復 → 比
Hexagram 24: Return → Hexagram 8: Holding Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 1, 5).
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 5
六五 敦復。无悔。
Six in the fifth place means: Noblehearted return. No remorse.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
南山之跡，真人所遊。德配唐虞，天命為子。保佑歆享，身受大慶。
The footprints of the Southern Mountain; where the true man wanders. His virtue matches Yao and Shun; heaven's mandate makes him son. Blessed and favored, receiving offerings; his person receives great celebration.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Thunder returns beneath the earth as an immortal walks the southern mountains. The verse ascends through layers of blessing: footsteps on sacred peaks, virtue rivaling the sage-kings Yao and Shun, heaven's mandate bestowed as upon a chosen son, divine protection and joyful offerings, culminating in supreme felicity. This is the language of Han court panegyric — praise for a ruler whose virtue aligns with the primordial sages. From Return to Holding Together, water rests upon the earth as the ancient kings established their states and bound the feudal lords in allegiance. The transformation from solitary thunder returning to communal water uniting reveals how personal virtue radiates outward into political cohesion.
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