家人 → 比
Hexagram 37: The Family → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 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 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
更旦初歲，振除禍敗。新衣元服，拜受利福。
The new dawn of the new year; calamity and ruin are swept away. In new garments and formal caps, they bow and receive blessings.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind from fire renews the household with the turning of the year. At the changing dawn of the new year, calamities and failures are swept away. New garments and formal caps are donned — the ritual act of renewal — and blessings are received with a bow. This verse captures the New Year purification rite: the old year's misfortunes are formally expelled, and the household begins again in fresh attire and restored fortune. From The Family to Holding Together, water rests upon the earth, gathering all into unity. The New Year ceremony is precisely this: a community coming together to acknowledge shared renewal. The former kings built nations and bonded with feudal lords through such rites; the family that cleanses and re-commits itself finds solidarity in the act of beginning again.
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