Also known as Return, The Turning Point, Returning.
The character 復 means to return or come back. Hexagram 24 follows the collapse of hexagram 23: the low point has passed and light starts to come back, like the days lengthening after midwinter. It is the beginning of recovery, so it needs gentle handling.
The figure
Earth over Thunder. A single solid line has come back at the very bottom, beneath five broken ones. Thunder stirs deep in the earth, not yet loud, but moving. The strength that was stripped away in hexagram 23 has returned from below.
The judgment
The turn has happened and the way back is open. Coming and going does no harm; others arrive. It runs on a cycle and comes round in seven days. Worth setting out.
The classical text says the return comes on the seventh day. Cycles complete themselves. Friends come back, and the way opens again.
The image
Thunder still underground. The old rulers shut the passes at midwinter and let the traders rest. What is only starting to return should not be made to work yet.
New beginnings are fragile. Rest and protect them before you ask anything of them.
The six lines
Counted from the bottom, the way the figure is built when you cast it.
- Line 1, at the bottom. Returning after only a short way off. No need for regret. This goes very well. Catch the wrong turn early.
- Line 2. A quiet, willing return, helped by good company. It goes well.
- Line 3. Returning again and again. There is danger, but you're not at fault. Slipping and coming back is better than not coming back.
- Line 4. Walking with the crowd, then turning back alone. Following your own sense of what's right, even against the group.
- Line 5. A wholehearted, honest return. No regret.
- Line 6, at the top. You miss the way back. Trouble comes from inside and out. Forcing a campaign now ends in a crushing loss that takes years to recover from.
Reading it for a question
Hexagram 24 is a sign that things are turning back toward the good. Return to what works, start small and don't rush the recovery. If you've strayed, come back now: the earlier you turn, the better.