家人 → 坤
Hexagram 37: The Family → Hexagram 2: The Receptive
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 閑有家。悔亡。
Nine at the beginning means: Firm seclusion within the family. Remorse disappears.
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
喭喭諤諤，虎豹相齚。懼畏悚息，終无難惡。
Snarling and growling, tiger and leopard bite at each other. Fear and trembling still the breath; yet in the end, no harm or evil comes.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind from fire gives the family its voice, but here that voice turns to snarling confrontation. Tigers and leopards snap and bite at one another in a terrifying display of mutual aggression. The household is consumed by fierce quarreling — yet the verse pivots: despite the fear and trembling, no lasting harm results. The tension, though alarming, resolves without catastrophe. From The Family to The Receptive, the transformation moves from defined roles toward earth's vast, yielding openness. The Receptive absorbs conflict the way open ground absorbs thunder — not by fighting back but by offering no resistance. The snarling beasts exhaust themselves against boundless receptivity, and what seemed like mortal danger subsides into trembling relief.
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