Hexagram 9 小畜 changing to hexagram 24 復
Changing lines (counted from the bottom): 2, 3, 5, 6.
What to read
Four changing lines: read the two unchanged lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one is the main one. (Rule set out by Zhu Xi in the Yixue qimeng.)
Hexagram 24 復, line 1
不遠復,无祇悔,元吉。
The first line, undivided, shows its subject returning (from an error) of no great extent, which would not proceed to anything requiring repentance. There will be great good fortune.
Hexagram 24 復, line 4
中行獨復。
The fourth line, divided, shows its subject moving right in the centre (among those represented by the other divided lines), and yet returning alone (to his proper path).
The two hexagrams
Hexagram 9 小畜 — judgment
亨。密雲不雨,自我西郊。
Hsiâo Khû indicates that (under its conditions) there will be progress and success. (We see) dense clouds, but no rain coming from our borders in the west.
Hexagram 24 復 — judgment
亨。出入无疾,朋來无咎。反復其道,七日來復,利有攸往。
Fû indicates that there will be free course and progress (in what it denotes). (The subject of it) finds no one to distress him in his exits and entrances; friends come to him, and no error is committed. He will return and repeat his (proper) course. In seven days comes his return. There will be advantage in whatever direction movement is made.
The changing lines of hexagram 9
| Line | Chinese | Legge |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 牽復,吉。 | The second line, undivided, shows its subject, by the attraction (of the former line), returning (to the proper course). There will be good fortune. |
| 3 | 車說輹,夫妻反目。 | The third line, undivided, suggests the idea of a carriage, the strap beneath which has been removed, or of a husband and wife looking on each other with averted eyes. |
| 5 | 有孚攣如,富以其鄰。 | The fifth line, undivided, shows its subject possessed of sincerity, and drawing others to unite with him. Rich in resources, he employs his neighbours (in the same cause with himself). |
| 6 | 既雨既處,尚得載,婦貞厲,月幾望,君子征凶。 | The topmost line, undivided, shows how the rain has fallen, and the (onward progress) is stayed;—(so) must we value the full accumulation of the virtue (represented by the upper trigram). But a wife (exercising restraint), however firm and correct she may be, is in a position of peril, (and like) the moon approaching to the full. If the superior man prosecute his measures (in such circumstances), there will be evil. |
English: James Legge (1882), public domain. Chinese: Zhou Yi.
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0); Chinese Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.