家人Jiaren · The Family
In one sentence
First put the affairs of the household (your own inner circle) in order.
A hexagram about the family, and about internal affairs. When everyone keeps to their own place, the inside is steady. Speak with substance; act with constancy. Set the rules inside first, and err on the strict side. Once the inside is steady, outside matters become manageable.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- Put the inside in order first, then talk about the outside. Everyone on the team keeps to their own place, and the rules get set first, better a little strict. As for you, let your words have substance and your actions have constancy. Once the inside is steady, outside matters become manageable.
- Love
- This hexagram is about the household itself. Each of you carries your own share and does what you said you would do; better for the rules at home to be a little strict than vague. If you are single, first get clear on what kind of home you want, then look for someone willing to build a daily life with you.
- Money
- Get the household accounts in order first, then think about money outside. Set rules for income and spending and be clear about who manages what; better a little strict than muddled. Household money depends on constancy, on keeping house bit by bit, not on one big windfall.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsIt is favorable for the woman to stay true — first set the inside of the household right. When the household is right, the outside comes right of itself.
The Tuan commentary
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。
Jiaren: the woman's correct place is within; the man's correct place is without. That man and woman are correct is the great principle of heaven and earth. The family has its strict rulers: this means the father and the mother. When the father is a father and the son a son, the elder brother an elder brother and the younger brother a younger brother, the husband a husband and the wife a wife, the way of the family is correct. Set the family right, and all under heaven is settled.
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
風自火出，家人。君子以言有物而行有恆。
Wind comes forth from fire: Jiaren (The Family). The noble one has substance in words and constancy in conduct.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text閑有家，悔亡。Set bounds within the household. Regret vanishes.In plain wordsLay down rules and safeguards as soon as the household is founded, and regret vanishes. More on this line →
Six in the second place
Text无攸遂，在中饋，貞吉。Nothing is pursued on one's own account. One stays within and tends the meals. Staying true brings good fortune.In plain wordsDo not act on your own authority; take good care of the household's meals. Stay true: good fortune. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text家人嗃嗃，悔厲吉。婦子嘻嘻，終吝。The household is ruled with harsh scolding: regret and danger, yet good fortune. Wife and children giggle and chatter: in the end, humiliation.In plain wordsThe family is governed so strictly that everyone groans. There is regret and there is danger, yet it is good fortune. If wife and children laugh and fool around all day with no rules, it ends in humiliation. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text富家，大吉。Enriching the household. Great good fortune.In plain wordsMake the household prosperous: great good fortune. More on this line →
Nine in the fifth place
Text王假有家，勿恤，吉。The king reaches his household. Do not worry. Good fortune.In plain wordsThe king has moved his own household through his virtue. No need to worry: good fortune. More on this line →
Nine at the top
Text有孚威如，終吉。There is sincerity, and a commanding dignity. In the end, good fortune.In plain wordsYou are sincere, and you also command respect; in the end it is good fortune. This is the way to run a household for the long term — and the dignity begins with what you demand of yourself. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Jiaren belongs to the second pentad of Grain in Ear, “Shrikes begin to call” (June 11 to June 15, 2027).