Hexagram 24 of 64 · King Wen order
復Return
Fù · ䷗ · above: Earth ☷ 坤 Kūn · below: Thunder ☳ 震 Zhèn
The rebirth of light and energy after a period of darkness; the beginning of a new cycle of growth.A one-line gloss written for this site (AI-assisted). Everything below it is the classical text.
The Judgment 卦辭
亨。出入無疾，朋來無咎。反復其道，七日來復，利有攸往。
Fû indicates that there will be free course and progress (in what it denotes). (The subject of it) finds no one to distress him in his exits and entrances; friends come to him, and no error is committed. He will return and repeat his (proper) course. In seven days comes his return. There will be advantage in whatever direction movement is made.
James Legge, The Yî King (1882), the Text. Words in (parentheses) are Legge's own additions.
Commentary on the Judgment 彖傳 (Tuan, the first Wing)
1. 'Fu indicates the free course and progress (of what it denotes):'—it is the coming back of what is intended by the undivided line.
2. (Its subject's) actions show movement directed by accordance with natural order. Hence 'he finds no one to distress him in his exits and entrances,' and 'friends come to him, and no error is committed.'
3. 'He will return and repeat his proper course; in seven days comes his return:'—such is the movement of the heavenly (revolution).
4. 'There will be advantage in whatever direction movement is made:—the strong lines are growing and increasing.
5. Do we not see in Fu the mind of heaven and earth?
The Image 象
雷在地中，復；先王以至日閉關，商旅不行，后不省方。
(The trigram representing) the earth and that for thunder in the midst of it form Fû. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, on the day. of the (winter) solstice, shut the gates of the passes (from one state to another), so that the travelling merchants could not (then) pursue their journeys, nor the princes go on with the inspection of their states.
Legge's Great Image (Appendix II). The Chinese above also carries the Small Images of the six lines.
The six lines 爻辭
Read from the bottom (line 1) to the top (line 6). Each line: the Chinese, Legge's translation, and the Small Image commentary on it.
Line 1 初九
The first line from the bottom, yang (solid, nine)
不復遠，無祗悔，元吉。
The first NINE, undivided, shows its subject returning (from an error) of no great extent, which would not proceed to anything requiring repentance. There will be great good fortune.
Small Image: 'Returning (from an error) of no great extent' is the prelude to the cultivation of the person.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 2, The Receptive.
Line 2 六二
The second line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
休復，吉。
The second SIX, divided, shows the admirable return (of its subject). There will be good fortune.
Small Image: 'The good fortune attendant on the admirable return (of the subject of the second line)' is due to his condescension to the virtuous (subject of the line) below.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 19, Approach.
Line 3 六三
The third line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
頻復厲，無咎。
The third SIX, divided, shows one who has made repeated returns. The position is perilous, but there will be no error.
Small Image: Notwithstanding 'the perilous position of him who has made many returns,' there will be no error through (his aiming after righteousness).
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light.
Line 4 六四
The fourth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
中行獨復。
The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject moving right in the centre (among those represented by the other divided lines), and yet returning alone (to his proper path).
Small Image: 'He moves right in the centre (among those represented by the other divided lines), and yet returns alone:'—his object is to pursue the (proper) path.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 51, The Arousing.
Line 5 六五
The fifth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
敦復，無悔。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows the noble return of its subject. There will be no ground for repentance.
Small Image: 'The noble return, giving no ground for repentance,' is due to (the subject of the line) striving to perfect himself in accordance with his central position.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning.
Line 6 上六
The sixth line from the bottom, yin (broken, six)
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。
The topmost SIX, divided, shows its subject all astray on the subject of returning. There will be evil. There will be calamities and errors. If with his views he put the hosts in motion, the end will be a great defeat, whose issues will extend to the ruler of the state. Even in ten years he will not be able to repair the disaster.
Small Image: 'The evil consequent on being all astray on the subject of returning' is because the course pursued is contrary to the proper course for a ruler.
If this line changes, it becomes Hexagram 27, The Corners of the Mouth.
Related hexagrams
lines 2-4 below, 3-5 aboveOpposite 錯卦44. Coming to Meet 姤
every line changedInverse 綜卦23. Splitting Apart 剝
turned upside down
A hexagram is a mirror, not a command: read it to reflect, never to obey. Sources: James Legge (tr.), The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (Oxford, 1882; 2nd ed. 1899), public domain; the Chinese text from Project Gutenberg ebook #25501 (易經), public domain. The trigram facts and the related hexagrams are computed from the line pattern. The gloss, selection and arrangement are CC-BY-SA-4.0 (PlayfulProcess). Data: github.com/PlayfulProcess/recursive-iching.