明夷 → 豫
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 16: Enthusiasm
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4).
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
喋囁處耀，昧冥相傳。多言少實，語無成事。
Chattering and gibbering in the glare; darkness passes whispers along. Much talk, little substance; words accomplish nothing.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire beneath the earth meets thunder erupting from the earth — Enthusiasm, where the dormant force suddenly stirs with energy. Yet the verse describes the opposite of constructive enthusiasm: 'Murmuring and chattering in the light, passing darkness on in whispers. Many words, little substance; talk without accomplishment.' This is the corruption of Enthusiasm — noise masquerading as action, empty declarations substituting for deeds. When light is already darkened and the thunderous impulse of Enthusiasm produces only chatter, the result is doubly futile. From Darkening of the Light to Enthusiasm, the transformation warns that the first rush of released energy after suppression can easily degenerate into mere spectacle, all sound and no content.
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