明夷 → 否
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 12: Standstill
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 5 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5, 6).
Line 1
初九 明夷于飛。垂其翼。君子于行。三日不食。有攸往。主人有言。
Nine at the beginning means: Darkening of the light during flight. He lowers his wings. The superior man does not eat for three days On his wanderings. But he has somewhere to go. The host has occasion to gossip about him.
Line 3
九三 明夷于南狩。得其大首。不可疾貞。
Nine in the third place means: Darkening of the light during the hunt in the south. Their great leader is captured. One must not expect perseverance too soon.
Line 4
六四 入于左腹。獲明夷之心。于出門庭。
Six in the fourth place means: He penetrates the left side of the belly. One gets at the very heart of the darkening of the light, And leaves gate and courtyard.
Line 5
六五 箕子之明夷。利貞。
Six in the fifth place means: Darkening of the light as with Prince Chi. Perseverance furthers.
Line 6
上六 不明晦。初登于天。後入于地。
Six at the top means: Not light but darkness. First he climbed up to heaven, Then plunged into the depths of the earth.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
王伯遠宿，長婦在室，異袍恃食，所求不得。
The lord and elder lodges far away; the eldest wife remains at home. She borrows robes and begs for food; what she seeks, she does not obtain.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire sinks beneath the earth while heaven and earth stand apart, refusing to communicate — Standstill. The lord travels far and lodges elsewhere; the senior wife remains at home, wearing unfamiliar robes and relying on others' food. What she seeks, she cannot obtain. This is the domestic face of political blockage: separation, estrangement, dependence without dignity. The 'different robes' suggest a status altered by circumstance — perhaps a wife reduced to wearing borrowed clothing, or a household surviving on charity. From Darkening of the Light to Standstill, the transformation doubles the darkness. When light is already suppressed and then communication ceases entirely, isolation becomes absolute. The wife's unfulfilled longing mirrors a state where no appeal can reach those in power.
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