Six Doors · No. 36

第36卦明夷 Míng Yí · Darkening of the Light

Essence: The light is wounded; veil yours to keep it alive.

Judgment

The light has been wounded: the environment is run by the benighted, and open integrity only draws fire. Draw your talent and convictions inward—accommodating on the surface, lucid at the core. In times like these, enduring without corruption is itself the victory.

Sixty-four hexagrams, six doors each

Trigrams

Upper

坤 Earth

earth

Lower

离 Fire

fire

III

The lines

Line 1Sensing the danger early, fly low and leave at once, accepting hunger and gossip rather than lingering.
Line 2The injury is real but not crippling; with strong help beneath you, you can still carry yourself and others to safety.
Line 3Pressing into the darkness, you seize the source of the trouble—yet the deeper corruption must be corrected slowly, not all at once.
Line 4Having come close enough to read the dark center's true intent, you see nothing can be saved there and quietly walk out.
Line 5Trapped near the seat of darkness with no exit, do as Jizi did: mask your brilliance outwardly and keep it intact within.
Line 6The power that gives no light but only darkness climbs to heaven first and falls to earth at last.

All the doors

Every single-step transition available from where you stand.

Inverse (綜) · Opposite (錯)

Inverse (綜)

Opposite (錯)

Written on this

Hexagram 36, Míng Yí (Darkening of the Light): Staying Lucid Under Hostile Power

A close reading of Hexagram 36, Míng Yí (Darkening of the Light): staying lucid when the benighted hold power, its six lines, and how to read it in a cast.

7 min read