Hexagram 36 of 64 · King Wen sequence

Darkening of the Light

明夷 · míng yí

Above: Earth
Below: Fire

Earth above fire: the light hidden — injury, adverse times, and the discipline of keeping the light alive inside.

The sun sinks into the earth: the light is injured, not extinguished. Darkening of the Light is the hexagram of adverse times — hostile surroundings, unfair conditions — and its counsel is the hardest in the book: hide the light, and keep it burning.

This is not cowardice; it is survival with integrity intact. In adversity the tradition hides its brightness in its heart, stands outwardly severe, and holds what it holds against the day it can be shown. The discipline: do not let the outside darkness reach the inside light.

Questions this hexagram asks

What light am I keeping alive inside hostile circumstances?
What must I hide, and what must I never let the darkness touch?
Who kept their light like this before me — and how?

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