離 → 復
Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire → Hexagram 24: Return
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 3, 4, 6).
Line 3
九三 日昃之離。不鼓缶而歌。則大耋之嗟。凶。
Nine in the third place means: In the light of the setting sun, Men either beat the pot and sing Or loudly bewail the approach of old age. Misfortune.
Line 4
九四 突如其來如。焚如。死如。棄如。
Nine in the fourth place means: Its coming is sudden; It flames up, dies down, is thrown away.
Line 6
上九 王用出征。有嘉。折首。獲匪其醜。无咎。
Nine at the top means: The king uses him to march forth and chastise. Then it is best to kill the leaders And take captive the followers. No blame.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
羔羊皮革，君子朝服，輔政天德，以合萬國。
Lambskin robes of soft leather; the noble man's court attire. Assisting governance with heaven's virtue; thereby uniting the ten thousand states.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Doubled fire meets thunder returning within the earth: brilliance rediscovers its primal source. Lambskin garments serve as the gentleman's court attire. Assisting governance with heaven's virtue, he unites the myriad states. The 'lambskin robe' (gaoyang pige) echoes the Shijing ode 'Gao Qiu' praising ministers who dress simply but serve with integrity. Court dress made of humble lambskin rather than elaborate brocade signals a ruler who values substance over display. From The Clinging to Return, fire's restless outward radiance turns inward to find the single yang line stirring beneath the earth. The return to first principles — simple garments, genuine virtue — is what truly unites an empire, not brilliance projected outward but moral light rediscovered at the root.
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