Hexagram 37 家人 changing to hexagram 4 蒙
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 1, 2, 3, 5.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 4 蒙, line 4
困蒙,吝。
The fourth line, divided, (shows its subject as if) bound in chains of ignorance. There will be occasion for regret.
Hexagram 4 蒙, line 6
擊蒙,不利為寇,利禦寇。
In the topmost line, undivided, we see one smiting the ignorant (youth). But no advantage will come from doing him an injury. Advantage would come from warding off injury from him.
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 37 家人 — judgment
利女貞。
For (the realisation of what is taught in) Kiâ Zăn, (or for the regulation of the family), what is most advantageous is that the wife be firm and correct.
Hexagram 4 蒙 — judgment
亨。匪我求童蒙,童蒙求我。初筮告,再三瀆,瀆則不告。利貞。
Măng (indicates that in the case which it presupposes) there will be progress and success. I do not (go and) seek the youthful and inexperienced, but he comes and seeks me. When he shows (the sincerity that marks) the first recourse to divination, I instruct him. If he apply a second and third time, that is troublesome; and I do not instruct the troublesome. There will be advantage in being firm and correct.
The changing lines of hexagram 37
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 閑有家,悔亡。 | The first line, undivided, shows its subject establishing restrictive regulations in his household. Occasion for repentance will disappear. |
| 2 | 无攸遂,在中饋,貞吉。 | The second line, 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. |
| 3 | 家人嗃嗃,悔厲吉;婦子嘻嘻,終吝。 | The third line, 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. |
| 5 | 王假有家,勿恤。吉。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows the influence of the king extending to his family. There need be no anxiety; there will be good fortune. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.