復 → 鼎
Hexagram 24: Return → Hexagram 50: The Cauldron
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 6).
Line 1
初九 不遠復。无祗悔。元吉。
Nine at the beginning means: Return from a short distance. No need for remorse. Great good fortune.
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.
Line 6
上六 迷復。凶。有災眚。用行師。終有大敗。以其國君凶。至于十年不克征。
Six at the top means: Missing the return. Misfortune. Misfortune from within and without. If armies are set marching in this way, One will in the end suffer a great defeat, Disastrous for the ruler of the country. For ten years It will not be possible to attack again.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
陰霧作匿，不見白日。邪徑迷道，使君亂惑。
Dark fog rises in concealment; the white sun cannot be seen. Crooked paths confuse the way; leading the lord into delusion.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder returns beneath the earth, but a dark fog rises to conceal the white sun. Evil paths lead astray from the true road, plunging the lord into confusion. The fog — yin energy made visible — actively suppresses clarity, and the traveler who should be returning home instead wanders deeper into deception. From Return to The Cauldron, fire above wood, the vessel that transforms raw ingredients into civilized nourishment. The transformation exposes the gap between potential and obstruction: the cauldron's fire should illuminate and refine, but when fog obscures the way to the hearth, even the finest vessel sits unused. The ruler must first dispel illusion before institutional renewal can begin.
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