Yi Jing · Chinese tarot
Darkening of Light
Hexagram 36 of the Yi Jing · 明夷 Míng Yí
The figure
Earth above Fire: light buried beneath the soil, the sun gone down. The image of wounded clarity, to be protected.
What this figure illuminates
Darkening of the Light lights up hostile times when showing your clarity would expose it. Wisdom then is not to shine brighter, but to keep your inner light intact beneath a discreet surface.
For a decision, the figure invites prudence: “in this difficult context, what do I protect by staying discreet, rather than exposing myself needlessly?”.
The classical text
The Judgment
The light is wounded and sinks. It furthers to know the hardship of the time and to hold, inwardly, firm and correct.
The Image
The sun has sunk beneath the earth; the light is hidden. Seeing this, the noble person deals with others by veiling their brightness, showing wisdom by not displaying it.
The Six Lines
- First line
Wounded in flight, wings low, going three days without food. You press on to your goal though others murmur — hold your course.
- Second line
Struck in the left thigh, hurt but not stopped. Save yourself by the strength of a swift horse — good fortune.
- Third line
Hunting in the south, you seize the very head of the darkness. But do not rush to set all right at once.
- Fourth line
You come to know the dark power from within, close to its heart — and having seen it plainly, you leave that house behind.
- Fifth line
Like the prince who hid his light under a tyrant, veiling his mind to survive. It furthers to keep firm and correct within.
- Sixth line
Not the dimming of the light but total dark — the one who quenched it. Risen once to the sky, they now sink into the earth.
Daoa's wording, written after the classical reference translations, now in the public domain: James Legge (1882) and Charles de Harlez (1889).
A question to keep
What do you protect by staying discreet, rather than exposing yourself?
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Download on the App StoreOr do a free Chinese tarot reading online →Writing with this figure
- Shadow work, where to beginLooking at what you'd rather not see of yourself — through writing, without judgment.
- Shadow work with the I ChingWhy the 64 figures are a natural shadow-work support — the pivot page between the two worlds.
- Prompts for shadow workWriting prompts for the shadow — and why a figure opens more than a frontal question.