Hexagram 37 of 64 · King Wen order
家人The Family
Jiā Rén · ䷤ · above: Wind ☴ 巽 Xùn · below: Fire ☲ 離 Lí
The foundation of social order based on correct relationships and internal stability.A one-line gloss written for this site (AI-assisted). Everything below it is the classical text.
The Judgment 卦辭
利女貞。
For (the realisation of what is taught in) Kiâ Zăn, (or for the regulation of the family), what is most advantageous is that the wife be firm and correct.
James Legge, The Yî King (1882), the Text. Words in (parentheses) are Legge's own additions.
Commentary on the Judgment 彖傳 (Tuan, the first Wing)
1. In Kia Zan 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.
2. In Kia Zan we have the idea of an authoritative ruler;—that, namely, represented by the parental authority.
3. 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.
The Image 象
風自火出，家人；君子以言有物，而行有恆。
(The trigram representing) fire, and that for wind coming forth from it, form Kiâ Zăn. 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.
Legge's Great Image (Appendix II). The Chinese above also carries the Small Images of the six lines.
The six lines 爻辭
Read from the bottom (line 1) to the top (line 6). Each line: the Chinese, Legge's translation, and the Small Image commentary on it.
Line 1 初九
The first line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
閑有家，悔亡。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject establishing restrictive regulations in his household. Occasion for repentance will disappear.
Small Image: 'He establishes restrictive regulations in his household:—(he does so), before any change has taken place in their wills.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 53, Development.
Line 2 六二
The second line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
無攸遂，在中饋，貞吉。
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.
Small Image: 'The good fortune attached to the second six, (divided),' is due to the docility (of its subject), operating with humility.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 9, The Taming Power of the Small.
Line 3 九三
The third line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
家人嗃嗃，悔厲吉；婦子嘻嘻，終吝。
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.
Small Image: 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.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 42, Increase.
Line 4 六四
The fourth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
富家，大吉。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject enriching the family. There will be great good fortune.
Small Image: '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.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 13, Fellowship with Men.
Line 5 九五
The fifth line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
王假有家，勿恤吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows the influence of the king extending to his family. There need be no anxiety; there will be good fortune.
Small Image: 'The influence of the king extends to his family:'—the intercourse between them is that of mutual love.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 22, Grace.
Line 6 上九
The sixth line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
有孚威如，終吉。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity and arrayed in majesty. In the end there will be good fortune.
Small Image: 'The good fortune connected with the display of majesty' describes (the result of) the recovery of the true character.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 63, After Completion.
Related hexagrams
lines 2-4 below, 3-5 aboveOpposite 錯卦40. Deliverance 解
every line changedInverse 綜卦38. Opposition 睽
turned upside down
A hexagram is a mirror, not a command: read it to reflect, never to obey. Sources: James Legge (tr.), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (Oxford, 1882; 2nd ed. 1899), public domain; the Chinese text from Project Gutenberg ebook #25501 (易經), public domain. The trigram facts and the related hexagrams are computed from the line pattern. The gloss, selection and arrangement are CC-BY-SA-4.0 (PlayfulProcess). Data: github.com/PlayfulProcess/recursive-iching.