The Family
- In Chinese
- 家人 jiārén
- Above
- The Gentle, wind
- Below
- The Clinging, fire
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Mark my castWhat hexagram 37 means
Hexagram 37 is wind above fire. Its name means a household, and Legge takes its subject to be “the regulation of the family”.
The judgment looks to the wife. In Legge's words “what is most advantageous is that the wife be firm and correct”.
The lines are mostly favorable. Every line from the second to the top speaks of good fortune, though the third also names repentance and peril. The first says that “Occasion for repentance will disappear”.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
家人利女貞。
THE FAMILY. The perseverance of the woman furthers.
it furthers it is favorable
The image
風自火出，《家人》。君子以言有物而行有恆。
Wind comes forth from fire: The image of THE FAMILY.Thus the superior man has substance in his words And duration in his way of life.
What the commentaries say
The commentary on the judgment starts from where each one stands. It says “the wife has her correct place in the inner (trigram), and the man his correct place in the outer”.
The same commentary asks every member of the house to be what their name says. It begins “Let the father be indeed father, and the son son”, and goes on through the brothers, the husband and the wife.
Then it widens the view beyond the house. Its last sentence is “Bring the family to that state, and all under heaven will be established.”
Legge says how that order is reached. It is “effected mainly by the co-operation of husband and wife in their several spheres”, and that the wife be firm and correct and do her part well “is the first thing necessary to its regulation”.
The image is wind coming forth from fire. From it the commentary draws a rule for speech and conduct. The superior man “orders his words according to (the truth of) things, and his conduct so that it is uniformly consistent”.
Wilhelm gives the same rule in fewer words. The superior man “has substance in his words And duration in his way of life”.
The six lines
First line
閑有家，悔亡。
Firm seclusion within the family. Remorse disappears.
remorse disappears regret fades away
The first line shows its subject “establishing restrictive regulations in his household”. The commentary gives the timing, which is “before any change has taken place in their wills”.
Wilhelm puts the same line as “Firm seclusion within the family.”
Legge notes that the line is strong and in a strong place. For him it suggests “the necessity of strict rule in governing the family”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 53, Development
Second line
无攸遂，在中饋，貞吉。
She should not follow her whims. She must attend within to the food. Perseverance brings good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The second line is broken and sits in the centre of the lower trigram. Legge says it “fitly represents the wife”, who attends to the food and is “unassuming in regard to all beyond her sphere”.
The commentary explains where its good fortune comes from. It is due to “the docility (of its subject), operating with humility”.
Wilhelm words the first part of the line as “She should not follow her whims.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 9, Small Taming
Third line
家人嗃嗃，悔厲，吉；婦子嘻嘻，終吝。
When tempers flare up in the family, Too great severity brings remorse. Good fortune nonetheless. When woman and child dally and laugh, It leads in the end to humiliation.
remorse there is something to regretdanger there is dangergood fortune it goes wellhumiliation it leads to embarrassment
The third line sets two households side by side. Stern severity brings repentance and peril and still ends in good fortune, while a household of “smirking and chattering” ends in regret.
The commentary agrees. Under severity “there has been no (great) failure”, and where wife and children smirk and chatter “the (proper) economy of the family has been lost”.
Legge explains that a strong line at the top of its trigram “may be expected to exceed in severity”. His verdict is that severity “is better than laxity and indulgence”.
Wilhelm reads the opening differently. In his version “Too great severity brings remorse”, and the laughter of woman and child “leads in the end to humiliation”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 42, Increase
Fourth line
富家，大吉。
She is the treasure of the house. Great good fortune.
great good fortune it goes very well
The fourth line is broken and in its proper place, and the text gives it great good fortune. Its subject is “enriching the family”.
Legge sees the wife again in this line. Though she is kept to the inner affairs of the house, “she can do much to enrich the family”. The commentary credits “the docility (belonging to the subject of the line), and its being in its correct place”.
In Wilhelm the line reads “She is the treasure of the house.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 13, Fellowship
Fifth line
王假有家，勿恤，吉。
As a king he approaches his family. Fear not. Good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The fifth line shows a king whose influence reaches his family, and the text says “There need be no anxiety”. The commentary names what passes between them, which is “mutual love”.
Legge leaves open who the king is. He may be “the husband spoken of as also a king”, or a real king. Either way “The central place here tempers the display of the strength and power”.
Wilhelm has “As a king he approaches his family.” Where Legge says there need be no anxiety, he has “Fear not.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 22, Grace
Sixth line
有孚威如，終吉。
His work commands respect. In the end good fortune comes.
good fortune it goes well
The top line joins sincerity and majesty, and its good fortune comes in the end. The commentary speaks of “the recovery of the true character”.
Legge admits the risk of a strong line in this place. Its subject “might degenerate into stern severity”, but he is taken to be sincere and “complete in his personal character and self-culture”.
Wilhelm gives the line as “His work commands respect.”
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 63, After Completion
Hexagram 37 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 37 unchanging, what remains is the judgment, which finds advantage in the firmness of the wife, and the image, which asks for words that match things and conduct that stays consistent.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 37 mean?
It is about the household and how it is kept in order. The judgment says “what is most advantageous is that the wife be firm and correct”, and Legge names its subject as “the regulation of the family”.
What does hexagram 37 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 37 that is the advantage of being firm and correct, and the call to have “substance in his words And duration in his way of life”.
What does hexagram 37 changing to 22 mean?
It is hexagram 37 with its fifth line moving. That line shows “the influence of the king extending to his family” and tells of good fortune without anxiety. When it changes the hexagram becomes number 22.
What does hexagram 37 changing to 63 mean?
It is hexagram 37 with its top line moving. That line shows its subject “possessed of sincerity and arrayed in majesty”, with good fortune in the end. When it changes the hexagram becomes number 63.
Which trigrams form hexagram 37?
Fire is below and wind is above. The commentary on the image describes them as fire “and that for wind coming forth from it”.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Kiâ Zăn in James Legge. The Family in Wilhelm and Baynes.
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