Hiding the Light

Students of the Tao and the Yi have often tried to link the wisdoms found in the Tao Te Ching (TTC) and the Zhouyi (the Yi) but without much success. The failure to do so could boil down to the translations used the interpretations and probably because both the translator and the student have insufficient knowledge of ancient Chinese history. It is advisable therefore to keep to definitive translations and to read more on the historical background of the two classics for a more solid foundation.

A link which may interest students is the similarity of ancients’ thoughts in both Chapter 36 (TTC) and Hexagram 36 (the Yi).

"When one is about to take an inspiration, he is sure to make a (previous) expiration; when he is going to weaken another, he will first strengthen him; when he is going to overthrow another, he will first have raised him up; when he is going to despoil another, he will first have made gifts to him:--this is called 'Hiding the light (of his procedure).'

The soft overcomes the hard; and the weak the strong.

Fishes should not be taken from the deep; instruments for the profit of a state should not be shown to the people." (TTC 36 [Legge] sacred-text.com)

"The name of Hexagram 36 is Ming I / Darkening of the Light or ‘wounding of the bright’. Here the hexagram talks about a man of dark nature* in a position of authority and brings harm to the wise and able man**. One must not unresistingly let himself be swept along by unfavorable circumstances, nor permit his steadfastness to be shaken. He can avoid this by maintaining his inner light, while remaining outwardly yielding and tractable. With this attitude he can overcome even the greatest adversities." [W/B]

*The man of dark nature was Chou Hsin the last emperor of Shang (or Yin) dynasty. He was a tyrant who imprisoned or killed his loyal ministers and harmed the people for fun. He is represented by the top line of Hexagram 36.

** The wise and able man refers to various personages of the time, among others, King Wen (2nd line), his son King Wu (3rd line) and Prince Chi (5th line). King Wen imprisoned by Chou Hsin had to bribe his way out of jail after heaping praises on the emperor (compare 1st paragraph of TTC 36). Indeed a time of hiding the light to escape from harm. By this way, the soft overcame the hard.

After the overthrow of the tyrant by King Wu (who founded the Zhou dynasty) a momentous event, a change of the Mandate of Heaven so to speak, the rest is history. With the overthrow, the weak overcame the strong.