Bagua
The bagua is a set of symbols from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as comprising mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another. Bagua is a group of trigrams—composed of three lines, each either "broken" or "unbroken", which represent yin and yang, respectively. Each line having two possible states allows for a total of 23 = 8 trigrams, whose early enumeration and characterization in China has had an effect on the history of Chinese philosophy and cosmology.
The trigrams are related to the divination practice as described within the I Ching and practiced as part of the Shang and Zhou state religion, as well as with the concepts of taiji and the five elements within traditional Chinese metaphysics. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, divination, meditation, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, decorative arts, the family, martial arts, Chinese medicine and elsewhere.
The bagua can appear singly or in combination, and is commonly encountered in two different arrangements: the Primordial, "Earlier Heaven", or "Fuxi" bagua, which is so named according the legend of Fuxi being the first primordial being to identify the eight trigrams; and the Manifested, "Later Heaven", or "King Wen" bagua, which arose recorded Chinese history.
In the I Ching, two trigrams are stacked together to create a six-line figure known as a hexagram. There are 64 possible permutations. The 64 hexagrams and their descriptions make up the book. The trigram symbolism can be used to interpret the hexagram figure and text. An example from Hexagram 19 commentary is "The earth above the lake: The image of Approach. Thus the superior man is inexhaustible in his will to teach, and without limits in his tolerance and protection of the people." The trigrams have been used to organize Yijing charts as seen below.
Trigrams
There are eight possible combinations to render the various trigrams:| Trigram figure | Possible binary value | Possible decimal sequential number | Name | Translation: Wilhelm | Image in nature | Phase | Later Heaven's Direction | Later Heaven's Equinox or Solstice | Earlier Heaven's Direction | Earlier Heaven's Equinox or Solstice | Family relationship | Body part | Attribute | Stage/ state | Animal | Obtained Images | |
| 1 | 111 | 7 | c=乾 | the Creative, ' force' | heaven, sky 天 | metal | northwest | south | Summer Solstice | father | head | strong, persisting | creative | 馬 horse | 三連 three lines | ||
| 2 | 110 | 6 | 兌 | the Joyous, 'open ' | lake, marsh 澤 | metal | west | Fall Equinox | southeast | third daughter | mouth | pleasure | tranquil | 羊 sheep, goat | 上缺 flawed above | ||
| 3 | 101 | 5 | 離 | the Clinging, 'radiance' | fire, glow 火 | fire | south | Summer Solstice | east | Spring Equinox | second daughter | eye | light-giving, humane "dependence" | clinging, clarity, adaptable | 雉 pheasant | 中虛 hollow middle | |
| 4 | 100 | 4 | 震 | the Arousing, 'shake' | thunder 雷 | wood | east | Spring Equinox | northeast | first son | foot | inciting movement | initiative | 龍 dragon | 仰盂 face-up jar | ||
| 5 | 011 | 3 | 巽 | the Gentle, 'ground' | wind, air 風 | wood | southeast | southwest | first daughter | thigh | penetrating | gentle entrance | 雞 fowl | 下斷 broken below | |||
| 6 | 010 | 2 | 坎 | the Abyssal, 'gorge' | water 水 | water | north | Winter Solstice | west | Fall Equinox | second son | ear | dangerous | in-motion | 豕 pig | 中滿 full middle | |
| 7 | 001 | 1 | 艮 | Keeping Still, bound | mountain 山 | earth | northeast | northwest | third son | hand | resting, stand-still | completion | 狗 dog | 覆碗 face-down bowl | |||
| 8 | 000 | 0 | 坤 | the Receptive, field | ground, earth 地 | earth | southwest | north | Winter Solstice | mother | belly | devoted, yielding | receptive | 牛 cow | 六斷 six fragments |
Relation to other principles
The Scripture of Changes 易經 listed two sources for the eight trigrams. Its chapter explains the first source thus:Tài Jí (太極) Great Axis
Taiji is the encapsulation of all the universe, space and time.It is derived from Wújí 無極 the formless, dimensionless, limitless, unbounded, infinite void.
When the formless void began to stir and move, Taiji came into being.
Liǎng Yí (兩儀) Dual Powers
The beginning of the universe begot the twin forces:- ⚋ yīn dark, original, central, passive
- ⚊ yáng bright, extreme, furthest, active
Sì Xiàng (四像) Four Aspects
- ⚌ great yang 太陽 tàiyáng
- ⚎ lesser yang 少陽 shǎoyáng
- ⚍ lesser yin 少陰 shǎoyīn
- ⚏ great yin 太陰 tàiyīn
- ⚌ great yang 太陽 tàiyáng, Summer Solstice, South, Red Bird
- ⚎ lesser yang 少陽 shǎoyáng, Spring Equinox, East, Blue Dragon
- ⚍ lesser yin 少陰 shǎoyīn, Fall Equinox, West, White Tiger
- ⚏ great yin 太陰 tàiyīn, Winter Solstice, North, Black Tortoise
Bā Guà (八卦) Eight Passages
- ☰ Heaven p=Qián, warming
- ☳ Thunder p=Zhèn, storming
- ☵ Water p=Kǎn, pooling
- ☶ Mountain p=Gèn, jutting
- ☴ Wind p=Xùn, dispersing
- ☲ Fire p=Lí, dancing
- ☱ Lake p=Duì, engulfing
- ☷ Earth p=Kūn, resting
- p=Qián ☰ Heaven, Father
- p=Kūn ☷ Earth, Mother
- p=Zhèn ☳ Thunder, 1st Son
- p=Kǎn, ☵ Water, 2nd Son
- p=Gèn ☶ Mountain, 3rd Son
- p=Xùn ☴ Wind, 1st Daughter
- p=Lí ☲ Fire, 2nd Daughter
- p=Duì ☱ Lake, 3rd Daughter
The daughter trigrams all have a single ⚋ yīn line in their formation. The Yin trigrams correspond to even numbers 0, 2, 4, 6.
Their ordering is from bottom line, mid line, top line.
Wǔxíng (五行) Five Phases
The trigrams are related to the five phases of the Wuxing. The phases are: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal.The major qualities associated with the 5 phases are:
- Water - Receding
- Fire - Bursting
- Earth - Resting
- Wood - Growing
- Metal - Contracting
- Water is associated with mid winter, the time of lowest energy.
- Fire is associated with mid summer, the time of highest energy.
- Earth is the pivot or balanced energy, either given as late summer, or as a brief transitional period between the seasons, where they are neither obviously one quality or the next.
- Wood is associated with the spring time, burst with life and increasing sunshine.
- Metal with the fall, life is slowing down, the days are shortening, and both men and creatures are taking precaution by storing food, and preparing for winter.
- The phase of Water 水 only corresponds with the trigram of the Deep p=Kǎn.
- The phase of Fire 火 only corresponds with the trigram of Flame p=Lí.
- The phase of Earth or Soil 土 corresponds with the trigrams of Earth p=Kūn and Mountain p=Gèn.
- The phase of Wood 木 corresponds with the trigrams of Wind p=Xùn and Thunder p=Zhèn.
- The phase of Metal or Gold 金 corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven p=Qián and Lake p=Duì.
The wuxing and its promoting/subverting relationship system is also used as a frame work for understanding the relationships in spacial features in feng shui as well as the relationships between the organ systems in traditional Chinese medicine.
''Liùshísì Guà'' (六十四卦) Sixty-Four Hexagrams
Eight trigrams stacked atop another eight trigrams give sixty-four variations of hexagrams, with the dominant quality above, and the secondary quality below. These sixty four hexagrams make up the main body of the Yijing oracle used for divination. The Yijing itself gives a pithy explanation for each hexagram.The ways can be thought of as eight main expectations, and each variation is an outcome either typical, inverted; promoted, subverted; nurtured, neglected; surprised or disappointed; depending on circumstance. The sixty-four hexagrams give many possibility for how an endeavor may turn out.
Diviners consulting the Yijing oracle use a variety of methods to elicit a response from the oracle, such as throwing yarrow stalks, tossing coins, pulling cards from a deck, or consulting exterior signs, such as examining the shapes of sacrificed animal entrails, examining the cracking patterns of bones tossed into a fire, observing the flight path of startled birds, etc.