家人 → 解
Hexagram 37: The Family → Hexagram 40: Deliverance
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 6 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 閑有家。悔亡。
Nine at the beginning means: Firm seclusion within the family. Remorse disappears.
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 4
六四 富家大吉。
Six in the fourth place means: She is the treasure of the house. Great good fortune.
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
西賈巴蜀，寒雪至轂。欲前不得，復反其室。
Trading westward in Ba and Shu, cold snow reaches the axle hub. He cannot press forward; he turns back to his house.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind from fire sends the family merchant westward into the lands of Ba and Shu — modern Sichuan, famous for its treacherous mountain roads. But heavy snow buries the wagon axles, and the journey cannot continue. Unable to advance, the traveler turns back to his home. The verse captures the merchant's gamble: distant markets promise profit, but geography and weather have the final word. The snow at the axle is a vivid image of ambition literally frozen in place. From The Family to Deliverance, thunder and rain break open what was sealed. Deliverance releases tension and clears obstacles; the merchant's return home is itself a form of deliverance — abandoning the impossible journey allows frozen energy to thaw and find a new path.
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