家人 → 鼎
Hexagram 37: The Family → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 4, 5).
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 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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
向食飲酒，嘉賓聚會。牂羊大豬，君子饒有。
Facing the food, drinking the wine, honored guests gather. Ewes and great swine; the noble man has plenty.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind from fire fills the family hearth with the warmth of a feast. Facing food and drinking wine, honored guests gather for a banquet. Rams and great pigs are served — the gentleman has abundance to spare. The verse celebrates the family at its most generous and communal: the table laden, the wine poured, the guests welcomed. This is the family fulfilling its social role as host, transforming private wealth into shared festivity. From The Family to The Cauldron, fire blazes above wood as the sacrificial vessel refines raw offering into sacred nourishment. The feast is the cauldron's work made visible: raw ingredients transformed through skill and ritual into something that nourishes both body and social bonds. The family that feeds its community sanctifies its own prosperity.
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