Hexagram 36
地火明夷
Darkening of the Light
Hexagram 36, Ming Yi (Darkening of the Light), is Fire within the Earth - the sun sunk beneath the horizon, its light hidden in darkness.
Upper Trigram
☷
坤 (土)
Lower Trigram
☲
离 (火)
Palace
坎 Palace
Shi / Ying Lines
Shi: Line 4 · Ying: Line 1
The 坤 trigram (土) sits above the 离 trigram (火), forming 地火明夷. This hexagram belongs to the 坎 Palace.
Judgment (卦辞)
Darkening of the Light. In adversity it furthers one to be persevering.
Judgment text follows the Wilhelm–Baynes translation (The I Ching or Book of Changes, Princeton University Press), quoted for commentary.
Image (象辞)
The light has sunk into the earth: the image of Darkening of the Light.
Line Texts (爻辞)
Darkening of the light during flight. He lowers his wings. (明夷于飞)
Darkening of the light injures him in the left thigh. (明夷，夷于左股)
Darkening of the light during the hunt in the south. (明夷于南狩)
He penetrates the left side of the belly. (入于左腹)
Darkening of the light as with Prince Ji. (箕子之明夷)
Not light but darkness. First heaven, then the depths. (不明晦)
Hexagram 36 in Love & Relationships
Relationships: When the relationship darkens, protect your inner worth. Do not let the darkness extinguish who you are.
Hexagram 36 in Career & Decisions
Career: In a hostile environment, conceal your brightness rather than provoke. Survive the dark time with your light intact.
Hexagram 36 as a yes / no answer
Leans no
The hexagram's core image counsels restraint — forcing now works against you.
The I Ching reads situations, not fixed outcomes — your reading can weigh the moving lines with this leaning.
In-Depth Analysis[+]
Hexagram 36, Ming Yi (Darkening of the Light), is Fire within the Earth - the sun sunk beneath the horizon, its light hidden in darkness. This is the hexagram of the good person in a dark time, of inner light that must be protected from a hostile world. The judgment: 'in adversity it furthers one to be persevering.' The lines trace the wise response: lowering one's wings, concealing one's brightness, and the example of Prince Ji, who feigned madness to survive a tyrant's court. Ming Yi teaches that when the outer world darkens, the inner light is not extinguished but concealed - kept safe until the darkness passes.
Historical Stories[+]
Prince Ji of the Shang dynasty, who feigned madness to survive the tyrant King Zhou, preserving his wisdom for a better age - the inner light concealed but never extinguished.
Galileo, forced to recant before the Inquisition, reportedly muttering 'and yet it moves' - the light darkened but not put out.
Practical Applications[+]
Career: In a hostile environment, conceal your brightness rather than provoke. Survive the dark time with your light intact.
Relationships: When the relationship darkens, protect your inner worth. Do not let the darkness extinguish who you are.
Personal Growth: The darkness does not define you. Keep your inner light safe until the world is ready for it again.
Classical Sources for Hexagram 36
火珠林 (The Fire Pearl Forest)宋 (Song Dynasty, 960–1279) — disputed
The foundational Najia framework for mapping Stems, Branches, Six Relations, and Six Animals to each hexagram line.
Related Hexagrams
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