Reading
Judgment
Return. Success.
Going out and coming in without error.
Friends come without blame.
The way runs back and forth.
On the seventh day comes Return.
It is favorable to have somewhere to go.
After a time of disintegration comes the turning point. The strong light, which had previously been driven out, enters again. There is movement. This movement, however, is not forced. The upper hexagram K'un has devotion as its character. It is therefore a natural movement that arises of itself. For this reason the transformation of the old is also quite easy. Old is cast off, new is introduced; both correspond to the time and therefore bring no harm. Unions of the like-minded form. But this joining together takes place in full openness; it corresponds to the time, and therefore every egoistic special striving is excluded, and no fault arises from these unions.
Return is grounded in the course of nature. The movement is cyclical. The way is closed in itself. Therefore one need not artificially hasten anything. Everything comes of itself, as it is due in time. This is the meaning of heaven and earth.
All movements take place in six stages. The seventh stage then brings Return. Thus in the seventh month after the summer solstice, from which the year descends, the winter solstice comes; likewise in the seventh double hour after sunset, the sunrise comes. Therefore seven is the number of the young light, which arises in that the six, the number of the great dark, is raised by one. Thereby motion comes into standstill.
Image
Thunder in the midst of the earth: the image of the Turning Point.
Thus the ancient kings closed the passes at the time of the solstice.
Traders and strangers did not travel,
and the ruler did not tour the regions.
The winter solstice was from ancient times celebrated in China as the time of rest of the year, a custom that is still preserved in the new-year rest period. In winter the life force, symbolized by the Arousing, thunder, is still under the earth. The movement is in its first beginnings. Therefore one must strengthen it through rest, so that it does not dissipate through premature use. This principle, of letting the newly setting-in force grow strong through rest, applies to all corresponding situations. Returning health after an illness, returning understanding after an estrangement: everything must be handled tenderly and sparingly at the first beginning, so that the Return may lead to flourishing.
Commentary
The turning point is indicated by the fact that, after the dark lines have pushed all the light lines out at the top, a light line now enters the hexagram again from below. The time of darkness is over. The solstice brings the victory of light. The hexagram is assigned to the eleventh month, the month of the solstice (December-January).
Changing Lines
Line 1
A nine at the beginning means:
Return from a short distance.
No need for remorse.
Great good fortune!
Commentary
Small deviations from the good cannot be avoided. One must only turn back in good time, before one has gone too far. This is particularly important in the formation of character. Every faint evil thought must be eliminated at once, before one goes too far in it and it becomes fixed. Then one has no need of remorse, and all goes very well.
Line 2
A six in the second place means:
Quiet Return. Good fortune!
Commentary
Turning back always requires a resolve and is an act of self-mastery. It is made easier when one is in good company. If one can bring oneself to step down and orient oneself by good people, this brings good fortune.
Line 3
A six in the third place means:
Repeated Return. Danger. No blame.
Commentary
There are people of a certain inner unsteadiness. For them continual turning back of the direction of the will is necessary. In this continual turning away from the good out of uncontrolled inclination and again turning to it out of better resolve lies a danger. But since in this way, after all, no hardening in evil sets in, the general direction toward the laying aside of fault is not foreclosed.
Line 4
A six in the fourth place means:
Walking in the midst of the others,
one returns alone.
Commentary
One is in the midst of a society of lowly people, but one has inner relationships with a strong and good friend. As a result, one turns back alone. Although there is no talk of reward and punishment, it is certainly favorable; for such a resolve toward the good bears its reward in itself.
Line 5
A six in the fifth place means:
Magnanimous Return. No remorse.
Commentary
When the time for turning back has come, one should not hide behind petty excuses, but take counsel with oneself and examine oneself. And if one has done something wrong, one should admit one's fault in a magnanimous resolve. This is a way that no one will regret.
Line 6
A six at the top means:
Missing the Return. Misfortune.
Misfortune from within and from without.
If one sets armies marching in this way,
one will in the end suffer a great defeat,
so that for the lord of the land it is ominous.
For ten years one is unable to attack.
Commentary
If one misses the right time for turning back, one falls into misfortune. The misfortune is grounded inwardly in a wrong attitude toward the world's connections. Outer misfortune is the consequence of this wrong attitude. What is depicted is obduracy and its judgment.