明夷 → 遯
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 33: Retreat
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 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 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
欒子作殃，伯氏誅傷。州犁奔楚，去其邑鄉。
Luan Zi brought calamity; the Bo clan was slain and wounded. Zhou Li fled to Chu, departing from his native town.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire beneath the earth retreats into heaven above the mountain — Retreat, where the wise withdraw before the petty advance. The verse names historical figures from the Jin state's internal purges: 'Luan brought calamity; the Bo clan was slaughtered. Zhouli fled to Chu, leaving his home city behind.' According to the Zuo Zhuan, the minister Bozong of Jin was killed by the powerful Xi clan around 576 BC. His son Bo Zhouli (伯州犁) fled to the state of Chu to survive. The Luan clan later fomented further chaos in Jin's factional struggles. From Darkening of the Light to Retreat, the transformation prescribes the only viable response when factional violence engulfs the court: flee, as Zhouli did, preserving life over loyalty to a doomed position.
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