Thirty-sixth Song: Earth Fire Ming Yi, Shen Gongbao Imprisoned in the East Sea
A hero rises to the occasion, knowing the times.
Why don't you know your fate?
Regretful of past efforts in vain,
It is too late to regret now.
Hexagram interpretation:
"Ming Yi" in the I Ching refers to the sun. "Yi" means to fall from a high place to a low place and suffer injury. Therefore, Ming Yi means that brightness has been damaged and one has fallen into darkness. The upper trigram, Kun, represents the earth; the lower trigram, Li, represents the sun. Originally, the sun is in the sky. However, in this hexagram, the sun has fallen into the earth, meaning that brightness has vanished and it has become a dark, moonless night. This is the complete opposite of the aforementioned Jin hexagram. This is the meaning of Ming Yi. On one hand, the Kun trigram represents the earth; the Li trigram represents fire. If the fire were in a high place, it would shine brightly and reach everywhere. Unfortunately, the situation is exactly the opposite: the fire is underground. Therefore, it presents an extremely dark state. This is also the meaning of Ming Yi. Simultaneously, the Li trigram can represent eyes, and the Kun trigram represents harm. Together, it means that the eyes have been harmed and one has become blind. This is also the meaning of Ming Yi. Therefore, it is named the "Ming Yi" hexagram.