復
“Returning” — King Wen #24
The turning point. The light returns of itself; act gently and at the natural time.
The Judgment 卦辞
亨。出入無疾，朋來無咎。反覆其道，七日來復，利有攸往。
Fu 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.— The I Ching, trans. James Legge, 1899 (public domain)1
The Six Lines 爻辞
不遠復，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.
休復，吉。
The second SIX, divided, shows the admirable return (of its subject). There will be good fortune.
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.
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).
敦復，無悔。
The fifth SIX, divided, shows the noble return of its subject. There will be no ground for repentance.
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.
Reading the Picture
Hexagram 24 places thunder (震) beneath earth (坤) —movement breaking out of stillness below, receptive ground holding all things above. This is why the tradition reads it as “Returning”:the turning point. The light returns of itself; act gently and at the natural time Whenever you cast this figure, the classical reading points back to that turning of forces.
Questions About Hexagram 24
What does 復 (fù) mean?
Hexagram 24 of the I Ching is named 復 (fù), usually rendered "Returning" in English editions. Its figure pairs thunder (震) below with earth (坤) above.
Which trigrams form hexagram 24?
坤 (Earth) sits above and 震 (Thunder) sits below — the classical picture is movement breaking out of stillness beneath receptive ground holding all things.
How is hexagram 24 related to the other hexagrams?
Changing every line of hexagram 24 gives hexagram 44 — 姤 (Coupling). Turned upside down it becomes hexagram 23 — 剝 (Stripping). Its nuclear hexagram — the inner pattern of lines 2 through 5 — is hexagram 2 — 坤 (Field).
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1 Legge, James. The Yi King, Sacred Books of the East vol. XVI (1899), public domain. Classical Chinese from the received Zhouyi text. · For reflection and entertainment — not financial, medical, or life advice.