家人
“Dwelling People” — King Wen #37
The family and the inner circle. Order begins at home, with clear roles and warmth.
The Judgment 卦辞
利女貞。
For (the realisation of what is taught in) Jia Ren, (or for the regulation of the family), what is most advantageous is that the wife be firm and correct.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
閒有家，悔亡。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject establishing restrictive regulations in his household Occasion for repentance will disappear.
無攸遂，在中饋，貞吉。
The second SIX, divided, shows its subject taking nothing on herself, but in her central place attending to the preparation of the food. Through her firm correctness there will be good fortune.
家人嗃嗃，悔厲，吉；婦子嘻嘻，終吝。
The third NINE, undivided, shows its subject (treating) the members of the household with stern severity. There will be occasion for repentance, there will be peril, (but) there will (also) be good fortune. If the wife and children were to be smirking and chattering, in the end there would be occasion for regret.
富家，大吉。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject enriching the family. There will be great good fortune.
王假有家，勿恤，吉。
The fifth NINE, undivided, shows the influence of the king extending to his family. There need be no anxiety; there will be good fortune.
有孚，威如，終吉。
The topmost NINE, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity and arrayed in majesty. In the end there will be good fortune.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 37 places fire (离) beneath wind (巽) —light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates below, gentle influence working inward above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Dwelling People”:the family and the inner circle. Order begins at home, with clear roles and warmth Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 37
What does 家人 (jiā rén) mean?
Hexagram 37 of the I Ching is named 家人 (jiā rén), usually rendered "Dwelling People" in English editions. Its figure pairs fire (离) below with wind (巽) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 37?
巽 (Wind) sits above and 离 (Fire) sits below — the classical picture is light and clarity clinging to what it illuminates beneath gentle influence working inward.
How is hexagram 37 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 37 gives hexagram 40 — 解 (Taking-Apart). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 38 — 睽 (Polarising). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 64 — 未濟 (Not Yet Fording).
Ask your own question
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.