巽 → 明夷
Hexagram 57: The Gentle Wind → Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light
Changing Lines
This transformation involves 4 changing lines (lines 1, 2, 5, 6).
Line 1
初六 進退。利武人之貞。
Six at the beginning means: In advancing and in retreating, The perseverance of a warrior furthers.
Line 2
九二 巽在牀下。用史巫。紛若。吉。无咎。
Nine in the second place means: Penetration under the bed. Priests and magicians are used in great number. Good fortune. No blame.
Line 5
九五 貞吉悔亡。无不利。无初有終。先庚三日。後庚三日。吉。
Nine in the fifth place means: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse vanishes. Nothing that does not further. No beginning, but an end. Before the change, three days. After the change, three days. Good fortune.
Line 6
上九 巽在牀下。喪其資斧。貞凶。
Nine at the top means: Penetration under the bed. He loses his property and his ax. Perseverance brings misfortune.
Trigram Changes
Yilin Verse
典策法書，藏閣蘭臺。雖遭潰亂，獨不逢災。
Statutes and documents, books of law; stored in the Orchid Terrace archives. Though upheaval strikes all around; alone they escape disaster.
— Jiao Yanshou, Yilin (Forest of Changes), 1st century BCE
Commentary
Wind upon wind transforms into earth over fire: the Gentle becomes Darkening of the Light. Canonical texts and legal documents are stored in the archive of Lantai. Though the realm suffers upheaval and chaos, these alone escape disaster. Lantai was the Han dynasty's central archive, where imperial edicts, legal codes, and historical records were preserved under the supervision of the Censor. The verse celebrates the survival of written knowledge through political catastrophe. From The Gentle to Darkening of the Light, brightness enters the earth — the wise conceal their radiance in dark times. The texts stored in Lantai embody this principle exactly: hidden within the archive, shielded from destruction, wisdom endures underground until the light can safely emerge again.
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