Bagua

 ( Esoteric Cosmology ) 

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.

Original Text and Transliteration: 易有太極，Yì yǒu tàijí, 是生兩儀，shì shēng liǎngyí, 兩儀生四象，liǎngyí shēng sìxiàng, 四象生八卦。sìxiàng shēng bāguà.

Translation: Having change is the great-axis, The great-axis produces the paired forces, The paired forces produce the four aspects, the four aspects produce the eight ways.

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 Symbols 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 Phoenix
• ⚎ 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 labels=no, warming
• ☳ Thunder labels=no, storming
• ☵ Water labels=no, pooling
• ☶ Mountain labels=no, jutting
• ☴ Wind labels=no, dispersing
• ☲ Fire labels=no, dancing
• ☱ Lake labels=no, engulfing
• ☷ Earth labels=no, resting

Another chapter, labels=no, characterizes the relationship of the trigrams as being:

• labels=no ☰ Heaven, Father
• labels=no ☷ Earth, Mother

who have three sons:

• labels=no ☳ Thunder, 1st Son
• labels=no, ☵ Water, 2nd Son
• labels=no ☶ Mountain, 3rd Son

and have three daughters:

• labels=no ☴ Wind, 1st Daughter
• labels=no ☲ Fire, 2nd Daughter
• labels=no ☱ 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 水 only corresponds with the trigram of the Deep labels=no.
• The phase of Fire 火 only corresponds with the trigram of Flame labels=no.
• The phase of Earth or Soil 土 corresponds with the trigrams of Earth labels=no and Mountain labels=no.
• The phase of Wood 木 corresponds with the trigrams of Wind labels=no and Thunder labels=no.
• The phase of Metal or Gold 金 corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven labels=no and Lake labels=no. 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 it's 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.

Experienced practicers of traditional feng shui disregard Western baguaMoran, Elizabeth and Master Yu, Joseph. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui, 3rd Edition, Penguin, 2005. for its simplicity, since it does not take into account the forms of the landscape, time, or the annual cycles. The bagua of the eight aspirations is divided into two branches: the first, which uses the compass and cardinal directions, and the second, which uses the bagua by using the main door.

In this system, the map is intended to be used over the land, one's home, office or desk to find areas lacking good chi, and to show where there are spaces that may need rectifying or enhancing in life or the environment.

For example, if the bagua grid is placed over an entire house plan and it shows the toilet, bathroom, laundry, or kitchen in the wealth/blessings area of the map, it would be said that the money coming into that particular environment would disappear very fast.

The Miscellaneous Symbols block also encodes the constituents ⚊ (yang—U+268A, ⚊) and ⚋ (yin—U+268B, ⚋), as well as the digrams ⚌ (greater yang—U+268C, ⚌), ⚍ (lesser yin—U+268D, ⚍), ⚎ (lesser yang—U+268E, ⚎), and ⚏ (greater yin—U+268F, ⚏).

The hexagrams they form are separately encoded in the Yijing Hexagram Symbols Unicode block.

The Flag of South Korea has the four cardinal trigrams ( qian, kun, kan, li) surrounding the taegeuk, or taijitu. These are specific representations of the movement and harmony of yin and yang. These trigrams were also depicted on the commissioning pennant of the South Korean Navy.

• Heavenly stems and Earthly branches: the archaic calendar system of East Asia.
• Baguazhen, a military tactical formation based on the bagua.
• Ba Xian, Eight Taoist Immortals
• Ba Mai
• Baduanjin
• Chinese ritual mastery traditions
• Chinese spiritual world concepts
• Fuji (planchette writing)
• Fulu
• Octal