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 (feng shui), anatomy, decorative arts, the family, martial arts (particularly tai chi and baguazhang), Chinese medicine and elsewhere.TSUEI, Wei. Roots of Chinese culture and medicine Chinese Culture Books Co., 1989.ZONG, Xiao-Fan and Liscum, Gary. Chinese Medical Palmistry: Your Health in Your Hand, Blue Poppy Press, 1999.
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 during 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 quote is from the "Image" commentary, which is one of the Ten Wings, part of the Yijing. 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"Understanding Bagua sequence" (December 6, 2015) Shanghai Daily. Quote: "According to the authentic rules of binary method, the value conversion is bottom-up. The ID numbers of Mountain (☶, 100) and Thunder (☳, 001) should be reversed, [i.e. Mountain (☶)'s binary value should be 001 while Thunder (☳)'s binary value should be 100] [...] their sequential numbers are 0-Earth, 1-Mountain, 2-Water, 3-Wind, 4-Thunder, 5-Fire, 6-Valley, and 7-Sky." Possible decimal sequential number Name Translation: WilhelmWilhelm, R. & Baynes, C., (1967): "The I Ching or Book of Changes", With foreword by Carl Jung, Introduction, Bollingen Series XIX, Princeton University Press, (1st ed. 1950) Image in nature (pp.l-li) Phase Later Heaven's Direction (p. 269) Later Heaven's Equinox or Solstice Earlier Heaven's Direction Earlier Heaven's Equinox or Solstice Family relationship (p. 274) Body part (p. 274) Attribute (p. 273) Stage/ state (pp.l-li) Animal (p. 273) Obtained ImagesZhouyi Jie. Explaining the Zhou's [Book of] Changes. "八卦取象歌" [Song about how the Eight Trigrams Obtained Their Images]. "☰乾三連，☷坤六斷，☳震仰盂，☶艮覆碗，☲離中虛，☵坎中滿，☱兌上缺，☴巽下斷。" 1 111 7 the Creative, '(natural) force' heaven, sky metal northwest south Summer Solstice father head strong, persisting creative horse three lines 2 110 6 the Joyous, 'open (reflection)' lake, marsh metal west Fall Equinox southeast third daughter mouth pleasure tranquil (complete devotion) sheep, goat flawed above 3 101 5 the Clinging, 'radiance' fire, glow fire south Summer Solstice east Spring Equinox second daughter eye light-giving, humane "dependence" clinging, clarity, adaptable pheasant hollow middle 4 100 4 the Arousing, 'shake' thunder wood east Spring Equinox northeast first son foot inciting movement initiative dragon face-up jar 5 011 3 the Gentle, 'ground' wind, air wood southeast southwest first daughter thigh penetrating gentle entrance fowl broken below 6 010 2 the Abyssal, 'gorge' water water north Winter Solstice west Fall Equinox second son ear dangerous in-motion pig full middle 7 001 1 Keeping Still, bound mountain earth northeast northwest third son hand resting, stand-still completion dog face-down bowl 8 000 0 the Receptive, field ground, earth earth southwest north Winter Solstice mother belly devoted, yielding receptive cow six fragments
Relation to other principles The Scripture of Changes 易经 (I Ching) listed two sources for the eight trigrams. Its chapter explains the first source thus:Book of Changes "繫辭上 - Xi Ci I (The Great Treatise) 11.3" with James Legge's translation
Tài Jí (太極) Great Axis
Taiji is the encapsulation of all the universe, space and time.
It is derived from Wújí 無極 (without axis) 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 (trad. 陰 / simp. 阴) dark, original, central, passive ⚊ yáng (trad. 陽 / simp. 阳) bright, extreme, furthest, active
Sì Xiàng (四像) Four Aspects
The twin powers produce four aspects named:
⚌ great yang 太陽 tàiyáng ⚎ lesser yang 少陽 shǎoyáng ⚍ lesser yin 少陰 shǎoyīn ⚏ great yin 太陰 tàiyīn
The four aspects are the differing levels of energy in world. Primarily they are associated with the solar terms, the two solstices and the two equinoxes. Being aspects they are also associated with the four main compass directions. Each direction is associated with a level of solar energy, and a mythological animal.
⚌ great yang 太陽 tàiyáng, Summer Solstice (longest day), South (most sun), Red Bird ⚎ lesser yang 少陽 shǎoyáng, Spring Equinox (increasing day), East (increasing sun), Blue Dragon ⚍ lesser yin 少陰 shǎoyīn, Fall Equinox (increasing night), West (decreasing sun), White Tiger ⚏ great yin 太陰 tàiyīn, Winter Solstice (longest night), North (least sun), Black Tortoise
Bā Guà (八卦) Eight Passages
The four phenomena act through the eight gates (bā guà):
☰ Heaven , warming ☳ Thunder , storming ☵ Water , pooling ☶ Mountain , jutting ☴ Wind , dispersing ☲ Fire , dancing ☱ Lake/Marsh , engulfing ☷ Earth , resting
Another chapter, , characterizes the relationship of the trigrams as being:
☰ Heaven, Father ☷ Earth, Mother
who have three sons:
☳ Thunder, 1st Son , ☵ Water, 2nd Son ☶ Mountain, 3rd Son
and have three daughters:
☴ Wind, 1st Daughter ☲ Fire, 2nd Daughter ☱ Lake, 3rd Daughter
The son trigrams all have a single ⚊ yáng line in their formation. The Yang trigrams correspond to odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7.
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
These qualities are associated with the seasons.
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.
Typically the trigram-to-phase correspondences are given as follows:
The phase of Water only corresponds with the trigram of the Deep . The phase of Fire 火 only corresponds with the trigram of Flame . The phase of Earth or Soil 土 corresponds with the trigrams of Earth and Mountain . The phase of Wood 木 corresponds with the trigrams of Wind and Thunder . The phase of Metal or Gold 金 corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven and Lake .Yi Jing "Shuo Gua 10". Translated by James Legge
Notably, more than just their seasonal correspondence, the elements have interactions with each other and relationships of promoting and subverting other elements, as well as reversals where there is insufficiency in one element, resulting in an unbalanced relationship giving unexpected results where it should normally promote or subvert another element, but gives the opposite effect.
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 possibilities 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.
Hexagram lookup table rowspan=3 ☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷ (qián) (duì) (lí) (zhèn) (xùn) (kǎn) (gèn) (kūn) Heaven Lake Flame Thunder Wind Water Mountain Earth ☰ 1 43 14 34 9 5 26 11 ䷀ ䷪ ䷍ ䷡ ䷈ ䷄ ䷙ ䷊ (qián) (qián) (guài) (dàyǒu) (dàzhuàng) (xiǎoxù) (xū) (dàxù) (tài) Heaven Force Displacement Great Possessing Great Invigorating Small Harvest Attending Great Accumulating Pervading ☱ 10 58 38 54 61 60 41 19 ䷉ ䷹ ䷥ ䷵ ䷼ ䷻ ䷨ ䷒ (duì) (lǚ) (duì) (kuí) (guīmèi) (zhōngfú) (jié) (sǔn) (lín) Lake Treading Open Polarising Converting the Maiden Inner Truth Articulating Diminishing Nearing ☲ 13 49 30 55 37 63 22 36 ䷌ ䷰ ䷝ ䷶ ䷤ ䷾ ䷕ ䷣(lí) (tóngrén) (gé) (lí) (fēng) (jiārén) (jìjì) (bì) (míngyí) Flame Concording People Skinning Radiance Abounding Dwelling People Already Fording Adorning Intelligence Hidden ☳ 25 17 21 51 42 3 27 24 ䷘ ䷐ ䷔ ䷲ ䷩ ䷂ ䷚ ䷗ (zhèn) (wúwàng) (suí) (shìhé) (zhèn) (yì) (tún) (yí) (fù) Thunder Innocence Following Gnawing Bite Shake Augmenting Sprouting Swallowing Returning ☴ 44 28 50 32 57 48 18 46 ䷫ ䷛ ䷱ ䷟ ䷸ ䷯ ䷑ ䷭ (xùn) (gòu) (dàguò) (dǐng) (héng) (xùn) (jǐng) (gǔ) (shēng) Wind Coupling Great Exceeding Holding Persevering Ground Welling Correcting Ascending ☵ 6 47 64 40 59 29 4 7 ䷅ ䷮ ䷿ ䷧ ䷺ ䷜ ䷃ ䷆ (kǎn) (sòng) (kùn) (wèijì) (jiě) (huàn) (kǎn) (méng) (shī) Water Arguing Confining Before Completion Deliverance Dispersing Gorge Enveloping Leading ☶ 33 31 56 62 53 39 52 15 ䷠ ䷞ ䷷ ䷽ ䷴ ䷦ ䷳ ䷎ () () () () () () () () () Mountain Retiring Conjoining Sojourning Small Exceeding Infiltrating Limping Bound Humbling ☷ 12 45 35 16 20 8 23 2 ䷋ ䷬ ䷢ ䷏ ䷓ ䷇ ䷖ ䷁ () () () () () () () () () Earth Obstruction Clustering Prospering Providing-For Viewing Grouping Stripping Field
Fuxi's "Earlier Heaven" vs King Wen's "Later Heaven"