Fu · Return

The meaning

What the name means Fu is coming back: having gone far, you turn round again.

The picture Thunder under the earth, one yang line born again at the very bottom, as after the winter solstice when the days begin to lengthen.

The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about starting again. The worst has passed and a little turn is coming up from the bottom. Do not rush to do something big; look after this small new strength and walk back onto the right road one step at a time.

In plain words: what this hexagram says

The low has passed and a little light comes back. Do not rush; return to the track slowly at your own pace.

The upper trigram is Earth and the lower is Thunder: Earth above, Thunder below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.

The judgement

亨。出入無疾，朋來無咎。反覆其道，七日來復，利有攸往。

The image

雷在地中，復；先王以至日閉關，商旅不行，後不省方。

The six lines

From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.

1. 初九不遠復，無祗悔，元吉。
2. 六二休復，吉。
3. 六三頻復，厲無咎。
4. 六四中行獨復。
5. 六五敦復，無悔。
6. 上六迷復，兇，有災眚。用行師，終有大敗，以其國君兇，至於十年不克徵。

To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".