家人

Hexagram 37: The Family → Hexagram 10: Treading

家人
The Family
Wind / Fire
Treading
Heaven / Lake
Changing LinesStable Lines

Changing Lines

This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).

Line 2

六二 无攸遂。在中饋。貞吉。

(having) no
yōucause
suìto pursue
zàiremain
zhōnginside
kuìmaking
zhēnpersistence
(is) promising

Six in the second place means: She should not follow her whims. She must attend within to the food. Perseverance brings good fortune.

Line 3

九三 家人嗃嗃。悔厲吉。婦子嘻嘻。終吝。

jiāthe family
rénmembers
(are) sharply
rebuked
huǐ(a) regrettable
harshness
(but
(but) wife
(and) child
(are) smirking
(and) mocking
zhōng(this) concludes
lìndisgrace

Nine in the third place means: 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.

Line 4

六四 富家大吉。

enriching
jiā(the) family
much
promise

Six in the fourth place means: She is the treasure of the house. Great good fortune.

Trigram Changes

Upper TrigramWind HeavenThe Gentle → The Creative
Lower TrigramFire LakeThe Clinging → The Joyous

Yilin Verse

君子失意,小人得志。亂擾並作,姦邪充塞。雖有百堯,顛不可救。

The noble man loses his way; the petty man gains his will. Turmoil and upheaval arise together; villainy and treachery fill every space. Though there were a hundred Yaos, the fall could not be saved.

— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE

Commentary

Wind from fire once sustained household order, but now that order inverts completely. The gentleman loses his standing while the petty man rises to power. Chaos and disorder erupt simultaneously; treachery and villainy fill every space. Even if a hundred Yaos appeared — a hundred sage-emperors — the catastrophe could not be reversed. The hyperbole is striking: invoking the supreme paragon of virtuous rule only to declare him powerless against such thorough corruption. From The Family to Treading, heaven above the lake establishes proper hierarchy. Yet the verse depicts hierarchy shattered beyond repair. Treading the tiger's tail requires knowing one's place; when every position is occupied by the wrong person, even perfect discernment cannot restore what has been overturned.

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