明夷 → 萃
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 45: Gathering Together
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 3, 4, 5).
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.
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.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
稷為堯使，西見王母。拜請百福，賜我喜子，長樂富有。
Hou Ji was sent by Yao to journey west and see the Queen Mother. Bowing, he asked for a hundred blessings; she granted him a joyful son. Long happiness and abundant wealth.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire beneath the earth gives way to the lake resting upon the earth — Gathering, where people and blessings converge. 'Lord Millet, sent by Yao, journeyed west to see the Queen Mother of the West. He bowed and petitioned for a hundred blessings; she granted him a joyful son — long happiness and abundant wealth.' The verse weaves together two mythological registers: the agricultural ancestor Hou Ji acting as Yao's emissary, and the Queen Mother of the West dispensing the blessings of progeny and prosperity. From Darkening of the Light to Gathering, the transformation reveals that when the buried light finally assembles its resources, it does so through pilgrimage and petition — approaching the highest source of blessing and gathering its gifts for the community below.
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