A single strong line returns at the bottom after five yielding ones: the light coming back at the winter solstice. Fu is the turning point after decline, the first sign of renewal. The new energy is still fragile, so it should be nurtured quietly rather than pushed. Return can also mean coming back to yourself, to your path or to what is right.
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. Leaving and coming back without affliction; friends arrive, and there is no blame. The way turns back on itself; in seven days it returns. Favorable to have somewhere to go.
Image
雷在地中，復；先王以至日閉關，商旅不行，后不省方。
Thunder inside the earth: return. Taking this as a model, on the solstice day the former kings shut the border gates; traders did not travel, and the sovereign made no tours of inspection.
- Turning point
- Renewal after decline
- Nurturing new beginnings
- Returning to the right path
- Natural cycles
- return
- renewal
- turning point
- cycle
- rest
- beginning
- After the darkest point, the light returns.
- Protect new beginnings while they are fragile.
- Returning to what is right is always possible.
The six lines
Lines are numbered from the bottom. In a reading, only the lines that are changing apply to your cast.
Line 1Nine at the beginning 初九
Line text
不遠復，无祇悔，元吉。
Returning from not far off. No great regret. Supreme good fortune.
You notice a wrong turn early and come back before going far. Quick correction avoids regret and brings the best outcome.
- Early correction
- Quick return
- Continuing down a wrong path out of pride
- Getting back on track with little cost
Line 2Six in the second place 六二
Line text
休復，吉。
A gentle, restful return: good fortune.
Returning is made easier by the good example of others. Accepting their influence gracefully, without stubbornness, brings good fortune.
- Gentle return
- Learning from others
- Stubbornness about admitting error
- Returning with the help of good company
Line 3Six in the third place 六三
Line text
頻復，厲无咎。
Returning again and again. Danger, no blame.
You keep slipping and coming back. It is unstable, but as long as you keep returning, there is no fault. Each return counts.
- Repeated attempts
- Persistence in returning
- Giving up after a lapse
- Eventually making the return stick
Line 4Six in the fourth place 六四
Line text
中行獨復。
Walking in the middle of the group, one returns alone.
Surrounded by people heading the wrong way, you turn back by yourself to follow what you know is right. It may be lonely, but it is true.
- Returning alone
- Independent conscience
- Following the crowd against your judgment
- Finding your own way back
Line 5Six in the fifth place 六五
Line text
敦復，无悔。
Earnest return: no regret.
You examine yourself honestly and return with your whole heart. Taking full responsibility leaves nothing to regret.
- Sincere self-examination
- Full commitment to return
- Half-hearted change
- A return that lasts
Line 6Six at the top 上六
Line text
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。
Losing the way back: misfortune, disaster from within and without. If troops are deployed, there will in the end be a great defeat, disastrous for the state's ruler; for ten years no campaign will be possible.
Missing the moment to turn back, and pushing on stubbornly, leads to serious and long-lasting trouble. It is still worth asking where the return lies.
- Missing the turning point
- Stubbornness
- Refusing to change direction
- Recognizing the missed turn before it costs more
Related hexagrams
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Cast a readingChinese text: Zhouyi 周易 (received classical text). English rendering and notes: Site rendering. About our sources
Commentary
After the stripping away of Splitting Apart comes Return: a single yang line reappears at the base. In the calendar this is the winter solstice, when the days begin to lengthen again. The reading may suggest that a difficult phase is ending and that something new, though still small, is starting to stir.
The image counsels rest at this moment. At the solstice the kings closed the passes, and nobody traveled. New energy is protected by quiet, not by rushing. The judgment adds that movement now goes freely and friends return. In relation to a question, Fu may emphasize patience with early recovery, a return to your own values and trust in the natural rhythm of change.