Hexagram 36 of 64
明夷 míng yí
Darkening of the Light
坤 (kūn, Earth) above · 离 (lí, Fire) below
The Judgment 卦辞
The light is wounded and buried in the earth. Brilliant people under dark powers must hide their glow, keep inner clarity, and survive with integrity intact.
The Image 大象
The light has sunk into the earth: darkening of the light. The wise person governs the crowd by veiling their light, still bright within.
The six lines 爻辞
Each line of 明夷 has its own classical text. If a line in your cast is changing, its text is the heart of your reading.
Line 1 · 初九
The light wounded in flight, wings drooping. Going on hungry and unheard — keep your head down.
「明夷于飞，垂其翼。君子于行，三日不食，有攸往，主人有言」
Line 2 · 六二
Wounded in the left leg — but a strong horse carries you onward. Good fortune through what helps.
「明夷，夷于左股，用拯马壮，吉」
Line 3 · 九三
Hunting in the south, taking the great chief. Do it, but not headlong.
「明夷于南狩，得其大首，不可疾贞」
Line 4 · 六四
Entering the left belly of the darkness, learning its heart — then stepping out the gate.
「入于左腹，获明夷之心，于出门庭」
Line 5 · 六五
Jizi's wounded light: brilliance kept alive inside the madness. Perseverance furthers.
「箕子之明夷，利贞」
Line 6 · 上六
The light that does not shine: first it climbed the sky, then it sank beneath the earth.
「不明晦，初登于天，后入于地」
If you drew this in a reading
A demanding pattern. This is one of the demanding patterns. It does not say "doom" — it says "the way through is narrow." Slow down, protect what matters, refuse shortcuts, and let the hexagram teach you the specific discipline it describes.
In yes/no questions this hexagram leans no — the pattern counsels holding back.
The trigrams give the flavor: 坤 (Earth) above — receptive devotion — nourishment, patience, carrying others — over 离 (Fire) below — clarity and clinging — insight, illumination, dependence on fuel. Where those two energies meet, 明夷 is born.
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