I Ching · King Wen 36
Hexagram 36: Darkening of the Light
䷣ 明夷 Míng Yí · also called Brightness Hiding, Injury to the Light, Adversity · The Receptive above The Clinging
The light gone into the earth: a time of adversity survived by hiding one's brightness while keeping it.
adversityconcealmentinner lightendurancecaution
The meaning of Hexagram 36
Fire below, earth above: the sun sunk beneath the ground. Darkening of the Light describes a time when a bad situation or a bad leader makes it dangerous to be seen clearly, and the tradition's counsel is to veil one's light without extinguishing it. The judgement says that in adversity it furthers to be persistent. The image is precise: the wise person deals with the crowd by veiling their light, and yet shines. The reading is a survival strategy for a dark period: keep your inner clarity, do not display it where it will be attacked, and endure. The tradition's model is a prince who feigned madness to survive a tyrant.
The image. The light has sunk into the earth; the wise person veils their light and yet shines.
- Advice
- Veil your light without putting it out; keep your inner clarity and outlast the dark.
- Warning
- Shining brightly in a time that punishes brightness invites the injury the hexagram is named for.
over
Structure: ☲ The Clinging (Fire) below, ☷ The Receptive (Earth) above. Nuclear hexagram 40, Deliverance. Every line reversed: 6, Conflict.
Hexagram 36 for love and relationships
A dark stretch, possibly with someone whose behaviour makes honesty dangerous. Keep your inner clarity and do not lay it out where it will be used against you. Endure with your integrity hidden but intact, and watch for the time to leave or the light to return.
Hexagram 36 for career
A hostile environment or a bad leader. Do not shine where shining draws fire. Keep your competence, do your work quietly, avoid being conspicuous, and outlast the period. The reading is about survival with integrity, not about winning.
Hexagram 36 for money
Conceal your position. This is not a time to be seen as prosperous or to make visible moves. Protect what you have quietly and persist through the dark stretch.
Hexagram 36 for decisions
Choose the option that keeps you safe and intact through a difficult time, not the one that asserts you. If leaving is possible, the lines support it; if not, the strategy is concealment and endurance.
The six changing lines
Read from the bottom. A changing line flips, and the hexagram it changes into is named with each.
Not light but darkness. First he climbed to heaven, then plunged into the earth.
The source of the darkness itself, at the height of its power and at the moment of its fall. What rose by injuring the light plunges. The line is the end of the dark period, seen from the top.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 22, Grace. Read line 6 →
Darkening of the light as with Prince Chi. Persistence furthers.
The one who cannot leave, bound by position or duty to remain inside the dark time, and who survives it by hiding their intelligence completely while keeping it whole. The tradition's model of concealed integrity.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 63, After Completion. Read line 5 →
He enters the left side of the belly and reaches the heart of the darkening; he leaves gate and courtyard.
Close enough to the source of the darkness to understand it fully, and understanding it, leaving. The line describes insight into how bad things are, and the decision to go before it is too late.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 55, Abundance. Read line 4 →
Darkening of the light during the hunt in the south. Their great leader is captured. One must not expect persistence too soon.
The source of the darkness is confronted and defeated, almost by accident, in the course of ordinary action. The line warns against expecting everything to be fixed at once: the leader is captured, the abuses take longer to end.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 24, Return. Read line 3 →
Darkening of the light injures him in the left thigh. He gives aid with the strength of a horse. Good fortune.
Wounded but not stopped, and using the remaining strength to help others through. The injury is real; so is the capacity to act despite it. The line is fortunate because of the aid given.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 11, Peace. Read line 2 →
Darkening of the light in flight; he lowers his wings. The superior person goes three days without food. Where he goes, people gossip.
Seeing the darkness coming and leaving early, at real cost and without understanding from others. The line honours the person who withdraws before being forced to, even though it looks like weakness and costs comfort.
Changing, it becomes Hexagram 15, Modesty. Read line 1 →
Related hexagrams
Cast your own reading
Ask a question and toss six lines. The oracle does not choose the hexagram for you; the coins do.
Ask the I Ching →Common questions
- What does I Ching Hexagram 36 mean?
- The light gone into the earth: a time of adversity survived by hiding one's brightness while keeping it. Fire below, earth above: the sun sunk beneath the ground. Darkening of the Light describes a time when a bad situation or a bad leader makes it dangerous to be seen clearly, and the tradition's counsel is to veil one's light without extinguishing it. The judgement says that in adversity it furthers to be persistent. The image is precise: the wise person deals with the crowd by veiling their light, and yet shines. The reading is a survival strategy for a dark period: keep your inner clarity, do not display it where it will be attacked, and endure. The tradition's model is a prince who feigned madness to survive a tyrant.
- What does Hexagram 36 mean for love?
- A dark stretch, possibly with someone whose behaviour makes honesty dangerous. Keep your inner clarity and do not lay it out where it will be used against you. Endure with your integrity hidden but intact, and watch for the time to leave or the light to return.
- Which hexagram does Hexagram 36 change into?
- It depends on which lines change. With one changing line: line 1 gives Hexagram 15, Modesty; line 2 gives Hexagram 11, Peace; line 3 gives Hexagram 24, Return; line 4 gives Hexagram 55, Abundance; line 5 gives Hexagram 63, After Completion; line 6 gives Hexagram 22, Grace. With every line changing it becomes Hexagram 6, Conflict.