遯 → 明夷
Hexagram 33: Retreat → Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 遯尾厲。勿用有攸往。
Six at the beginning means: At the tail in retreat. This is dangerous. One must not wish to undertake anything.
Line 4
九四 好遯。君子吉。小人否。
Nine in the fourth place means: Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man And downfall to the inferior man.
Line 5
九五 嘉遯貞吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Friendly retreat. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Line 6
上九 肥遯无不利。
Nine at the top means: Cheerful retreat. Everything serves to further.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
龍鬭時門，失理傷賢，內畔生賊，自為心疾。
Dragons battle at the seasonal gate; reason is lost, the worthy are harmed. Rebellion breeds traitors from within; it becomes a sickness of the heart.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Heaven above the mountain descends into earth concealing fire — Darkening of the Light, where brilliance is driven underground. Dragons battle at the gate, and in the ensuing chaos righteous men are injured. Treachery breeds within the walls, generating its own malady — the disease originates in the heart itself. The battling dragons evoke the I-Ching's Kun hexagram, line six: 'Dragons fight in the wild, their blood is dark and yellow' — an image of yin and yang in destructive collision. From Retreat to Darkening of the Light, the mountain's principled withdrawal collapses into the burial of all illumination. The verse warns that retreat cannot prevent internal corruption: when the enemy is within, no amount of withdrawal helps. The disease festers in the heart — retreat merely seals the infection inside.
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