, when public service meant genuine commonality of purpose.

The Image Text describes how fellowship forms: "Heaven together with fire: the image of fellowship with others. Thus the superior person organizes the clans and makes distinctions between things." Clarity about difference enables genuine unity. Rembrandt distinguishes each syndic—different faces, different gestures—while showing how they function together. The structure holds precisely because roles stay clear, because distinctions support rather than undermine collaboration. In the I-Ching's sequence, Tóng Rén follows Standstill: after stagnation and separation, people gather again in open space, reforming community. The next hexagram is Possession in Great Measure—when fellowship succeeds, abundance follows. But fellowship comes first, before wealth.