Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, and 5

Right Action becomes Coming Back

Starting hexagram

Resulting hexagram

What this change means

Thunder wakes beneath the earth as four lines move, the first stir of a return. Guidance comes from the result's still fourth and top lines. The fourth says that once you see clearly who surrounds you and distance yourself from the wrong ones, even if it leaves you alone for a while, you'll find guidance and help. The top line warns that letting the moment slip can make it impossible to set things right, and you may have to wait a long time for new options. So 48 Right Action, with its warning about wasted chances, opens onto 24 Coming Back, a return after darkness when help arrives and projects are favored. The two agree strongly on timing. Choose your company with care, keep the mistakes of the past in mind, and when the right moment comes, take it. Hesitation is the one thing this change can't afford.

What to read, in order

Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.

Line 4 of 24 Coming Back, which stays still
If you notice who the people around you really are and step away from those you see aren't right, even if you're left without company for a while, you'll find guidance and help.

Walking in the middle of the others, returning alone.
Line 6 of 24 Coming Back, which stays still
If you let opportunities slip by and don't act at the right moment, it will no longer be possible to put things back in order, and you'll have to wait for new options to appear, which may take some time.

A lost return. Misfortune; there is calamity and ruin. If armies are set marching, in the end there will be a great defeat that reaches the ruler of the country. Misfortune. Not for ten years can a campaign be undertaken.
The judgment of 48 Right Action
You're at a moment when opportunities are on your side. But if you don't know how to use them because you keep putting off decisions and actions, being in the right place at the right time won't do you any good. It's not about looking for new things but about making use of what you have, or there will be loss.

The town is changed, the well is not. Nothing lost, nothing gained. They come and go, and draw from the well. Nearly there, the rope does not yet reach the well; if the jar breaks, misfortune.
Line 1 of 48 Right Action
Your mood is low, so everything looks bleak to you: you don't see the opportunities and you don't draw help.

A muddy well: no one drinks. No birds come to the old well.
Line 2 of 48 Right Action
You have good qualities for success, but you've grown slack and stopped pushing yourself; this makes it hard to hold on to what you achieve.

Down in the well, shooting at minnows. The jar is broken and leaks.
Line 3 of 48 Right Action
You aren't using all your talents, and you have many, so the opportunities are there but you don't take them.

The well is cleaned, and no one drinks: my heart aches. Water could be drawn. If the king were clear-sighted, all would share in the blessing.
Line 5 of 48 Right Action
You recognize the opportunities around you and feel motivated and determined to act, which will bring success.

The well is clear: the cold spring is drunk.
The judgment of 24 Coming Back
After a period of adversity and darkness, the return comes. Still, be aware of the mistakes that led you into the dark, because if you repeat them you could fall again. People will come to help you, and your undertakings and projects will be favored.

Success. Going out and coming in without harm; friends arrive, no fault. Back and forth along its way: in seven days comes the return. It is favorable to have somewhere to go.

The trigrams

Below Wind Thunder

Above Water Earth

The way back

24 Coming Back → 48 Right Action
lines 1, 2, 3, and 5

Other transformations of Right Action

Make your own cast

The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.

Toss the coins