Hexagram 37, Jiā Rén (The Family): Line 4

家人卦六四 · 风火家人 · 中文版

六四:富家,大吉。

The line (Legge)

The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject enriching the family. There will be great good fortune.

Small Image commentary

'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.

象曰:富家大吉,顺在位也。

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.

Applying it to your situation

If you look after a household's livelihood, this line suggests that steady housekeeping and living within your means is itself a blessing. What small change would make your home more secure?

Position

A broken (yin) line in the fourth place, which is a yin (even) place, so it is in its proper place. Its partner is line 1; one is yin and the other yang, so they respond to each other.

If this line moves

With this line moving alone, Jiā Rén changes into Hexagram 13 Tóng Rén (Fellowship). The Jiaoshi Yilin verse for this change (Chinese): 焦氏易林·家人之同人.

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.

The hexagram

Hexagram 37 Jiā Rén (The Family). 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.

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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. Plain-English readings and position notes by this site.

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