明夷Mingyi · Darkened Light
In one sentence
The light is pressed under the ground; for now, keep yourself somewhat hidden.
A time when capable, clear-sighted people are the very ones who get hurt. The surroundings are dark and unreasonable. Pull in your sharp edges. Look a little muddled on the outside; stay clear on the inside. Hold on to yourself through the hardship, and do not collide head-on.
Asking about work, love or money
- Work
- The environment is dark and unreasonable, and capable people are the ones who get hurt. This is not the time to shine: put your sharp edge away, look a little dull on the outside, and stay clear on the inside. Do not clash head-on with those above you. In the hardship, hold on to the work that is properly yours.
- Love
- Right now in love, your sincerity and your plain truths are more likely to get you hurt. Do not rush to argue about who is right; say less, and be clear inside about where your bottom line is. If the other person keeps being unreasonable, protect yourself first. Do not clash head-on, and do not lose yourself either. If you are single, do not be in a hurry to hand over your whole heart.
- Money
- With money, this is a hard time when reason does not get a hearing. Do not go around telling people how much you have or what you plan to do. Do not fight for it and do not take risks. Hold on to what must be held, and keep your own accounts perfectly clear in your head. Get through this stretch first.
This is the hexagram as a whole. If your cast has changing lines, the line text governs; each line's page has its own reading for work, love and money.
The judgment
In plain wordsIt is favorable to hold to the right way in the midst of hardship, and to keep your own light hidden.
The Tuan commentary
明入地中，明夷。內文明而外柔順，以蒙大難，文王以之。利艱貞，晦其明也，內難而能正其志，箕子以之。
Brightness enters the earth: Mingyi. Cultured and bright within, yielding and compliant without, and so enduring great hardship: King Wen was like this. "It is favorable to stay true through hardship": one dims one's light. With hardship inside one's own house, yet able to keep one's purpose correct: Jizi was like this.
The Tuan (“judgment”) commentary is one of the Ten Wings. It explains the hexagram name and the judgment from the two trigrams and the positions of the lines.
The image
明入地中，明夷。君子以蒞眾，用晦而明。
Brightness sinks into the earth: Mingyi (Darkened Light). The noble one, in overseeing the many, keeps the light veiled and yet stays clear.
The lines
Nine at the beginning
Text明夷于飛，垂其翼。君子于行，三日不食。有攸往，主人有言。Darkened light in flight, its wings drooping. The noble one on the road goes three days without eating. There is somewhere to go; the host has words to say.In plain wordsA wounded bird flies with its wings hanging low. The noble one is on the road and for three days has no time to eat. Where you are headed, the host will have talk about you. Such are the times; it cannot be avoided. More on this line →
Six in the second place
Text明夷，夷于左股，用拯馬壯，吉。Darkened light, wounded in the left thigh. Rescue comes by a strong horse. Good fortune.In plain wordsThe wound is in the left thigh; it has not yet reached a vital spot. Quickly bring a strong horse to the rescue: good fortune. More on this line →
Nine in the third place
Text明夷于南狩，得其大首，不可疾貞。Darkened light on the southern hunt. Their great chief is taken. Do not rush to set everything right.In plain wordsMarching south on campaign, you capture the chief wrongdoer. But the old abuses run too deep; you cannot rush to correct everything at one stroke. More on this line →
Six in the fourth place
Text入于左腹，獲明夷之心，于出門庭。Entering the left side of the belly, one grasps the heart of the darkened light, and goes out through the gate and courtyard.In plain wordsYou get into the left side of the belly — the darkest, most hidden place — and come to know that darkened heart through and through. So you walk out the gate and go far away. More on this line →
Six in the fifth place
Text箕子之明夷，利貞。The darkened light of Jizi. It is favorable to stay true.In plain wordsLike Jizi: in the darkest place, beside the most benighted of rulers, still holding on to your own will. Staying true is favorable. More on this line →
Six at the top
Text不明晦，初登于天，後入于地。No light, only darkness. First it climbed to heaven; afterward it plunged into the earth.In plain wordsIt gives no light; instead all is dark. At first it climbed high into the sky. Afterward it plunged headlong into the ground. More on this line →
Lines are counted from the bottom. “Nine” is a yang (solid) line, “six” a yin (broken) line. A line applies to your reading only when it is a changing line.
Related hexagrams
Primary, resulting, nuclear, opposite and inverted hexagrams explained →
In the hexagram calendar
In the Tang monk Yixing’s Dayan calendar, Mingyi belongs to the third pentad of Cold Dew, “Chrysanthemums bloom yellow” (October 18 to October 22, 2026).