家人 → 臨
Hexagram 37: The Family → Hexagram 19: Approach
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 5, 6).
Line 2
六二 无攸遂。在中饋。貞吉。
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。
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 5
九五 王假有家。勿恤吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: As a king he approaches his family. Fear not. Good fortune.
Line 6
上九 有孚威如。終吉。
Nine at the top means: His work commands respect. In the end good fortune comes.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
節情省欲，賊斂有度。家給人足，公劉以富。
He tempers desire and restrains want; taxes are levied with measure. Each household is provided, each person content; through Gongliu's way, all prosper.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind from fire shapes the family through discipline, and here that discipline becomes the foundation of communal wealth. Emotions are restrained and desires curtailed; taxation is measured and levies kept reasonable. Every household is provided for, every person has enough, and the verse attributes this to Gongliu — the Zhou ancestor who led his people to prosperity at Bin. According to the Shijing ode 'Gongliu,' he surveyed the land, divided fields, and settled his people with prudent management. From The Family to Approach, earth above the lake draws near with nurturing authority. Gongliu's governance embodies this pattern: the ruler approaches his people not with force but with careful stewardship, and through moderation the family becomes a community, the community a state.
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