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Hexagram 5 — Ming Yi, Darkening of the Light
Chronological no. 5 (binary-weight order) · King Wen no. (traditional) 36 · 明夷
By Anibal Edelberto Amiot — Updated October 1, 2026
the mother
the middle daughter
Light descends into the Earth: the image of darkening. What should shine finds itself buried, forced to veil its own brightness in order to survive intact. This is the figure of clarity that must, for a time, conceal itself to endure. Thus the noble one leads the multitude by veiling his own clarity, while remaining lucid within: there are eras when showing one's full light would be a mistake — wisdom then lies in remaining just, in silence.
Advancing beneath a light deliberately veiled. It is not a matter of extinguishing one's own clarity, but of knowing how to contain it when circumstances make its full brightness dangerous. This line teaches the discipline of one who continues to act rightly, even when no one can yet see it.
The six lines
At the base of the earth, fullness stirs: the yang onset that carried the whole figure now yields its place.
The receptive earth reaches its fullness: the silent welcome that carried the lower figure is about to assert itself.
At the threshold between earth and man, force wavers: what acted through firmness hesitates before turning.
In the listening of man, the hollow fills: the openness that received is about to assert itself.
At the sage's seat, emptiness fills: the suppleness that governed with discretion gathers a new force.
At the summit, emptiness reaches its fullest extent and closes: the furthest opening turns toward its opposite.
Source: La Livrée d'Hermès, Anibal Amiot — chapter 7.1 (pp. 63–68). French version of this page.
For the notions used here — magic square, layer and casting, the Yi Jing — see the project lexicon.
The patterns of this hexagram
Eight 12×12 Jacquard patterns are generated from this hexagram, one for each admissible family of the system. Each has its own page: cell, tiling, recolourings and data.
Bases — YANG mutant
Bases — YANG
Pair of two — YANG + YIN mutant
Pair of two — YIN mutant + YANG mutant
Pair of two — YIN + YANG
Pair of two — YIN + YANG mutant
Triple — without YANG
Triple — without YANG mutant
Neighbouring hexagrams
4 — Qian, Modesty · 6 — Sheng, Pushing Upward
Hexagrams sharing a trigram
Same upper trigram (☷ Kun): 0 — Kun, The Receptive · 1 — Fu, Return · 2 — Shi, The Army · 3 — Lin, Approach · 4 — Qian, Modesty · 6 — Sheng, Pushing Upward · 7 — Tai, Peace
Same lower trigram (☲ Li): 13 — Feng, Abundance · 21 — Ji Ji, After Completion · 29 — Ge, Revolution · 37 — Bi, Grace · 45 — Li, That Which Clings, Fire · 53 — Jia Ren, The Family · 61 — Tong Ren, Fellowship with Men
