Upper Trigram
坤 Kūn
Earth — Receptive
Lower Trigram
離 Lí
Fire — Clinging
Classical Texts
The Judgment
In adversity, persistence furthers. The sun sinks beneath the earth. A person of dark nature holds authority and harms the wise. Don't be swept along by unfavorable circumstances. Maintain inner light while remaining outwardly yielding. Hide your light to make your will prevail despite hostile environment. Perseverance dwells in inmost consciousness, invisible from without.
The Lines
Line 1
Darkening of the light during flight. Lowering wings. Going without food for three days on wanderings, but having somewhere to go. The host speaks ill of you. You retreat and evade, hurrying without permanent abode, remaining true to principles despite deprivation. Fixed goal, regardless of being misunderstood.
Line 2
Wounded in the left thigh. Aid given with the strength of a horse. Good fortune. The injury is not fatal—only a hindrance. Give no thought to yourself; think only of saving others also in danger. Acting according to duty brings good fortune.
Line 3
Darkening of the light during the hunt in the south. The great leader is captured. Victory achieved as if by chance—you seize the ringleader of disorder. But don't expect perseverance too soon. Abolishing long-standing abuses requires patience.
Line 4
Penetrating the left side of the belly. You get at the very heart of the darkness and discover the secret thoughts. There is no hope of improvement. Leave the scene of disaster before the storm breaks.
Line 5
Darkening of the light as with Prince Chi, who feigned insanity at the tyrant's court. He could not withdraw, so he concealed his true sentiments. Held as a slave but not deflected from convictions. For those who cannot leave their posts: invincible perseverance of spirit, redoubled caution.
Line 6
Not light but darkness. First climbing to heaven, then plunging into earth's depths. The dark power reaches its climax, wounding all who side with good and light. But evil must fall at the moment it has wholly overcome good—consuming the energy to which it owed its duration.
Yilin: Forest of Changes
From Jiao Yanshou's Forest of Changes (焦氏易林) — the verse for Hexagram 36 in its unchanging form. A Han dynasty collection of four-character verses interpreting every hexagram transformation.
他山之儲，與璆為仇，來攻吾城，傷我肌膚，邦家騷憂。
The stores of another mountain; they make an enemy of fine jade. They come to assault our city, wounding our flesh and skin; the state and house are troubled and grieved.
Read full commentary ↓
Fire beneath the earth remains beneath the earth — Darkening of the Light unchanged, the source and target identical. 'Treasure from other mountains becomes an enemy of fine jade; they come to attack our city, wound our flesh, and the state trembles with grief.' When the transformation leads nowhere new, the condition intensifies. External wealth or foreign resources that should complement domestic treasure instead turn hostile. The image of a besieged city with wounded citizens echoes the hexagram's own text about Prince Ji's experience of internal tyranny. From Darkening of the Light to itself, no escape route opens. The only counsel is the hexagram's own: govern the multitude by 'using darkness to preserve light' — survival through deliberate concealment of one's true brilliance.
中文注释
明入地中，復歸明入地中——明夷不變，源卦與變卦同。「他山之儲，與璆為仇」——外來之財反與美玉為敵。「來攻吾城，傷我肌膚，邦家騷憂」——攻城破國，傷及百姓，邦國騷動。變卦不變，困境加深。本應互補之資源化為仇讎，外物入侵而自身受創。此呼應明夷卦辭中箕子之經歷——暴政之下，内外交困。明夷之明夷，無出路可循。唯一之道即卦旨本身：「蒞眾用晦而明」——以晦藏守住真正之光。
Related Hexagrams
Same upper trigram: Earth (坤)
Same lower trigram: Fire (離)