YiJing, TaiJi and BaGua

In Chinese Metaphysics, all the subjects are interconnected. Every subject (or theory) starting from the HeTu and YiJing is intimately related to the other subjects. The main reason for this interrelationship is that all other subjects are offspring of these two: HeTu and YiJing.

In the chapters on the HeTu and LuoShu, I mentioned that presently there are conflicting theories concerning the historical sequence of the HeTu and the YiJing. I mentioned that there are basically two schools of thought concerning this issue: One group advocates that the HeTu preceded the YiJing and the other group opposes that by postulating the YiJing could have preceded the HeTu. I also mentioned that I have taken the views of Cai YuanDing and ZhuXi – that the HeTu preceded the YiJing.

Therefore, this chapter shall be based on their postulation. I shall start by discussing on the YiJing first.

Note: to new students of FengShui, this chapter is a crucial chapter for you to come to grips with the waxing and waning of Yin Yang Qi. I hope the readers will gain much from absorbing the concepts presented in this chapter and that it will be of tremendous help in their quest to realize the importance of it.

YiJing

YiJing Etymology

Yi 易 has, among its many meanings, the meaning of Change, Exchange and also Transformation, when used in this context – as, the world and the whole universe is always in a state of flux – never stopping for a moment, forever changing and evolving.

Jing 經, means Text, Classic or Sutra (Sanskrit word for recorded teachings). Together, both words mean ‘Classical Text of Yi’ or ‘Sutra of Yi.’

YiJing Development

The Ancient Wise Men of China studied the natural environment surrounding them and looked towards the sky for answers. Thus was born the studies of Metaphysics, of which the HeTu was supposedly the first revelation of Heaven’s Secrets – the Way of the Heavens, the birth and formation of the Earth and their relationship with Man.

The Ancient Sages observed and researched the environment, the sky and the land on which they lived and recorded their findings. These recorded information were then correlated with the subsequent appearance of various signs and omens, one of which was supposedly the HeTu and a later one was the LuoShu. These were then compiled as time passed and were subsequently accumulated into what is now called the YiJing. 

The YiJing is currently applied in all Metaphysic disciplines, inclusive of Medicine, GongFu Martial Arts, QiGong, and even in business philosophy.

Its use is so widespread that it has become an important subject in all the universities in China and Taiwan.

The scholastic community of YiJing researchers has coined the word Yi-logy to give Yi studies an easy to call name. Hereon, I shall use this term to denote YiJing studies and research.

In the Four Storage Complete Library – Yi Catalogue 四库全书总目·易类(compiled between 1772 – 1882 by Imperial Order of Emperor Qian Long) it was mentioned:

“The Yi’s Dao is all encompassing. The theories of such subjects as astrology, geography, music, military strategy, mathematics, alchemy and meditation originate from the Yi.”

Central to Yi-logy is its intrinsic quality of Image and Numbers 象数 (Xiang Shu). This intrinsic aspect of Yi-logy was adopted by every branch of Chinese Metaphysic. It is now especially useful in FengShui and Divination.

In the discipline of Traditional Chinese Medicine, this aspect was already incorporated in the earliest written medical treatise, The Emperor ‘s Internal Classic 黄帝内经 (HuangDi NeiJing), and even adherents of other disciplines, too, would constantly make reference to this classic for theoretical support.

TaiJi

The word TaiJi 太极 is made up of two words: Tai 太 and Ji 极.

Tai is a word modifier that enhances another word and it means extreme, or excessive.

Ji means to the limits; to the extreme; to the maximum or to the summit.

Tai is also Da 大, and Da means big, most or excess. Therefore the word TaiJi, put together, means ‘to the extreme or limits.’

Confucious said in his YiZhuan 易传·系辞上：

“易, 有太极，是生两仪，两仪生四象，四象生八卦。”

“Yi has TaiJi, and it gives birth to the two appearances, the two appearances give birth to the four images, and the four images give birth to the BaGua.”

The above sentence describes the relationship between the YiJing and the TaiJi.

It vividly describes the unfolding of the Universe and all phenomena within. …………………………………………………………………………………….

The Progressive Division of the TaiJi 

The progressive division of the TaiJi comes from the most popular description of the YiJing:

‘無 極 生 太 極, 太 極 生 兩 儀, 兩 儀 生 四 象, 四 象 生 八 卦’.

From the state of Limitlessness of WuJi was born the TaiJi;

From the TaiJi were born the Two Appearances;

From the Two Appearances were born the Four Images;

From the Four Images was born the BaGua.

The TaiJi Formation

The BaGua was conceived after the above philosophical viewpoint was formulated; the meaning and essence of the TaiJi was subsequently set down in writing. The BaGua is the literal and practical extension of the theory of the TaiJi – the phenomena that encompass everything in the universe.  …………………………………………………………………………………………….

The BaGua

The word Ba means eight. The word Gua means divination.

The word Gua 卦 is made up of two separate words: Gui 圭 and Bu卜.

Gui 圭 is the sundial that is mounted on a stone pedestal to tell the time by measuring the Sun’s shadow. The sundial is used not only to tell the time of day, but it is also used for gauging the seasons of the year.

Bu 卜, means divination. In Chinese Metaphysics, there were many different divination methods. The more commonly known ones include YiJing divination by using Yarrow stalks or coins, oracle bones divination, turtle shell divination, bamboo sticks divination, divination by calculation and analyzing of the combinations of the 60JiaZi (Sexagenary Cycle) such as Da LiuRen and Qimen DunJia divination.

Divination is a means for people to find out what is supposed to be Heaven’s designs for Man – so-called destiny. Man, since the beginning, has been subject to the ‘Will of Nature’, and nobody seems to have any means to control it. 

As Man will always seek comfort, they naturally would try to seek answers to that which is otherwise unanswerable by the ordinary human mind. This is where Oracles and Divination comes in. So, when they formulated the Guas 卦, I suppose, they put two and two together and formed the word Gua 卦with these two words Gui 圭and Bu卜.

The BaGua (8 Trigrams) is the basic graphical extension of the representation of all the phenomena in the universe – each Gua with only three lines called a Trigram – either full or broken. 

The next extension goes beyond these 8 Trigrams when the multiplication process piles up Trigram upon Trigram to make Six Lines, and it becomes what we call the Hexagrams. The process of multiplication, when the Trigrams are piled up, one upon another, gives the multiplication factor of 8. Eight Trigrams multiplied 8 times equals to 64 Hexagrams. 

The 64 Hexagrams are all given names to depict a part of the whole that is called Phenomena. For example, the Hexagram with all Yang lines (full lines) is called Qian and is assigned the term ‘Qian represents Heaven’ and it signifies the ‘beginning.’

There are two types of BaGua formations: one is the Early Heaven BaGua and the other is the Later Heaven BaGua. The Early Heaven BaGua is linked to the HeTu and the Later Heaven BaGua is linked to the LuoShu. There has been detailed explanation about this in the chapters on the HeTu and LuoShu.

Excerpted from Chapter 10 of my book Chinese Metaphysics: Essential FengShui Basics