Hexagram 37.4 — The Family (Fourth Line)

Original Text & Translation

「富家，大吉。」 — Rich family — great good fortune.

The image is one of a household that has achieved prosperity through proper internal order. The "richness" here is comprehensive: material sufficiency, emotional security, clear communication, and shared purpose. The family thrives not because of external windfalls, but because its members understand their roles, support one another, and maintain healthy boundaries. This creates a container in which resources naturally grow and circulate.

Core Meaning

Line four occupies the lower position of the outer trigram, acting as a bridge between the intimate interior (lines 1-3) and the public exterior (lines 5-6). In The Family, this placement suggests someone who manages resources, mediates between private and public spheres, and ensures that the household's internal health translates into external stability. This is the steward, the chief operating officer, the partner who handles logistics so that vision can flourish.

The "great good fortune" arises because this line embodies responsible abundance. It does not hoard or squander; it circulates resources wisely, invests in infrastructure, and maintains reserves. The family becomes rich not through extraction but through cultivation — of trust, of skill, of mutual respect. This line teaches that sustainable prosperity requires ongoing care of the relational ecosystem that generates it.

Practically, this means your current success is a signal to double down on what's working relationally and structurally. Do not take harmony for granted or divert energy into flashy but destabilizing ventures. The fortune you enjoy now is both a reward and a responsibility: use it to deepen the systems that produced it.

Symbolism & Imagery

The image of the "rich family" evokes a well-tended estate: fields are fertile because they've been rotated and nourished, buildings are sound because maintenance is routine, and relationships are warm because communication is regular. Wealth here is not a pile of gold but a living system — a garden, a network, a culture. The fourth line sits at the point where internal order becomes externally visible, where private discipline manifests as public credibility.

In organizational terms, this is the moment when good culture starts to show up in retention, output quality, and reputation. In personal relationships, it's when years of small kindnesses and clear boundaries create a bond that others recognize as enviable. The symbolism warns against complacency: richness must be actively maintained. The estate that is not tended will decay; the family that stops communicating will fragment.

The fourth line also carries a subtle caution about visibility. As the family becomes prosperous, it attracts attention — some admiring, some envious. The line counsels maintaining the same principles that built the wealth: humility, clarity, and mutual care. Do not let external validation erode internal integrity.

Action Guidance

Career & Business

• Audit your systems: identify which processes, rituals, and communication patterns are generating current success. Document them so they can scale or be taught.
• Invest in infrastructure: use surplus to strengthen foundations — better tools, training, documentation, or reserves — rather than chasing new verticals prematurely.
• Clarify roles and ownership: prosperity can blur boundaries. Ensure everyone knows their domain and decision rights to prevent future friction.
• Celebrate and circulate: share wins with the team, recognize contributions, and reinvest in the people who built the success. Hoarding credit or resources will erode the culture that produced them.
• Maintain discipline: do not let abundance lead to sloppiness. The habits that built wealth must persist to sustain it.
• Prepare for visibility: as your organization or project gains attention, ensure your internal culture can withstand scrutiny and growth. Hire for values fit, not just skill.

Love & Relationships

• Acknowledge what's working: name the specific behaviors, rhythms, and agreements that make your relationship feel secure and joyful. Gratitude reinforces good patterns.
• Invest in shared infrastructure: whether it's a home, a financial plan, or a weekly ritual, build structures that support your bond's long-term health.
• Balance autonomy and togetherness: richness in relationship includes space for individual growth. Ensure both partners have resources (time, money, attention) for personal pursuits.
• Communicate about resources: discuss money, time, and energy openly. Misalignment here can destabilize even the most loving partnerships.
• Protect your privacy: as your relationship thrives, resist the urge to perform it for others. Keep the intimate core intact.
• Plan for transitions: use this stable phase to discuss future scenarios — children, aging parents, career shifts — so you're aligned when change arrives.

Health & Inner Work

• Recognize your body as a household: health is the result of many small systems (sleep, nutrition, movement, stress regulation) working in harmony. Audit which are thriving and which need attention.
• Invest in prevention: use periods of good health to build reserves — strength, flexibility, metabolic health, social connection — that will serve you in harder times.
• Create sustainable rhythms: the "richness" of vitality comes from consistent, moderate practices, not heroic bursts. Prioritize routines you can maintain for years.
• Balance output and recovery: prosperity in energy means knowing when to exert and when to rest. Track your cycles and honor them.
• Tend your inner family: different parts of you have different needs (the part that craves novelty, the part that needs safety, the part that wants solitude). Ensure all are heard and cared for.
• Share your practices: if you've found routines that work, teach them to others. Generosity with knowledge deepens your own understanding.

Finance & Strategy

• Consolidate gains: if recent investments or efforts have paid off, move profits into stable, diversified positions. Lock in wins before seeking new risk.
• Build reserves: use abundance to create a financial buffer — emergency fund, insurance, or low-volatility assets — that protects against future shocks.
• Review your financial "family": ensure all accounts, beneficiaries, and estate documents are current and aligned with your values. Clarity here prevents future conflict.
• Invest in relationships: the fourth line favors strategies that depend on trust and long-term partnership. Strengthen ties with advisors, collaborators, and stakeholders.
• Avoid overextension: the temptation of prosperity is to deploy capital everywhere. Stay disciplined; only pursue opportunities that align with your core competencies and values.
• Educate and delegate: if you're managing family or organizational wealth, teach others the principles that guide your decisions. Shared understanding prevents dependency and builds resilience.

Timing, Signals, and Readiness

The fourth line of The Family marks a moment of harvest and stewardship. You are in a phase where prior investments — in relationships, systems, or skills — are yielding tangible returns. The timing counsel is to recognize this as a plateau, not a peak. Plateaus are for consolidation, for strengthening what you've built, and for preparing the foundation to support the next level of growth.

Signals that you're in alignment with this line: you feel grateful more than anxious, your systems run smoothly with less constant intervention, others seek your advice or partnership, and you have surplus (time, money, energy) to reinvest. If you feel stretched, scattered, or resentful, it's a sign that growth has outpaced your structural capacity; pause and rebuild internal order before expanding further.

The transition out of this line comes when external demands or opportunities require you to step into a more public or authoritative role (line five) or when you must adapt to changing conditions (line six). Until then, savor and steward the richness you've cultivated. Use this stable period to document what works, train others, and build reserves of every kind.

When This Line Moves

A moving fourth line in Hexagram 37 often signals a shift from internal prosperity to external responsibility or visibility. The family's success may attract new members, partners, or obligations. The change hexagram (determined by your divination method) will show the specific nature of this transition — whether it's toward greater authority, adaptation, or a new relational configuration.

The key is to carry forward the principles that generated the current richness: clarity of roles, open communication, mutual respect, and disciplined resource management. Do not abandon these in the rush to capitalize on new opportunities. The "great good fortune" of the fourth line is sustainable only if the relational and structural integrity that produced it remains intact.

Practical advice: before stepping into the next phase, ensure your current systems can run without your constant presence. Delegate, document, and train. This frees you to engage new challenges without destabilizing what you've built. The rich family endures because it develops leaders at every level, not just at the top.

Concise Summary

Hexagram 37.4 celebrates prosperity that arises from relational health and structural integrity. The "rich family" is not a windfall but the natural result of clear roles, open communication, and shared values. This line asks you to recognize and steward the systems that generate your current success, to invest surplus in deepening those systems, and to resist the temptation to overextend or take harmony for granted. Great good fortune is yours — maintain it through the same care and discipline that built it.