I Ching · King Wen 24
Hexagram 24: Return
䷗ 復 Fù · also called The Turning Point, Returning, Renewal · The Receptive above The Arousing
The turning point: light returns after the darkest day, and the beginning must be treated gently.
renewalturning pointrestbeginningsnatural cycle
The meaning of Hexagram 24
Thunder below, earth above: movement stirring under the ground at the winter solstice. One yang line has entered at the bottom beneath five yin lines. Return is the turning point, the first day of the light's recovery, and the tradition treats it with great tenderness: the ancient kings closed the passes at the solstice and let everything rest. The reading says the turn has come, that the old cycle is over and a new one is beginning, and that the beginning is small and must not be forced. Friends come without blame; going and coming is without error; the way returns in seven days.
The image. Thunder within the earth; the ancient kings closed the passes at the solstice and did not travel.
- Advice
- Welcome the turn, begin small, and rest while the new cycle gathers strength.
- Warning
- Forcing the young light to do a summer's work stalls the return.
over
Structure: ☳ The Arousing (Thunder) below, ☷ The Receptive (Earth) above. Nuclear hexagram 2, The Receptive. Every line reversed: 44, Coming to Meet.
Hexagram 24 for love and relationships
A return: of warmth, of contact, of someone, or of your own feeling. It is real and it is young. Do not test it with demands. Let the new beginning grow at its own pace and rest with it.
Hexagram 24 for career
The low point has passed and a new cycle is beginning. Do not launch everything at once. Take the first small step, let the momentum build naturally, and rest while it does. The tradition closes the passes for a reason.
Hexagram 24 for money
Recovery begins, small at first. Do not rush to make up losses; the return to strength follows its own timing. Reinvest gently and let the cycle carry you.
Hexagram 24 for decisions
Decide for the fresh start, and decide to make it gently. The reading favours returning to your own proper path over any dramatic new direction. Small first, and in season.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Missing the return. Misfortune. Armies set marching end in great defeat; for ten years, no attack.
The moment to turn back missed out of stubbornness, and the consequences following for a long time. The line is the hexagram's one severe warning: there is a time for the return, and someone who lets it pass acts against the season.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 27, Nourishment. Read line 6 →
Noble-hearted return. No remorse.
Return with full acknowledgement of what went wrong, without excuses and without collapse. Someone in a position of responsibility who admits the fault and corrects it, and feels no need for remorse afterwards because the correction is complete.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning. Read line 5 →
Walking in the midst of others, one returns alone.
Surrounded by people going the wrong way, and choosing to turn back alone. There is no promise of reward in the line, only the correctness of the choice. Sometimes the return is solitary.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 51, The Arousing. Read line 4 →
Repeated return. Danger. No blame.
Turning back again and again, never quite holding the course: an unstable person who keeps recovering. The line finds it dangerous and does not condemn it, because each return is real even if it does not last.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light. Read line 3 →
Quiet return. Good fortune.
Turning back in good company, drawn by the example of someone better rather than by argument. Self-mastery that comes easily because of a good influence nearby. The line is calm and fortunate.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 19, Approach. Read line 2 →
Return from a short distance. No need for remorse. Great good fortune.
Straying only slightly and turning back at once, before any harm is done. The line is the ideal form of return: the mistake noticed early and corrected without drama. Great good fortune follows.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 2, The Receptive. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 24 mean?
- The turning point: light returns after the darkest day, and the beginning must be treated gently. Thunder below, earth above: movement stirring under the ground at the winter solstice. One yang line has entered at the bottom beneath five yin lines. Return is the turning point, the first day of the light's recovery, and the tradition treats it with great tenderness: the ancient kings closed the passes at the solstice and let everything rest. The reading says the turn has come, that the old cycle is over and a new one is beginning, and that the beginning is small and must not be forced. Friends come without blame; going and coming is without error; the way returns in seven days.
- What does Hexagram 24 mean for love?
- A return: of warmth, of contact, of someone, or of your own feeling. It is real and it is young. Do not test it with demands. Let the new beginning grow at its own pace and rest with it.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 24 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 2, The Receptive; line 2 gives Hexagram 19, Approach; line 3 gives Hexagram 36, Darkening of the Light; line 4 gives Hexagram 51, The Arousing; line 5 gives Hexagram 3, Difficulty at the Beginning; line 6 gives Hexagram 27, Nourishment. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 44, Coming to Meet.