Return
- In Chinese
- 復 fù
- Above
- The Receptive, earth
- Below
- The Arousing, thunder
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castWhat hexagram 24 means
Hexagram 24 describes a return. One whole line comes back at the bottom, under five broken lines. Legge says the hexagram “symbolises the idea of returning, coming back or over again”.
It comes right after hexagram 23, the time of decay. Legge writes of the turn from one to the other. “When decay has reached its climax, recovery will begin to take place.”
The judgment is favorable. In Legge's words “There will be advantage in whatever direction movement is made”.
Nothing stands in the way of the line that returns. Legge writes that “the weak lines will change before it into strong, and be as friends”.
The judgment and the image
The judgment
復亨。出入无疾。朋來无咎。反復其道，七日來復。利有攸往。
RETURN. Success. Going out and coming in without error. Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the way. On the seventh day comes return. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
success things flow and come throughno blame there is no mistake in itit furthers it is favorable
The image
雷在地中，《復》。先王以至日閉關，商旅不行，后不省方。
Thunder within the earth: The image of THE TURNING POINT. Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes At the time of solstice. Merchants and strangers did not go about, And the ruler Did not travel through the provinces.
What the commentaries say
The commentary on the judgment says what the free course of the hexagram is. It is “the coming back of what is intended by the undivided line”.
The same commentary explains why no one distresses the one who returns. His actions “show movement directed by accordance with natural order”. It gives the reason for the advantage in moving, “the strong lines are growing and increasing”. It closes with a question. “Do we not see in Fû the mind of heaven and earth?”
The image is thunder in the midst of the earth. The commentary tells what the ancient kings did in accordance with it, on the day of the winter solstice. They “shut the gates of the passes (from one state to another), so that the travelling merchants could not (then) pursue their journeys”.
Wilhelm gives the same picture and names it “The image of THE TURNING POINT”. The passes were closed “At the time of solstice”, and the ruler “Did not travel through the provinces”.
Legge places the hexagram in the calendar. It belongs to the eleventh month, “in which was the winter solstice when the sun turned back in his course”.
Legge admits that the seven days of the judgment are hard to explain. The sentence “occasions some perplexity”. In his reading the yin lines prevail over the yang through six hexagrams, and then this one comes “as a seventh figure, in which the yang line begins to reassert itself”. The commentary on the judgment says of the return in seven days “such is the movement of the heavenly (revolution)”.
The six lines
First line
不遠復，无祇悔，元吉。
Return from a short distance. No need for remorse. Great good fortune.
no remorse there is nothing to regretsupreme good fortune it goes very well, from the root
This is the only whole line, and the one line with great good fortune. The error is small, and the text says it “would not proceed to anything requiring repentance”. The commentary calls this return “the prelude to the cultivation of the person”. Legge notes that a return supposes a departure, since “There must have been some deviation”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 2, The Receptive
Second line
休復，吉。
Quiet return. Good fortune.
good fortune it goes well
The return here is called admirable, and the text speaks of good fortune. The commentary gives the reason, “his condescension to the virtuous (subject of the line) below”. Legge calls the line weak, and says this is “more than compensated for, however, by its adherence to line 1”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 19, Approach
Third line
頻復，厲、无咎。
Repeated return. Danger. No blame.
danger there is dangerno blame there is no mistake in it
This line shows “one who has made repeated returns”. The text calls the position perilous and still finds no error. The commentary says there is no error “through (his aiming after righteousness)”. Legge notes that “any evil issue may be prevented by a realisation of danger and by caution”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light
Fourth line
中行獨復。
Walking in the midst of others, One returns alone.
no verdict
This line moves among the other broken lines “and yet returns alone”. The commentary states the aim, “his object is to pursue the (proper) path”. Legge sets it apart as “different from all the other weak lines”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 51, The Arousing
Fifth line
敦復，无悔。
Noblehearted return. No remorse.
no remorse there is nothing to regret
The return here is called noble, and the text finds “no ground for repentance”. The commentary says its subject is “striving to perfect himself in accordance with his central position”. Legge points to where the line stands, “in the central place of honour”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning
Sixth line
迷復，凶，有災眚。用行師，終有大敗，以其國君凶，至于十年不克征。
Missing the return. Misfortune. Misfortune from within and without. If armies are set marching in this way, One will in the end suffer a great defeat, Disastrous for the ruler of the country. For ten years It will not be possible to attack again.
misfortune it goes badly
The top line is the one line that speaks of evil. Its subject is “all astray on the subject of returning”. The text warns against putting the hosts in motion with such views, and the end it names is “a great defeat”. The commentary says the course is “contrary to the proper course for a ruler”. Legge takes the ten years as “a round number, signifying a long time”.
When only this line changes, it becomes hexagram 27, Nourishment
Hexagram 24 unchanging
If none of your six lines is moving, you read the hexagram as a whole. That is the judgment and the image above, without any of the line texts.
The book gives the reason. Lines that do not move are “non-moving lines, which serve only as structural matter in the hexagram, without intrinsic meaning of their own”.
For hexagram 24 unchanging, what remains is the favorable judgment, with free course and advantage in moving, and the image of the kings who closed the passes at the solstice.
Questions people ask
What does hexagram 24 mean?
It describes a return after a time of decay. One strong line comes back at the bottom, and the judgment says “There will be advantage in whatever direction movement is made”.
What does hexagram 24 unchanging mean?
With no moving lines you read only the judgment and the image. For hexagram 24 that is free course and advantage in moving, and the image of the passes closed at the solstice.
What does hexagram 24 changing to 2 mean?
It is hexagram 24 with its first line moving. That line shows a return from an error “of no great extent”, with great good fortune, and when it changes the hexagram becomes number 2.
What does hexagram 24 changing to 27 mean?
It is hexagram 24 with its top line moving. That line shows someone “all astray on the subject of returning”, and the text speaks of evil. When it changes the hexagram becomes number 27.
What do the seven days in hexagram 24 mean?
Legge says the sentence “occasions some perplexity”. In his reading the days stand for the months of the year, and he writes that “we have to take a day for a month”.
How is hexagram 24 related to hexagram 23?
Hexagram 24 is hexagram 23 turned upside down, and it comes right after it. Legge compares the two figures. The earlier one had “one strong topmost line, and five weak lines below it”, and this one has “one strong line, and five weak lines above it”.
Richard Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes. Fû in James Legge. Return in Wilhelm and Baynes.
Did you get this hexagram?
Mark your changing lines and keep your cast.
Mark my castTo find the hexagram for you, cast the three coins.
Cast the coins