復Fu · Return
In one sentence
The worst is over, and the turn has come.
After the low point, the first breath of warmth is back. The strength is still faint, but the direction has changed. You can start again, and going forward is favorable. In the first stage of recovery, rest quietly and don't push too hard all at once. If you go wrong, turn back early.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- The hardest stretch is over and the direction has already turned; you can start again, and going forward is favorable. But your strength is still weak, so recover from small things first; do not spread out a big operation right away and wear yourself out. Where you went off course before, get back onto the right road early; there is no shame in turning back. The people who share your road will gradually return.
- Love
- After the cold, a little warmth has come back. If you have a partner, you can draw close again, but do not rush to get back to the hottest days; nurse it slowly. If you are single, your heart is beginning to recover and you can meet people again. Where you did wrong before, admit it early and change it early. Seeing friends is a good thing too.
- Money
- The tightest time has passed, money is beginning to warm up a little, and you can make a fresh start. But you have only just recovered and the base is thin, so take small steps; do not stake everything at once hoping to earn back all you lost. Do not reuse the methods that failed you before; go back to the steady way and save up slowly.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsThings go through. Going out and coming in are both without trouble, and friends arriving brings no blame. After a full circuit you come back to the right road; in seven days comes the return. It is favorable to undertake something.
The Tuan commentary
復亨；剛反，動而以順行，是以出入无疾，朋來无咎。反復其道，七日來復，天行也。利有攸往，剛長也。復其見天地之心乎？
Fu: "success". The firm turns back. It moves, and acts through compliance; therefore "going out and coming in without harm. Friends come, no blame." "Turning back along the way, in seven days comes the return": this is the movement of heaven. "It is favorable to have somewhere to go": the firm is growing. In Fu, does one not see the heart of heaven and earth?
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
雷在地中，復。先王以至日閉關，商旅不行，后不省方。
Thunder within the earth: Fu (Return). The ancient kings closed the passes at the solstice; merchants and travelers did not move, and the sovereign did not tour the regions.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text不遠復，无祗悔，元吉。Returning from not far away. It does not come to regret. Supreme good fortune.In plain wordsYou went only a short way before coming back, so it never reaches the point of regret. Great good fortune. The mistake didn't go far, and the correction came in time. More on this line →
Six in the second place
Text休復，吉。A glad return. Good fortune.In plain wordsComing back to the right road gladly — willing to lower yourself and draw close to the right person beside you. Good fortune. More on this line →
Six in the third place
Text頻復，厲无咎。Returning again and again. Danger, no blame.In plain wordsGoing wrong time after time, turning back time after time. You keep making mistakes, so it is dangerous; but each time you are willing to come back, so there is no blame. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text中行獨復。Walking in the midst of others, returning alone.In plain wordsYou are walking the same road as everyone else, and you alone turn back toward the right way. Your strength is still small, so good or bad fortune doesn't come into it, but this is the right thing to do. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text敦復，无悔。An earnest return. No regret.In plain wordsComing back to the right road honestly and steadily. Nothing to regret. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text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。Lost on the return. Misfortune. There are calamities and disasters. If armies are set marching, in the end there is a great defeat, with misfortune for the ruler of the state. For ten years one cannot march.In plain wordsLost, and still not turning back. Misfortune, with disasters both from heaven and of human making. Lead an army this way and it ends in a great defeat that drags down the ruler; for ten years there is no recovering. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Fu belongs to the second pentad of Winter Solstice, “Elk shed their antlers” (December 27 to December 31, 2026). It is also one of the twelve sovereign hexagrams, standing for the eleventh month of the traditional calendar: one yang line born beneath five yin, as yang begins to return.
The twelve sovereign hexagrams → The 24 solar terms, 72 pentads and their hexagrams →