Hexagram 24, line 2
六二Line 2 of Returning
Six in the second place · 復 fù
爻辭 The line text
休復，吉。The second line, divided, shows the admirable return (of its subject). There will be good fortune.
休復之吉，以下仁也。'The good fortune attendant on the admirable return (of the subject of the second line)' is due to his condescension to the virtuous (subject of the line) below.
In plain words
Line two makes 'a fine return (休復), good fortune.' It is yin in a central, correct place, and what makes its return fine is its neighbour: it sits directly on the returning strong line and lowers itself toward it. The small Image gives this as the reason — it yields to the benevolent one below (以下仁也). 程頤 reads 仁 as the first line's goodness, and the whole line as the person who, having no strength of their own to return by, returns by keeping close to someone who has. Among the yielding lines this is the best placed.
If this line is changing
If you cannot find the way back on your own, stay close to the person who has, and let their example lead you; humility toward the good is itself a return.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 震 Zhen (the Arousing) (thunder).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 5: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
復 Returning becomes ䷒ 19 臨 Overseeing
Earth over the lake: looking down from the shore. Yang grows and influence approaches — supreme success now, with a warning that the eighth month brings a turn.
What it becomes19 · 臨 OverseeinglínThe six lines of 復 Returning
- 初九Nine at the beginningreturn before going far · no regret · the ruler of Return
- 六二Six in the second placea fine return · yielding to the good · next to the yang
- 六三Six in the third placerepeated return · danger · no blame
- 六四Six in the fourth placereturning alone · midway among the many · following the way
- 六五Six in the fifth placeearnest return · self-examination · central
- 上六Six at the toplost return · calamity · against the ruler's way
Read 復 Returning for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the second place of hexagram 24, Returning, mean?
- Line two makes 'a fine return (休復), good fortune.' It is yin in a central, correct place, and what makes its return fine is its neighbour: it sits directly on the returning strong line and lowers itself toward it. The small Image gives this as the reason — it yields to the benevolent one below (以下仁也). 程頤 reads 仁 as the first line's goodness, and the whole line as the person who, having no strength of their own to return by, returns by keeping close to someone who has. Among the yielding lines this is the best placed.
- What does hexagram 24 become when line 2 changes?
- Returning becomes hexagram 19, 臨 Overseeing: Earth over the lake: looking down from the shore. Yang grows and influence approaches — supreme success now, with a warning that the eighth month brings a turn.
- Is line 2 of Returning in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).