明夷 → 大壯
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 34: Great Power
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 2 changing lines (lines 2, 4).
Line 2
六二 明夷。夷于左股。用拯馬壯吉。
Six in the second place means: Darkening of the light injures him in the left thigh. He gives aid with the strength of a horse. Good fortune.
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
驕胡犬形，造惡作凶。无所能成，還自滅身。
The arrogant barbarian in dog's form; creating evil, working havoc. He accomplishes nothing; in the end he destroys himself.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire buried beneath the earth erupts as thunder in heaven — Great Power, where immense force demands disciplined restraint or risks self-destruction. 'An arrogant barbarian in the form of a dog creates wickedness and breeds violence. Nothing is accomplished; in the end it destroys itself.' The 'Jiao Hu' (驕胡) — arrogant barbarian — is cast in bestial form, acting with unrestrained aggression that produces no achievement and consumes only itself. Great Power's image of thunder above heaven warns that even legitimate strength, if wielded without propriety, butts against the wall like a ram tangled in a hedge. From Darkening of the Light to Great Power, the transformation reveals the danger when suppressed energy is finally released without moral guidance — raw force that cannot build, only ruin.
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