明夷 → 離
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 30: The Clinging Fire
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 4, 6).
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 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
山林麓藪，非人所處。鳥獸无禮，使我心苦。
Mountain forests and foothill marshes; no place for human dwelling. Birds and beasts know no propriety; they make my heart bitter.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire beneath the earth meets doubled fire — the Clinging, where brilliance is restored but must find something to cling to. 'Mountain forests and foothills are no place for humans. Birds and beasts know no propriety; they make my heart bitter.' The speaker is exiled to the wilderness, surrounded by creatures that observe no human code. This echoes the experience of Viscount Ji of Shang, who feigned madness under tyranny — the Darkening of the Light's own archetype. From Darkening of the Light to the Clinging, the transformation doubles the fire: the hidden flame re-emerges, but in a place where there is nothing civilized to illuminate. Brilliance without a proper vessel is mere wildfire in an empty forest.
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