明夷 → 蒙
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 4: Youthful Folly
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 3, 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 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 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 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
諷德訟功，美周盛隆。旦輔成周，光濟沖人。
He praised virtue and lauded merit; glorifying Zhou's great splendor. The Duke of Dan assisted the house of Zhou, his brilliance sustaining the young sovereign.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire concealed beneath the earth gives way to the spring that emerges from the mountain's base — the image of Youthful Folly, where knowledge flows from darkness into light. The verse praises the Duke of Zhou, who 'recited virtue and proclaimed merit, glorifying the splendor of Zhou.' Dan — the Duke of Zhou — served as regent for the young King Cheng, guiding a fledgling dynasty through rebellion and doubt. 'He assisted the completion of Zhou, his brilliance sustaining the young ruler.' The phrase 'chong ren' (沖人) is a ritual self-deprecation used by child-kings, confirming the allusion. From Darkening of the Light to Youthful Folly, the wise regent channels hidden brilliance into patient instruction, nurturing the untutored sovereign as water nourishes what lies downhill.
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