第36卦
明夷
Míng Yí
Darkening of the Light
上卦
坤 Kūn
Earth — Receptive
下卦
離 Lí
Fire — Clinging
经典文本
彖辞
利艱貞。
象辞
明入地中，明夷。君子以蒞眾，用晦而明。
爻辞
第初爻
初九 明夷于飛。垂其翼。君子于行。三日不食。有攸往。主人有言。
第二爻
六二 明夷。夷于左股。用拯馬壯吉。
第三爻
九三 明夷于南狩。得其大首。不可疾貞。
第四爻
六四 入于左腹。獲明夷之心。于出門庭。
第五爻
六五 箕子之明夷。利貞。
第上爻
上六 不明晦。初登于天。後入于地。
The Ghost of a Flea
William Blake, 1819
Darkening of the Light
A grotesque humanoid creature emerges from shadow in William Blake's 1819 visionary painting. The figure possesses a muscular body but a beast-like head, its tongue extended toward a bowl that appears to contain blood. Blake claimed he painted what he saw during a seance—the ghost of a flea magnified to human scale, embodying the spiritual essence of a bloodsucking creature. The painting places the viewer inside the realm of concealed malevolence, where predatory forces exist beyond ordinary perception, where what feeds on life operates in darkness.
阅读完整论述 ↓
This is Míng Yí (明夷), Darkening of the Light. The character 明 depicts sun and moon—illumination itself—while 夷 suggests wounding or destruction. Ancient diviners saw this configuration when Earth (Kūn) sits above Fire (Lí)—receptive darkness covering clarity and light, the inversion of Progress. Blake's creature embodies this structure: it exists in shadow, emerges from concealment, represents intelligence twisted toward predation. The painting captures what ancient practitioners described as ming ru di zhong—light entering the earth, brilliance forced into hiding. Blake claimed he saw this vision during a seance, painting a grotesque humanoid creature with muscular body, beast-like head, and tongue extended toward a bowl of blood. The figure emerges from darkness with threatening posture, embodying malevolent forces concealed from ordinary sight. The Judgment text speaks with deliberate restraint: "Darkening of the Light. In adversity it furthers one to be persevering." Zhou Dynasty court diviners understood this hexagram as counsel for dangerous times when speaking truth brings punishment, when clarity must conceal itself to survive. The text does not promise triumph over darkness but persistence through it. Ancient commentators noted this configuration appeared during tyrannical reigns, when capable officials concealed their abilities to avoid jealous attack, when the worthy withdrew from corrupted systems while maintaining inner integrity. The Image Text offers survival strategy: "The light has sunk into the earth: the image of Darkening of the Light. Thus does the superior man live with the great mass: he veils his light, yet still shines." Blake's creature reveals what operates in concealment, but the hexagram addresses how one moves through such an environment. In the I-Ching's sequence, Míng Yí follows Jìn (Progress): after light has risen and become visible, it attracts predatory attention. The ancient text teaches that preservation of light sometimes requires its deliberate obscuring, that survival through dark times serves the eventual return of conditions where clarity can once again shine openly.
焦氏易林
焦延寿《易林》——第36卦本卦之辞。西汉时期以四言诗阐释卦变，为最早的系统性易学占辞集。
他山之儲，與璆為仇，來攻吾城，傷我肌膚，邦家騷憂。
明入地中，復歸明入地中——明夷不變，源卦與變卦同。
阅读完整注释 ↓
明入地中，復歸明入地中——明夷不變，源卦與變卦同。「他山之儲，與璆為仇」——外來之財反與美玉為敵。「來攻吾城，傷我肌膚，邦家騷憂」——攻城破國，傷及百姓，邦國騷動。變卦不變，困境加深。本應互補之資源化為仇讎，外物入侵而自身受創。此呼應明夷卦辭中箕子之經歷——暴政之下，内外交困。明夷之明夷，無出路可循。唯一之道即卦旨本身：「蒞眾用晦而明」——以晦藏守住真正之光。
English commentary
Fire beneath the earth remains beneath the earth — Darkening of the Light unchanged, the source and target identical. 'Treasure from other mountains becomes an enemy of fine jade; they come to attack our city, wound our flesh, and the state trembles with grief.' When the transformation leads nowhere new, the condition intensifies. External wealth or foreign resources that should complement domestic treasure instead turn hostile. The image of a besieged city with wounded citizens echoes the hexagram's own text about Prince Ji's experience of internal tyranny. From Darkening of the Light to itself, no escape route opens. The only counsel is the hexagram's own: govern the multitude by 'using darkness to preserve light' — survival through deliberate concealment of one's true brilliance.