Hexagram 37: Jiā Rén (The Family)
风火家人 · 第 37 卦 · Wind over Fire · 中文版
The Judgment
For (the realisation of what is taught in) Jia Ren, (or for the regulation of the family), what is most advantageous is that the wife be firm and correct.
家人：利女贞。
Commentary on the Judgment (Tuan)
In Jia Ren the wife has her correct place in the inner (trigram), and the man his correct place in the outer. That man and woman occupy their correct places is the great righteousness shown (in the relation and positions of) heaven and earth. In Jia Ren we have the idea of an authoritative ruler; - that, namely, represented by the parental authority. Let the father be indeed father, and the son son; let the elder brother be indeed elder brother, and the younger brother younger brother, let the husband be indeed husband, and the wife wife: - then will the family be in its normal state. Bring the family to that state, and all under heaven will be established.
彖曰：家人，女正位乎内，男正位乎外，男女正，天地之大义也。家人有严君焉，父母之谓也。父父，子子，兄兄，弟弟，夫夫，妇妇，而家道正；正家而天下定矣。
The Great Image
(The trigram representing) fire, and that for wind coming forth from it, form Jia Ren. The superior man, in accordance with this, orders his words according to (the truth of) things, and his conduct so that it is uniformly consistent.
象曰：风自火出，家人；君子以言有物，而行有恒。
The six lines
Line 1 (first): The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject establishing restrictive regulations in his household Occasion for repentance will disappear.
'He establishes restrictive regulations in his household: - (he does so), before any change has taken place in their wills.
In plain words: Setting firm rules within the household: regret vanishes. The first line is the start of the family: the household has just been founded, and rules are set while intentions have not yet changed. The Small Image says its intentions have not yet changed.
初九：闲有家，悔亡。 象曰：闲有家，志未变也。
Line 2 (second): The second SIX, divided, shows its subject taking nothing on herself, but in her central place attending to the preparation of the food. Through her firm correctness there will be good fortune.
'The good fortune attached to the second six, (divided),' is due to the docility (of its subject), operating with humility.
In plain words: Not taking things into one's own hands, seeing to the meals within: steadfastness brings good fortune. The second line is yielding, central and correct, corresponds to the fifth, and runs the household from within. The Small Image says its good fortune lies in being yielding and modest. This was the ancient expectation of a wife; today it can be read as each person doing their share at home.
六二：无攸遂，在中馈，贞吉。 象曰：六二之吉，顺以巽也。
Line 3 (third): The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject (treating) the members of the household with stern severity. There will be occasion for repentance, there will be peril, (but) there will (also) be good fortune. If the wife and children were to be smirking and chattering, in the end there would be occasion for regret.
When 'the members of the household are treated with stern severity,' there has been no (great) failure (in the regulation of the family). When 'wife and children are smirking and chattering,' the (proper) economy of the family has been lost.
In plain words: When the household is ruled sternly, there are complaints, and regret and danger, but good fortune; when wife and children giggle and play, in the end there is regret. The third line is strong but not central and runs the household a little too strictly. The Small Image says sternness does not lose the family's way, while unchecked giggling loses its measure.
九三：家人嗃嗃，悔厉吉；妇子嘻嘻，终吝。 象曰：家人嗃嗃，未失也；妇子嘻嘻，失家节也。
Line 4 (fourth): The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject enriching the family. There will be great good fortune.
'The family is enriched, and there is great good fortune:' - this is due to the docility (belonging to the subject of the line), and its being in its correct place.
In plain words: Enriching the household: great good fortune. The fourth line is yielding and correct, at the bottom of the upper trigram, serving the fifth above and facing the inner trigram below: it is the one who manages the household's means, living within them. The Small Image says it is yielding and in its proper place.
六四：富家，大吉。 象曰：富家大吉，顺在位也。
Line 5 (fifth): The fifth NINE, undivided, shows the influence of the king extending to his family. There need be no anxiety; there will be good fortune.
'The influence of the king extends to his family:' - the intercourse between them is that of mutual love.
In plain words: The king reaches his household through virtue: do not worry, good fortune. The fifth line is strong, central and correct, leading by example, and the family is naturally in harmony. The Small Image says they love one another.
九五：王假有家，勿恤，吉。 象曰：王假有家，交相爱也。
Line 6 (sixth (top)): The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity and arrayed in majesty. In the end there will be good fortune.
'The good fortune connected with the display of majesty' describes (the result of) the recovery of the true character.
In plain words: With sincerity and dignity: good fortune in the end. The top line is the end of the family hexagram: in the end a household is held together by good faith and dignity. The Small Image says the good fortune of dignity means looking at oneself.
上九：有孚威如，终吉。 象曰：威如之吉，反身之谓也。
Line positions
5 of the six lines stand in their proper place (strong lines in odd places, weak lines in even places).
The second and fifth lines hold the central places of the lower and upper trigrams; being one strong and one weak, they correspond, and both are also in their proper places.
Of the three pairs of corresponding places (first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top), 2 pairs are made of one strong and one weak line.
| Line | Proper place | Central | Corresponds with |
|---|---|---|---|
| top (strong) | — | — | 3rd line: no |
| 5th (strong) | yes | yes | 2nd line: yes |
| 4th (weak) | yes | — | 1st line: yes |
| 3rd (strong) | yes | — | top line: no |
| 2nd (weak) | yes | yes | 5th line: yes |
| 1st (strong) | yes | — | 4th line: yes |
Strong lines belong in odd places and weak lines in even places; the second and fifth are the central places; first and fourth, second and fifth, third and top correspond, and they "respond" when one is strong and the other weak.
These are structural conventions, not scores of good or bad fortune. Commentators differ: Wang Bi treats the first and top places as beginning and end without fixed yin or yang positions. Read each line with its Small Image and the whole hexagram.
Place in Jing Fang's eight palaces
Jing Fang grouped the 64 hexagrams into eight "palaces" of eight, each headed by a doubled trigram. Changing the lines of the head hexagram one by one from the bottom gives the next five; the last two are the "wandering soul" and "returning soul" hexagrams. The Xun palace runs: Xùn (head), Xiǎo Chù (1st change), Jiā Rén (2nd change), Yì (3rd change), Wú Wàng (4th change), Shì Kè (5th change), Yí (wandering soul), Gǔ (returning soul).
A recorded case from Takashima
Jia Ren to Tong Ren: starting a business with a friend: Takashima was planning a venture with a friend and cast on it himself, drawing the fourth line of Jia Ren, "enriching the household; great good fortune". He read the inner trigram Li as himself and the outer Xun as his friend: two like minds each running one side of it, and Xun meaning threefold profit. He went ahead.
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English text: James Legge, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16, 1882), public domain, as transcribed by the Chinese Text Project. Chinese: the received text. Offered for study and reflection, not as prediction.