復 → 臨

Commentary

Thunder returns beneath the earth as punishment upholds justice and the moon rises level with the ground. But the verse darkens: the state falls into disorder, the constants of heaven are violated, and the portents point to extinction. The opening couplet offers a glimpse of proper governance — law enforced with righteous intent — before chaos overwhelms it entirely. From Return to Approach, earth above lake, the sovereign draws near to oversee the people. The transformation carries an urgent warning: approach without moral foundation accelerates collapse. When rulers invoke law but abandon virtue, their proximity to the people becomes the instrument of destruction rather than nurture.