Hexagram 36, line 3
九三Line 3 of Brightness Hidden
Nine in the third place · 明夷 míng yí
爻辭 The line text
明夷于南狩，得其大首，不可疾貞。The third line, undivided, shows its subject, (in the condition indicated by) Ming Î, hunting in the south, and taking the great chief (of the darkness). He should not be eager to make (all) correct (at once).
南狩之志，乃大得也。With the aim represented by 'hunting in the south' a great achievement is accomplished.
In plain words
Hunting in the south and capturing the great chief. South is the direction of Li, the trigram of light, and line three is its top — yang in a yang place, the strongest line in the hexagram — corresponding directly with the top line, the source of the darkness. This is the one line in Ming Yi that acts against the dark rather than enduring it; commentators read King Wu's campaign against the tyrant into it. But the text adds a restraint: 'do not be hasty in setting things right' (不可疾貞). Overthrowing darkness is quick; the correction that follows it cannot be. The small Image affirms the aim: 'the will behind the southern hunt achieves something great' (乃大得).
If this line is changing
If you have the strength to confront the source of the trouble, do it, but do not expect to put everything right at once; a decisive move must be followed by patient repair.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang 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 belongs to the lower trigram 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It corresponds (應) with line 6: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
明夷 Brightness Hidden becomes ䷗ 24 復 Returning
Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
What it becomes24 · 復 ReturningfùThe 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 Nine in the third place of hexagram 36, Brightness Hidden, mean?
- Hunting in the south and capturing the great chief. South is the direction of Li, the trigram of light, and line three is its top — yang in a yang place, the strongest line in the hexagram — corresponding directly with the top line, the source of the darkness. This is the one line in Ming Yi that acts against the dark rather than enduring it; commentators read King Wu's campaign against the tyrant into it. But the text adds a restraint: 'do not be hasty in setting things right' (不可疾貞). Overthrowing darkness is quick; the correction that follows it cannot be. The small Image affirms the aim: 'the will behind the southern hunt achieves something great' (乃大得).
- What does hexagram 36 become when line 3 changes?
- Brightness Hidden becomes hexagram 24, 復 Returning: Thunder within the earth: the solstice, one yang line returning at the bottom. The turn has come — friends arrive, going out and coming in without harm, the way comes back in seven days.
- Is line 3 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.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).