未濟 → 復

Commentary

Fire above water, and the season has burned itself out. Summer's heat retreats in the fire's aftermath; only millet and grain remain to eat. But the merchants do not come, and the market stands empty. The verse captures an economy stalled at its source: food exists but trade has ceased, abundance without circulation. From Before Completion to Return, fire-over-water transforms into thunder hidden within the earth — the solstice moment when the first yang stirs beneath frozen ground. The empty market is not permanent death but the nadir before renewal. Return's image is the ancient kings closing the passes at winter solstice, halting all commerce deliberately so that the seed of new life can germinate undisturbed. Stillness here precedes resurgence.