Hexagram 36, line 2
六二Line 2 of Brightness Hidden
Six in the second place · 明夷 míng yí
爻辭 The line text
明夷，夷于左股，用拯馬壯，吉。The second line, divided, shows its subject, (in the condition indicated by) Ming Î, wounded in the left thigh. He saves himself by the strength of a (swift) horse; and is fortunate.
六二之吉，順以則也。'The good fortune of (the subject of) the second line, divided,' is due to the proper fashion of his acting according to his circumstances.
In plain words
Wounded in the left thigh — hurt, but not in a vital place — and saved by the strength of a horse. Line two is yin, central and correct, the ruler of the lower trigram Li, brightness itself. The Judgment's commentary assigns this line to King Wen: 'accomplished and bright within, pliant and compliant without, and so he met great difficulty'. The injury is real and the escape is real; the horse is the resource a wise person keeps ready. The small Image gives the reason for the good fortune: 'compliant, yet by rule' (順以則) — yielding to the time without surrendering the principle.
If this line is changing
You will be hurt but not disabled; keep your outward manner compliant and your inner rule intact, and use whatever strength you have kept in reserve to get clear.
Where the line stands
- A broken line, yin — written 六 (six), the number of an old yin line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It has no correspondence (無應) with line 5: both lines are yin, so this line must find its support in its neighbours or in itself.
之卦 When this line moves
明夷 Brightness Hidden becomes ䷊ 11 泰 Prosperity
Earth above and heaven below, their energies meeting and mingling. The small departs, the great arrives: open communication, prosperity, a flourishing time.
What it becomes11 · 泰 ProsperitytàiThe six lines of 明夷 Brightness Hidden
- 初九Nine at the beginningdrooping wings · leaving early · going hungry
- 六二Six in the second placewounded in the thigh · a strong horse · King Wen
- 九三Nine in the third placehunting in the south · the great chief · not too fast
- 六四Six in the fourth placethe left belly · understanding the dark · leaving by the gate
- 六五Six in the fifth placeJizi · feigned darkness · the light cannot be put out
- 上六Six at the topdarkness itself · first to heaven, then to earth · the fallen ruler
Read 明夷 Brightness Hidden for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Six in the second place of hexagram 36, Brightness Hidden, mean?
- Wounded in the left thigh — hurt, but not in a vital place — and saved by the strength of a horse. Line two is yin, central and correct, the ruler of the lower trigram Li, brightness itself. The Judgment's commentary assigns this line to King Wen: 'accomplished and bright within, pliant and compliant without, and so he met great difficulty'. The injury is real and the escape is real; the horse is the resource a wise person keeps ready. The small Image gives the reason for the good fortune: 'compliant, yet by rule' (順以則) — yielding to the time without surrendering the principle.
- What does hexagram 36 become when line 2 changes?
- Brightness Hidden becomes hexagram 11, 泰 Prosperity: Earth above and heaven below, their energies meeting and mingling. The small departs, the great arrives: open communication, prosperity, a flourishing time.
- Is line 2 of Brightness Hidden in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands. It is central (中): the middle line of its trigram, the position the commentaries read as balanced and most favourable.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).