否 → 明夷
Hexagram 12: Standstill → Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 拔茅茹。以其彙。貞吉。亨。
Six at the beginning means: When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it. Each according to his kind. Perseverance brings good fortune and success.
Line 3
六三 包羞。
Six in the third place means: They bear shame.
Line 4
九四 有命无咎。疇離祉。
Nine in the fourth place means: He who acts at the command of the highest Remains without blame. Those of like mind partake of the blessing.
Line 5
九五 休否。大人吉。其亡其亡。繫于苞桑。
Nine in the fifth place means: Standstill is giving way. Good fortune for the great man. "What if it should fail, what if it should fail?" In this way he ties it to a cluster of mulberry shoots.
Line 6
上九 傾否。先否後喜。
Nine at the top means: The standstill comes to an end. First standstill, then good fortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
深坑復平，天下安寧；意娛心樂，賴福長生。
The deep pit is filled and leveled; all under heaven is at peace. The mind is delighted, the heart is glad; relying on blessing, one lives long.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven and earth stand apart, yet deep pits are filled level and the world finds peace. The heart takes pleasure, the spirit finds joy, and through good fortune one enjoys long life. From Standstill to Darkening of the Light, Pi's sealed world meets fire sinking into the earth — brilliance hidden, the sage who conceals his light and governs through apparent obscurity. The verse captures Ming Yi's deepest paradox: the pit filled level is not a triumph visible to all but a quiet restoration that happens below the surface. The darkened light is not extinguished but buried, and in that burial the world finds peace. Long life and contentment come not from radiance displayed but from light wisely stored beneath the ground.
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