明夷 → 旅
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light → Hexagram 56: The Wanderer
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 3 changing lines (lines 1, 4, 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 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
管仲遇桓，得其願歡。膠目啟牢，振冠无憂。笑戲不止，空言妄行。
Guan Zhong met Duke Huan; he obtained his heart's desire and joy. Eyes freed and the prison opened; he straightened his cap without worry. Laughter and jesting without cease; empty words and idle deeds.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Fire beneath the earth blazes as fire upon the mountain — the Wanderer, where the traveler passes through foreign places with only his reputation for protection. 'Guan Zhong encountered Duke Huan and found his heart's desire fulfilled.' Guan Zhong, once a fugitive who had served a rival prince, was recognized by Duke Huan of Qi through the recommendation of Bao Shuya, and together they built Qi's hegemony. Yet the verse pivots: 'Eyes glued shut, the prison opens; the cap is straightened, worry vanishes. Laughter and play without cease — empty words and reckless deeds.' The second half dissolves the first into frivolity. From Darkening of the Light to the Wanderer, the transformation warns that even a great meeting of patron and talent, if followed by complacency, degenerates into aimless wandering.
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