Hexagram 24: Fu

Earth over Thunder · 地雷复 · Tendency: Auspicious

Structure

• Number: 24 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷗
• Upper trigram: Kun (Earth)
• Lower trigram: Zhen (Thunder)
• Lines: yang yin yin yin yin yin (bottom to top)

The statement

亨。出入无疾。朋来无咎。反复其道，七日来复，利有攸往。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

Things show signs of starting anew and slowly recovering. Parts that were stalled or off track can return to the right path. Suitable for correcting mistakes, reconnecting, and re-establishing rhythm. Don't rush to turn everything around at once; the initial recovery period is still weak and needs patience to rebuild.

A Buddhist reading

The most moving line in Fu (Returning) is that in returning one glimpses the heart of heaven and earth. Ouyi Zhixu says plainly that this heart is buddha-nature, which not even the most hardened being can destroy, only cover over with wrongdoing so that it goes unseen. A single turn of thought is therefore the first yang coming back; slight as it is, its growth cannot be held down, and it is enough to move an ocean of birth and death. Closing the pass at the solstice he reads as shutting the six senses, letting the myriad practices rest a while, and watching only this present thought. What he fears is the confused return: mistaking a little worldly calm and cleverness for arrival, and so turning back the wrong way.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous / Inverted: Hexagram 23: Bothe whole figure turned upside down
• Next: Hexagram 25: Wu Wang
• Opposite: Hexagram 44: Gouevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 2: Kunlines two to four below, three to five above

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.