Rén-Yin-Yin-Yin
The yin marches south, the yang marches north.
Things lose the straightness of their light, and everything goes dim.
1
A clouded belly takes a quick look at the sky.
It does not find where the sky ends.
There is nothing in there that could have seen it.
2
A clear belly takes a quick look at the sky.
It finds the root of it.
The brightness was all on the inside.
3
A blind man is teaching them to shoot.
The target keeps getting further off.
Nothing is going to be settled this way.
4
The mirror is straight and does not confuse anything.
Others come and take their bearings from it.
It has nothing of its own to add.
5
He turns his back on the brightness.
He walks into the muddle head-first.
People start leaving from behind him.
6
The dimness is beginning to catch.
A small glow will not do, nor a weak one.
Nothing at the center of it is dazzled.
7
He is fogged about the things he loves.
He is perfectly clear about what he hates.
Both of them show, and neither is hidden.
8
At dusk the hour belongs to the moon.
A small straightness. It is not starlight.
There is still something to hope toward.
9
The hour slides, and slides.
He never gets the good of it.
His pin snaps; her ornament comes off.
THE IMAGE
A quiet forest glade veiled in dense autumn twilight mist, where a sage walks slowly by the sound of flowing water and the gentle glow of a handheld paper lantern.
THE COMMENTARY
Perception is obscured. You may have partial information, confused motives, contradictory impressions, or simply too little light to see where the situation is going.
Dimness differs from complete darkness because some light remains. The challenge is to use what can still be seen without pretending that limited clarity amounts to full understanding.
Look for reliable mirrors, small signs, and people whose perception is less compromised than your own. Do not demand brilliance where only twilight is available; sometimes a modest but trustworthy light is enough to keep moving.
This figure is one of 81 in Taixuanjing for Today, a book by Joe Perez that renders Yang Xiong’s Canon of Supreme Mystery in original verse, with expanded commentary, essays, and full instructions for casting the oracle yourself.