His purpose in developing the trigrams was to organize all phenomena under heaven and earth and to place them within a simple and comprehensive framework. Most importantly for the purpose at hand, he is credited with the development of the system of the eight trigrams. He also created musical instruments and a system of writing using knotted cords. According to the story, Fu-Hsi gave several incomparable gifts to humanity, including the skills of animal husbandry and fishing with nets. The origins of the eight trigrams are traditionally ascribed to the mythic ruler Fu-Hsi (Fuxi), who, as a divine being, had the body of a snake. The sages used these to describe the life situations common to all humanity. When grouped into sixes, yin and yang have 64 possible combinations. In their wisdom, the ancient sages used these categories to symbolize the eight primeval forces of nature. When grouped into threes, yin and yang now have eight possible combinations. The Trigrams and the Eight Forces of Nature From these two groups of three lines, one larger group of six lines is created. Finally, each separate trigram is coupled with another trigram. The genius of the I Ching is that to create more categories, it organizes the two forces of yin and yang into sets of three separate lines, called the trigram. The only drawback is that by using just these two symbols, only four relationships can be expressed, the relation of yang to itself (two solid lines), the relation of yin to itself (two sets of broken lines) and their relation to each other (two more cases with either a yin line on the bottom or a yang line on the bottom). To their eternal credit, the authors of the I Ching have constructed just such a system.īy using the solid line ( - ) to represent yang and the broken line ( - ) to represent yin, the I Ching can symbolically express a relationship between the two forces. Then it must devise a method of evaluating which of these events would be most likely to happen at a particular time for a particular person. The Systemįirst, this system needs to organize the general categories of human experience. Once this idea is accepted, it is not so difficult to see how a system of divination with specifically human applications might be constructed. Since these processes do not change and are always governing how we behave, they are considered to be universal laws. These types of predictions, though, dealt largely with what we in the West consider to be the inanimate world.īy investigating more closely still, we can see that living things, including ourselves, are also subject to these same processes. The first mathematicians who learned through their science to predict such events as a solar eclipse were regarded as wizards, and it is surprising that more of them were not executed as a result. Knowing this, we can easily make simple projections about the future.Įvents such as the moment of sunrise or the exact time and date of a high tide can now be predicted with relative ease.
We have also determined that the patterns, such as the 24-hour cycle of a day or the 12-month cycle of a year, will exhibit extremes of both yang and yin at different times. These patterns, for example, often repeat themselves with mathematical precision. At the same time, we can see patterns and cycles within this framework of change.
Day will give way to night in the same way that summer will yield to winter. We know, for example, that everything in this world is subject to change. In terms of making predictions about the future, we can use our knowledge of yang and yin to come to some conclusions. In their permutations and interactions, they are the forces responsible for the constant change we see in the world. Although they are opposites, the two forces complement each other. Yang is considered the masculine force - active, intellectual, and dominant. How better to indicate a yielding, nurturing force than with a broken line and an active, aggressive force with a solid line? Yin, Yang, and the Forces of ChangeĪs has been suggested, yin is regarded as the feminine principle - nurturing, reflective, and yielding in character. The yin is symbolized in The Book of Changes by a broken line ( - ) and the yang, by a solid line ( - ). About 3,000 years ago, during the Zhou dynasty, the first records of its existence appear.Įven then, the philosophers of the time recognized the fundamental principles already touched upon - that in the beginning exists Tai Chi, The Great Ultimate, and from it springs the yin and the yang. Sometime close to the dawn of recorded history, the main text itself came into being. Just like the Judeo-Christian Bible, there is no certainty as to who actually wrote much of the I Ching.
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