Darkening of the Light
The Veiled Light
Legge's 1899 Ming Yi gives three foodless days in line one and a left-thigh wound in line two.
Yijing, Ming Yi, Judgement, Image commentary and lines 1–2, 5–6; METIS pp. 69–71; James Legge (1899), METIS I Ging (2023).
Earth above fire: six lines forming the I Ching hexagram Ming Yi.
More context
Ming Yi places brightness within earth. The received commentary connects it with King Wen's difficulties and with preserving an inner purpose under adverse conditions. Its Image presents intelligence kept obscured while managing people. The judgement requires correctness amid difficulty. The line texts make the danger concrete: drooping wings, three days without eating, and a wound in the left thigh appear in the opening lines. The fifth names an exemplary count whose brightness remains unextinguished.
Light
The commentary presents inner brightness and purpose maintained through difficulty; the Image favours intelligence exercised without display.
Shadow
The first two lines include hunger and a thigh wound; the final line depicts a ruler falling from the sky into earth.