Hexagram 24

Return (Fù)

Upper Trigram Kun (Earth) · Lower Trigram Zhen (Thunder)

Judgment

复：亨。出入无疾，朋来无咎。反复其道，七日来复，利有攸往。

Plain Meaning：Return: success. Going out and coming in without harm; friends come without blame. On the seventh day comes return—it profits to have somewhere to go.

Image (Great Commentary)

雷在地中，复；先王以至日闭关，商旅不行，后不省方。

Line Texts

初九不远复，无祗悔，元吉。
Returning before straying far—no remorse; supreme fortune.
六二休复，吉。
A fine return, drawing near the good—fortune.
六三频复，厉无咎。
Repeated returns—danger, yet no blame in turning back.
六四中行独复。
Walking amid others yet returning alone—rare integrity.
六五敦复，无悔。
A sincere, wholehearted return—no remorse.
上六迷复，凶，有灾眚。用行师，终有大败，以其国君，凶；至于十年，不克征。
Missing the return—misfortune and disaster; armies routed, the ruler harmed, ten years without recovery.

Symbolism

Thunder within the earth: the turning point, renewal begins.

Life Lesson

Turn back early; nurture the new beginning quietly.

Modern Application

After the bottom, momentum returns—recover step by step; never refuse to turn back.

Words of Caution

Missing the moment to turn back costs dearly.

Cast a Mei Hua divination

The opposite hexagram flips every line, the reverse turns it upside down, and the nuclear hides in the inner lines — read them side by side for a fuller picture.

Opposite (Cuo)

Coming to Meet (Gòu)Hexagram 44 Reverse (Zong)

Splitting Apart (Bō)Hexagram 23 Nuclear (Hu)

The Receptive (Kūn)Hexagram 2