Yarrow / Source Notes / 2026-07-17
Yarrow source note · 2026-07-17
A source-first reading note for Hexagram 36, Ming Yi (Darkening of the Light), with a reference translation, trigram frame, and one reversible observation practice.
Darkening of the Light
The lower trigram is 离 (火), associated in the bundled corpus with 丽; the upper trigram is 坤 (地), associated with 顺. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
Ming I. Brightness wounded: it furthers one to be persevering in adversity. The Image says: The light has sunk into the earth — this is Ming I. Inwardly clear and outwardly yielding, thus enduring great calamity: such was King Wen. "It furthers one to be persevering in adversity" — he veils his light. Beset by hardship within, yet able to keep his will upright: such was the Prince of Chi.
See the original-text and authority layers in the complete catalog entry.
The hexagram Mingyi uses the concise judgment "favorable in difficulty and perseverance" to illustrate the virtues and methods one should uphold when caught in adversity. When brightness is extinguished, the noble person, like Mingyi itself, should conceal their virtue so that a greater brilliance may shine forth in the future. Throughout Chinese history, many people of upright character, wisdom, and integrity have drawn upon the philosophy embedded in the Mingyi hexagram, hiding their brightness and biding their time in hopes of shining more brightly in days to come.
The lower trigram is 离 (火), associated in the bundled corpus with 丽; the upper trigram is 坤 (地), associated with 顺. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
Copy one concrete verb, condition, or image from the reference translation for Hexagram 36. Name one place where it is observable in the situation you are examining. Then choose one small step you can reverse and write the condition that would make you review it.
Do not turn Darkening of the Light into a personality label, a guaranteed event, or a verdict about another person. The translation and trigram frame are source layers to examine, not an instruction to surrender judgment.
The reference translation and context are drawn from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. Yarrow keeps that layer separate from optional modern reflection. This page does not claim that Hexagram 36 was cast for your question.