37 · Hexagram 37

家人

Jia Ren · The Family (Wind over Fire)

言有物,行有恆,正家而天下定

上卦upper trigram · / Wind下卦lower trigram · / Fire

Image

先看圖像,再讀文字。Read the image before the words.

大象傳《大象傳》從上下卦的自然圖像推演全卦之象,再提出人事取法。The Great Image derives conduct from the two trigrams' natural images.Great Image

  1. 全卦成象Whole image

    風自火出,家人

    (The trigram representing) fire, and that for wind coming forth from it, form Jia Ren.

  2. 人事取法Conduct

    君子以言有物,而行有恆。

    The superior man, in accordance with this, orders his words according to (the truth of) things, and his conduct so that it is uniformly consistent.

風從火中而出(火生風)——家人之象。君子由此體會:言語要有實在內容,行為要有恆常之道。

(The trigram representing) fire, and that for wind coming forth from it, form Jia Ren. The superior man, in accordance with this, orders his words according to (the truth of) things, and his conduct so that it is uniformly consistent.

Words

先讀經文,再讀《彖傳》如何解釋卦辭。The received text, then the Tuan commentary on it.

卦辭對整個卦(六條線為一組)的總體判斷。The judgment on the hexagram as a whole.
Judgment

家人:利女貞。

家人卦——利於女子守正。家之根本在女子能持中道。內柔外剛,男女各得其位。

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.

彖傳十翼之一,直接解釋卦名、卦辭及其剛柔結構。Tuan Zhuan — explains the name, the Judgment and the line structure.
Commentary on the Judgment

家人,女正位乎內,男正位乎外,男女正,天地之大義也。家人有嚴君焉,父母之謂也。父父,子子,兄兄,弟弟,夫夫,婦婦,而家道正。正家而天下定矣。

家人卦:女子正位於內,男子正位於外,男女各得其正——這是天地的大義。家中有「嚴君」(嚴而為君者),即父母。父盡父道、子盡子道、兄盡兄道、弟盡弟道、夫盡夫道、婦盡婦道——家道才正。家正則天下定。

In Jia Ren, the wife has her correct place in the inner trigram, and the man his correct place in the outer. The correct positions of the man and woman accord with the great Yi of Heaven and Earth.

Lines

六條線各有一句判斷。閱讀次序初→上;卦象由下而上,看左側的卦。One statement per line, read from the first line to the top. The figure is drawn bottom-up — watch the rail.

初九
立家規set rules early
1 爻 · line 1 · yang

閑有家,悔亡。

防閑有家(從家門開始立規)——悔消失。剛起步即立家規。

The first NINE shows its subject establishing restrictive regulations in his household. Occasion for repentance will disappear.

小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.

閑有家,志未變也。

立家規於初,是因為志向未變。

六二
持家中道central woman
2 爻 · line 2 · yin

無攸遂,在中饋,貞吉。

沒有自己的成就追求——專注於家中飲食之事,守正則吉。柔得中位,是賢妻之象。

The second SIX 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.

小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.

六二之吉,順以巽也。

六二之吉,是順從而謙遜。

九三
嚴勝於放stern beats lax
3 爻 · line 3 · yang

家人嗃嗃,悔厲,吉。婦子嘻嘻,終吝。

家中嗃嗃(嚴厲)——雖悔厲但吉。婦人小孩嘻嘻(過於放縱)——終究會吝。家教寧嚴勿放。

The third NINE 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.

小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.

家人嗃嗃,未失也。婦子嘻嘻,失家節也。

嚴而未失節。嘻笑放縱則失家之節。

六四
持家而富enriches family
4 爻 · line 4 · yin

富家,大吉。

使家富裕——大吉。柔得位,能持家業。

The fourth SIX shows its subject enriching the family. There will be great good fortune.

小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.

富家大吉,順在位也。

富家大吉,是順而得位。

九五
上下交愛mutual love
5 爻 · line 5 · yang

王假有家,勿恤,吉。

君王至於家——不必憂慮,吉。剛中得位,王者之家道。

The fifth NINE shows the influence of the king extending to his family. There need be no anxiety; there will be good fortune.

小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.

王假有家,交相愛也。

君王至家,是上下相愛。

上九
誠信有威sincere dignity
6 爻 · line 6 · yang

有孚威如,終吉。

有誠信、有威儀——終吉。家人卦的至高境界,剛在上而能誠信有威。

The topmost NINE shows its subject possessed of sincerity and inspiring awe. In the end there will be good fortune.

小象十翼之一。對爻辭的古典短註。Xiao Xiang — short classical commentary on this line.

威如之吉,反身之謂也。

威如之吉,是反求諸身之意。

Use

把象套到你的情境,取一個可行的下一步。Apply the image to your situation; take one practical step.

家·正位·言有物行有恆

Family · proper position · substantive words and consistent action

把象套到你的情境 · Apply the image to your situation
  1. 初九新團隊一上來就立規矩——悔消。New team — set rules at the start, regret dissolves.
  2. 六二在崗位上專注本職、不貪求高位——吉。Focus on your role without coveting higher — auspicious.
  3. 九三團隊管理寧嚴勿縱——放縱必吝。Team management: stern beats lax; lax leads to regret.
  4. 六四你能讓團隊富有/有產出——大吉。You enrich the team / make it productive — great fortune.
  5. 九五高位之德是上下交愛、不必憂慮——吉。Senior virtue is mutual love up and down — no worry needed.
  6. 上九退位後仍誠信有威——終吉。After stepping down, still sincere with dignity — auspicious end.
可行的一步 · Practical move

家人卦最大的應用:「言有物,行有恆」+「正家而天下定」。家庭、團隊、組織的根本都在「名分有定 + 誠信為本」。九三「寧嚴勿放」是教養的鐵律。

Jia Ren's deepest applications: 'words with substance, conduct with consistency' + 'set the home right, all settles'. Family, team, organization all rest on 'roles defined + sincerity at root'. Line 3's 'stern beats lax' is the iron rule of upbringing.

失手之處 · Failure mode

九三「婦子嘻嘻終吝」是現代家庭最常見的失——以「快樂教育」為名而失去家規,孩子終會嚐到吝的苦果。讀此爻自警:嚴而有節是真愛,縱容是溺愛。

Line 3's 'wife and child smirking, eventual regret' — modern family's common failure. 'Happy education' losing structure; the child eventually tastes regret. Stern with measure is true love; indulgence is doting harm.

義理Commentary4
三國·魏 (226–249 CE)王弼《周易注》Wang BiScholarly

王弼以為家人卦的核心在「男女各正其位」——內外有分而後家道立。卦辭「利女貞」是因為女子持內最為關鍵。讀此卦最該記住「正家而天下定」一句。

For Wang Bi the core of Jia Ren is 'man and woman each correct in their position' — only when inner and outer are distinguished does the way of the family stand. The Judgment says 'advantageous for the woman to be firm and correct' because the woman's keeping of the inner sphere is most crucial. The sentence most worth remembering: 'set the family right, and all under heaven is settled.'

北宋 · 11th c.程頤《伊川易傳》Cheng YiScholarly

程子強調大象「言有物,行有恆」——家庭的根本不在嚴而在誠:所言有實,所行有常。彼以九三「家人嗃嗃」為對「過於放縱」之戒——寧嚴勿放。

Cheng Yi stresses the Great Image's 'words with substance, conduct with constancy.' The root of the family lies not in severity but in sincerity: what is said has substance, what is done has regularity. He takes line 3's 'the household stern and strict' as a warning against excessive indulgence — better strict than lax.

南宋 · 12th c.朱熹《周易本義》Zhu XiIntroductory

朱子直言:家人者,治家之卦。彖傳「父父子子兄兄弟弟夫夫婦婦」一句立名分之要。學者觀此知:治家以名分始,以誠信終。

Zhu Xi says it plainly: Jia Ren is the hexagram of governing the household. The Tuan Zhuan's 'father as father, son as son, elder brother as elder brother, younger as younger, husband as husband, wife as wife' establishes the essentials of role and name (mingfen 名分). The student learns from this: governing a family begins with roles rightly named and ends with sincerity and trust.

21 世紀現代傳承·編輯組原創Modern lineageIntroductory

家人卦講治家。根基在大象八個字「言有物,而行有恆」:說話有實質,做事有定數,家裡人服的是這個,不是嗓門。九三擺出一道選擇題:「家人嗃嗃,悔厲吉」,管得太嚴,難免有怨,終究是吉;「婦子嘻嘻,終吝」,一團嘻笑無度,眼前和氣,日後要出事。兩害相權,寧嚴勿放。全卦收在上九「有孚威如,終吉」:先有孚,後有威。威儀立在誠信上纔站得住,光靠板臉,人心裡不服。

Jia Ren is about running a household. The foundation is the Great Image's eight characters: 'words with substance, conduct with constancy.' Say things with substance, do things on a steady pattern — that is what the family respects, not volume. Line 3 sets up a choice. 'The household stern and strict — regret and danger, yet auspicious': run it too strictly and there will be resentment, but the end is good. 'Wife and children giggling — regret in the end': easy laughter with no measure looks harmonious now and breaks down later. Weighing the two harms: better strict than lax. The hexagram closes on the top line, 'sincere and awe-inspiring — auspicious in the end': first sincerity (fu 孚), then authority. Dignity stands only when built on trust — a stern face alone convinces no one inside.

注解Annotation7
家人jiā rén

The family; members of the household — the hexagram name.

xián

To guard against, to set restraints — here, establishing household rules and discipline.

中饋zhōng kuì

The provisioning of the household — food and domestic management, the traditional inner-sphere charge.

嗃嗃hè hè

Stern, severe in manner.

嘻嘻xī xī

Giggling and lax — unrestrained merriment.

In old usage: to arrive at, to reach (not 'false').

To worry, be anxious.

歷史Context4
家人睽成對·合與分
Jia Ren and Kui — union and divergence

第 37 家人(合)與第 38 睽(分)為一對綜卦。卦序揭示:家庭是合的典型,但合中已含分;分中也能達合。

Hexagram 37 Jia Ren (union) and Hexagram 38 Kui (division) form an inverse pair (zong gua 綜卦). The sequence carries the point: the family is the paradigm of union, yet union already contains division — and from division, union can still be reached.

「正家而天下定」·中國家國同構之本
'Set the home right, and all-under-heaven settles' — root of family-state isomorphism

彖傳「正家而天下定矣」一句是中國「家國同構」思想的源頭——家是國的縮影,國是家的放大。後世「修齊治平」(《大學》)即與此呼應。

The Tuan Zhuan's 'set the family right, and all under heaven is settled' is a headwater of the Chinese idea that family and state share one structure: the family is the state in miniature, the state the family enlarged. The Great Learning's sequence — cultivate the self, order the family, govern the state, pacify the world — echoes it.

「父父子子」·名分之要
'Father as father, son as son' — the importance of role-name

彖傳「父父子子兄兄弟弟夫夫婦婦」是孔子「正名」思想的早期表達——每人盡其位之道,家道始正。後世儒家政治思想多源於此。

The Tuan Zhuan's 'father as father, son as son, brother as brother, husband as husband, wife as wife' is an early expression of Confucius's 'rectification of names' (zhengming 正名): when each person fulfills the way of their position, the family's way becomes correct. Much of later Confucian political thought flows from here.

「言有物,行有恆」·修養之根
'Words with substance, conduct with consistency' — cultivation root

大象八字「言有物,行有恆」是中國治家之最簡之道——說話要有實質,行為要有定數。後世「言行一致」皆從此來。

The Great Image's eight characters, 'words with substance, conduct with constancy,' are the most compact statement of Chinese household governance: speech must have real content, conduct must follow a steady pattern. The later ideal of 'word and deed in accord' descends from this.

練習Practice3
  1. char-recall

    「言有物,行有恆」八字之意?為何是治家根本?

    What do these eight characters mean? Why are they the root of family governance?

  2. parse

    為何「正家而天下定」是中國家國同構思想的源頭?

    Why is this the source of family-state isomorphism?

  3. line-read

    用九三「寧嚴勿放」評論一個你看見過或經歷過的教養失敗。

    Use line 3 to comment on an upbringing failure you've witnessed or experienced.