An Analysis of the Structure, Ethics, and Ontology of the 'Jia Ren' Hexagram in the Zhou Yi

Section 4: Daoist "Simplicity" and the True Nature of the Family

Laozi repeatedly mentions the concept of "simplicity" or the "uncarved block" ($\text{pǔ}$, 朴). In Daodejing, Chapter 19, he states:

"Discard sainthood and abandon wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold; discard benevolence and abandon righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and compassion; discard skill and abandon profit, and thieves and bandits will cease to exist. These three concepts are insufficient as external forms. Therefore, let them have something to rely on: See the simplicity and embrace the uncarved block; have few desires and little craving."

"Discard benevolence and abandon righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and compassion" ($\text{jué rén qì yì, mín fù xiào cí}$, 绝仁弃义，民复孝慈)—This line is often misunderstood as Laozi opposing benevolence and righteousness. In reality, Laozi opposes hypocritical, formalized benevolence and righteousness—when "benevolence and righteousness" become affected performances used to gain advantage, true filial and compassionate feelings are obscured. Laozi advocates returning to "simplicity" ($\text{sù pǔ}$, 素朴)—returning to one's true, unadorned, natural emotional state.

Applied to the Family Way: when family rules and rituals become overly cumbersome and formalized to the point of obscuring the true affection between members, one needs to "discard benevolence and abandon righteousness"—remove those empty forms and return to the genuine essence of "filial piety and compassion."

The Daodejing, Chapter 36, states this more clearly:

"When the Great Dao is abandoned, benevolence and righteousness arise. When wisdom appears, great hypocrisy arises. When the six relationships are not harmonious, filial piety and compassion arise. When the state and kingdom are in chaos, loyalty and integrity arise."

"When the six relationships are not harmonious, filial piety and compassion arise" ($\text{liù qīn bù hé, yǒu xiào cí}$, 六亲不和，有孝慈)—This means that only when the six relationships (parents, brothers, husband, wife) are disharmonious do terms like "filial piety" and "compassion" need to be emphasized. The implication is: in the ideal state, affection between relatives is natural and spontaneous, requiring no verbal reminder—much like one does not need to talk about "health" when one is healthy.

This offers an important supplement to understanding the Jia Ren hexagram: The reason the hexagram details the various norms of the Family Way suggests that the ideal state of the "family" is no longer spontaneous—it requires conscious maintenance and intentional construction. This is both a necessity (because human society has moved far from primitive simplicity) and a regret (because the best state requires no such rules).

Zhuangzi further elaborates on this in Zhuangzi, Ma Ti:

"In the age of ultimate virtue, people lived alongside birds and beasts, grouped with the myriad things. How could they know of noble and petty men$14 In being undifferentiated from the unknowing, their virtue did not leave them; in being undifferentiated from desirelessness, this is called simplicity. With simplicity, the nature of the people is attained."

"With simplicity, the nature of the people is attained"—in a simple, natural state, the inherent nature of family members—the love between relatives—can be best preserved.

However, we must acknowledge that the "age of ultimate virtue" described by Zhuangzi is ultimately an idealized recollection. In actual human society, measures like "Guarding the family in the beginning" (establishing rules) and "harsh sounds" (strict discipline) are indispensable. The contribution of Daoism is to remind us: All rules and disciplines are means, not ends. The end is returning to "simplicity"—to the genuine emotion naturally flowing between family members. If the means end up suppressing the end (e.g., overly strict rules harming affection), then the order of means and ends has been inverted.