Winter solstice

Winter solstice is the seasonal turning point associated with the hexagram Return (Fû): after cold and decline have reached their height, the sun turns back toward summer, and the first strong line reappears in the hexagram. The translator uses this annual reversal to explain both the image of return and its political analogue, while cautioning that cyclical recovery does not promise a permanently perfected society.

Place in the Cycle of Return

The seasonal explanation begins with Splitting Apart (Po), assigned to the ninth month, when the yearly triumph of cold and decay is nearly complete. The tenth month belongs to Khwăn, in which that triumph is complete; Return follows in the eleventh month, when the winter solstice occurs and the sun turns in its course, proceeding steadily toward the summer solstice. The solstice is thus not presented as an abrupt arrival of warmth, but as the threshold at which the direction of change reverses.

The structure of Return gives that reversal a visible form: one strong line lies beneath five weak lines. The translator identifies the strong bottom line as the first line of Kăn, the trigram of movement, while the upper trigram, Khwăn, signifies docility and capacity. The returning line meets no distressing obstacle; the weak lines are described as changing before it into strong lines and becoming its friends. The image is one of renewal beginning from a small foothold, with brightness developing day by day and month by month.

The Seven-Day Saying

The phrase “In seven days comes his return” raises a problem for the translator because the hexagram sequence describes change across the months. He explains that the six preceding figures—44, 33, 12, 20, 23, and 2—correspond to the fifth through tenth months, during which yin progressively prevails over yang until Khwăn has driven the yang lines out of the figure. Return is the seventh figure in this sequence, where yang begins to assert itself again and then gradually displaces yin in its turn.

On this reading, a day in the saying must be taken as a month when the cycle is interpreted through the year. The translator allows that an analogous pattern must occur in society and the state, but says its exact form cannot be specified. The line’s temporal image therefore carries a broader political implication without supplying a precise timetable for political change.

Seasonal Change and Political Meaning

The seasonal turning point furnishes a model for change in human affairs: as decline reaches its climax, recovery begins. The translator connects the hexagram’s weak and strong lines to the changing balance of inferior and superior influences in nature and society, but rejects the hope of a perfect society or kingdom that can never be disturbed. Renewal is a genuine possibility within the cycle, not a final escape from change.

The solstice consequently gives Return its distinctive combination of reversal and gradualness. A single strong line signals the start of recovery, while its development into increasing brightness unfolds over time. The calendar image makes the hexagram’s claim concrete: even when decline seems complete, the direction can turn, though the resulting order remains subject to further change.