I Ching
The I Ching is the Chinese "Book of Changes." This tome was created almost five thousand years ago by Fu Hsia great emperor of that legendary period. It is a divination tool for decision making, and it has been employed for thousands of years by everyone from emperors to peasants. The I Ching's relationship to Feng Shuiis special. The I Ching is essentially eight trigrams, or ba gua, made up of three lines representing yin and yang. When stacked on top one another they create a trigram. As time progressed the Chinese assigned additional meanings to the base eight trigrams: seasons, colors, directions, etc. From these additional meanings a circular chart was constructed. This chart will have significance when we discuss the Lo P'an(geomancer's compass) later. For now it is important only to know that by pivoting a circular ba guato the correct magnetic alignment you can detect beneficial and harmful areas of Ch'iin your home or work space. This system was expanded over time so that the eight trigrams originally created were used together to make sixty-four possibilities from which all things in heaven or on earth could be accounted for. The I Ching maps out the sixty-four hexagrams representing an array of things: heaven, earth, water, fire, thunder, air, and so on. The following excerpt based on Evelyn Lip's Feng Shui: A layman's Guide to Chinese Geomancyillustrates but a few of the trigrams' associated meanings:
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Trigram Element Animal Emblem Season Meaning qian Metal dragon heaven late fall strength kun Earth ox earth summer nourishing zhen Wood horse thunder spring movement ken Water pig moon mid-winter danger
These trigrams would be divined by heating tortoise shells in a fire. After they had cooled by removing them from the heat the oracle could inspect the cracks that the flame had caused and create a trigram. The trigrams would then be added to one another to form a hexagram. Over time the method used to create the trigrams changed: thrown yarrow stalks were used, then wooden blocks, and in modern times coins are tossed to determine the yin and yang of the trigrams.
© 1998 Andrew William Broer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED