復 → 大壯
Hexagram 24: Return → Hexagram 34: Great Power
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 2, 3, 4).
Line 2
六二 休復。吉。
Six in the second place means: Quiet return. Good fortune.
Line 3
六三 頻復。厲。无咎。
Six in the third place means: Repeated return. Danger. No blame.
Line 4
六四 中行獨復。
Six in the fourth place means: Walking in the midst of others, One returns alone.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
三羝上山，俱至陰安。遂到南陽，見其芝香。兩崖相望，未同枕床。
Three rams climb the mountain; all reaching Yin'an. Then on to Nanyang; encountering its fragrant lingzhi. Two cliffs gaze at each other; they have not yet shared pillow and bed.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder returns beneath the earth as three rams climb a mountain together, all reaching the peaceful shade of the southern slope. Continuing southward to Nanyang, they encounter fragrant lingzhi mushrooms — the herb of immortality. Yet two cliffs face each other across a gap, not yet sharing the same bed. The rams evoke the trigram image of Great Power (thunder above heaven), and their ascent suggests vigorous upward movement. The lingzhi signals rare opportunity. But the final image of cliffs gazing across a divide introduces longing: proximity without union, desire without consummation. From Return to Great Power, the yang force is fully aroused yet the connection remains incomplete.
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