家人
GUA 37 · JIA1 REN
FAMILY MEMBERS
Overall Image (大象)
Wind comes forth from flame
Family members
The noble young one, accordingly, speaks with substance
And acts with consistency▼
Overall Image (大象)
Wind comes forth from flame
Family members
The noble young one, accordingly, speaks with substance
And acts with consistency
The fire glows on the hearth. With a roof to keep the warmth in and children to take it outside, it is always unseasonably warm here, the ideal and model climate inside with radiant heat for a sun. The well-tended fire at home has its effects on the world. Illumination and warmth mature, and then enter our larger families, from the nuclear to the extended, carrying the influence outward and welcoming new lessons home. Our words and deeds will not end here, so we’ll speak from the heart to the point, to this smallest and safest circle of friends, in this scale model society and the first of our social experiments. By conveyance and convection, the society starts here.
Main Judgment (Family Members) (卦辞)
Rewarding the woman’s persistence▼
Main Judgment (Family Members) (卦辞)
Rewarding the woman’s persistence
Reward the woman’s commitment in order to merit her loyalty. First agreements, divisions of labor and turf, personal boundaries and goals and avowals of warmth and intimacy, will face their first tests here at home. Failing here, they will not likely work anywhere else. Each member first needs a place to begin. The various roles are each great domains, unless they become the cause in small battles. Until these commitments are equalled and risen upon, the home is a limit, not a base for one’s operations. But the point of these points of beginning lies in their being outgrown. Thus their first function puts aside fear and replaces it with security. Security then becomes courage and courage turns into ability. This is the way that we know if a family works: it has functional members of varying sizes. At least more often than not: why some members cannot be redeemed has never been explained. Home is the place where we first expect fairness and where we will first learn to trust. This can be a poor preparation for life in the world outside, but at least we might have a few years to pre-cover, in advance of those beatings that life in this world has to offer.
Key Words (关键词)
Home, household, clan, familiar, kindred + people, others, individuals, humanity▼
Key Words (关键词)
Home, household, clan, familiar, kindred + people, others, individuals, humanity
A microclimate, hearth, warmth, security, intimacy; roles in working relationships Microcosm, moral boundaries and practice, division of labor, social organization Relations, convection, influences on the larger world; contributions, propagation Commitments, ties, partnerships and contracts; meeting basic social requirements Domestic, dominion, domain, domine; householder in Hindu & Buddhist doctrine
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Xun-Zhen Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Seventh House, Cardinal Air, Libra
element:Air
Tarot
card:Justice
suit:Trump
Qabalah
note:Lamed; Path between Netzach and Tipareth (Trad: Tp-Gb)
The Lines
11st • YangBoundaries maintain the family*
Regrets pass▼
1
1st • YangBoundaries maintain the family*
Regrets pass
37.1x Boundaries maintain the family:
The purposes have yet to evolve
At the beginning the home is in order, as the hearth is contained and the flame has its place to not go beyond. The signals are shared and made clear. Few questions remain about who makes what rules. This might seem to ignore several sources of warmth, to lack in affection, or to curb spontaneous feeling. There are mistakes and regrets. But this gives each household member a firm patch of ground to stand on and much can be done on a patch of firm ground. Even an unlimited branch must pick a direction to grow in. Rules are only a place to begin. The warmest of flames still comes from cold and insensitive logs. Unless this order becomes an obsession the home won’t be a prison. Half of a family’s troubles may come from boundary disputes, trespasses across unknown borders and the missing safe place for retreat.
22nd • YangHaving no other goals to pursue
Remaining within, preparing meals
Persistence is promising▼
2
2nd • YangHaving no other goals to pursue
Remaining within, preparing meals
Persistence is promising
37.2x Six second has promise:
Accepting for the purpose of influence
We’ll assume we speak of the wife, but only to make the manly girls angry. Yes, the little woman is tending to her chores. Ordinary life, well and fully attended, might be one of the highlights of our existence, but this is not the point here. First things come first, like good health and nourishment. Once the basic needs are met, we are free to move on; until then we go in circles. She has chosen her chores. Her mate has his aching back too. But there are more choices to make, like not wasting time complaining of having no time, or not working twice as hard just to prove this point. To simplify tasks is to cut the day’s work in half and set some time free. Husband wrestles the world with two strong arms and a will. But the wife in her place has a family of arms and wills. Serving is not servitude and the center is not confinement.
33rd • YangFamily members scolded severely
Regrettable harshness
Yet opportune
But wife and child smirking and mocking
Ends in disgrace▼
3
3rd • YangFamily members scolded severely
Regrettable harshness
Yet opportune
But wife and child smirking and mocking
Ends in disgrace
37.3x Family members scolded severely:
Not yet failure
* Wife (and) child smirking (and) mocking:
(Is) to lose the family’s boundaries
Someone forgot to take out the subconscious garbage. Even superior families will have such inferior moments. Tempers flare up in all but the quietest homes. These unfortunate little explosions at least open up hidden issues. Fires will get too hot. The smallest friction, the least petty thing within reach is summoned and marched into battle. Claims and accusations are stoked with extra heat. The middle ground gives way to always and never. Once this data is out in the open, it might be used to correct things. Sternest severity might even be called for, aimed at the problem, not in each other’s faces. This will not end in catharsis: the need for this is a myth. Wounds heal. But when husband reacts to snickers and smirks by punching holes in the doors, this is a different level of troubles: loss of respect is the fire gone out.
44th • YangEnriching the family
Full of promise▼
4
4th • YangEnriching the family
Full of promise
37.4x Enriching the family (is) full of promise:
Acceptance in (this) position
When the family prospers it begins to have its effects on the world. But standards of living must reach certain key levels first. Affluence first will fulfill basic needs. Generosity begins with getting enough to give. A well-fed and satisfied people can work longer hours for others. Individuals faring well make up the family welfare. Families faring well make up the general welfare. This does not begin with a king and flow downwards. All that a leader needs do here is to stand well out of the way and declare the right of a family to earn, not be given, a living. This will set some better examples. Dominion means being completely at home, and this is where it is learned. When wherewithal has been well-received or well-taken, it will find its way back around. A king should not even tax this: he should tax unwanted things.
55th • YangWhen the sovereign draws near to his family
Do not be concerned about luck▼
5
5th • YangWhen the sovereign draws near to his family
Do not be concerned about luck
37.5x The sovereign draws near to his family:
Sharing mutual affection
The king and his royal family are closely observed by all of their broader relations. Of course the gossips are busy, sniffing around for signs to mistrust, trying to pry and peer through the royal pomp. No, they do not have lives of their own, but yes, in a sense they should do this. Just as the king should put on his royal appearance. But the critic should also look for love and warmth, and the king should show off some of his nobler substance. The paternal and maternal forces at home will reflect in the patterns in matters of state. The cold winds of tyranny often begin on a cold hearth at home, where restrictions stand in for boundaries, or rules and laws for clear explanations and authority for the force of a healthy character. Society finds its first inspirations here and models itself accordingly. In a microcosm it’s easily studied.
6Top • YangBeing true is as good as impressive
The outcome is just as promising▼
6
Top • YangBeing true is as good as impressive
The outcome is just as promising
37.6x Rather than being impressive, keep the promise
Coming back to one’s own individual style
Father is first to admit it: he has as much growing to do as the wife and the kids. His place is something he earns. Authority authors its own life first. Life is an old enough process to know how to govern itself. A good work commands with more depth than coercion and the only compulsion that works well is that of compelling example. Motivation which only negates learns little about our reasons for moving. Superior authority works on the substance beneath it and relies not so much on its orders of who can peck whom. More evolved systems exist than those developed by chickens, but they also require more courage. True authority learns to respect before it asks for respect in turn, so that candor and frankness are signs of respect. Being familiar is a good thing, not unimpressive. Unimpressive is not being true.
Reference in Original Text & Resources
This content is derived from Bradford Hatcher's THE BOOK OF CHANGES: Yijing, Word By Word.
Original text for Hexagram 37 begins on Page 282-290.
Help improve this resource
Spot a typo or have a suggestion? We'd love to hear from you.