Jia Ren :: Household
Auspicious for women
fia Ren is about well-ordered, supportive families and family-like groups that have a collective purpose. Selfless caregivers (mothers/nourishment) make households and family-like groups strong. Selfless and consistent inner strength is the basis of true communities. Orderly family/communities nurture great leaders who, in turn, make the alliances that create fair and just nation-states.
Jia Ren is favorable for anything related to family and for women in leadership. It is about the power found working in the background and in being generously supportive. Group effort and/or blood ties bring great success.
Confucianists certainly saw and loved the wisdom in this image. Jia Ren-the well-ordered family, defined by specific roles, agreements, and obligations was, for Confucianists, the basis of a well-ordered nation. Well-ordered nations make up the well-ordered world. The Da of rulership begins with the Dao of family.3
The Zhouyi consistently praises group efforts because they express the interconnectedness of us all and provide a greater scale of success than any individual effort. In a truly successful family or group no one has absolute power over others. Power is experienced and shared by everyone simply by each person being in his or her appropriate place. Confucius made sacrosanct the idea that appropriate placement, duty, and obligation of each person bring happiness and prosperity to society at large.