I Ching

The I Ching, (Yi King, I Jing), or "Book of Changes", is a text describing an ancient Chinese system of cosmology and philosophy which is at the heart of Chinese cultural beliefs. In the Western cultures, it is mostly known as a system of divination.

Structure

The I Ching symbolism is embodied in a set of 64 abstract line arrangements called hexagrams. These are each comprised of six lines; each line is either a solid or unbroken horizontal line, or an open of broken horizontal line (with a gap in the centre). With six such lines stacked in each hexagram, there are sixty-four possible combinations based around a binary construction of broken or unbroken lines.

To further complicate the process it is possible for one, many or all of the lines to be determined to be moving lines, i.e. their polarity can be reversed and thus the meaning of the hexagram radically altered.

Components of Hexagrams

The solid line represents yang, the masculine, creative principle. The open line represents yin, the feminine, receptive principle. These principles are also represented in a common circular symbol, called the yin-yang?, expressing the idea that everything contains its opposite.

Each hexagram can be considered composed of two trigrams of three lines each. There are eight possible trigrams.

The Hexagrams

In the following list, the hexagrams will be represented using a common textual convention: horizontally from left to right, using '|' for yang and ':' for yin. Note, though, that the normal diagrammatic representation is to show the lines stacked vertically, from bottom to top.

1. |||||| Ch'ien (Force)

2. :::::: K'un (Field)

3. |:::|: Chun (Sprouting)

4. :|:::| Meng (Enveloping)

5. |||:|: Hsüaut; (Attending)

6. :|:||| Sung (Arguing)

7. :|:::: Shih (Leading)

8. ::::|: Pi (Grouping)

9. |||:|| Hsiao Ch'u (Small Accumulating)

10. ||:||| Lu (Treading)

11. |||::: T'ai (Prevading)

12. :::||| Pi (Obstruction)

13. |:|||| T'ung Jen (Concording People)

14. ||||:| Ta Yu (Great Possessing)

15. ::|::: Ch'ien (Humbling)

16. :::|:: Yüaut; (Providing-for)

17. |::||: Sui (Following)

18. :||::| Kui (Corrupting)

19. ||:::: Lin (Nearing)

20. ::::|| Kuan (Viewing)

21. |::|:| Shih Ho (Gnawing Bite)

22. |:|::| Pi (Adorning)

23. :::::| Po (Stripping)

24. |::::: Fu (Returning)

25. |::||| Wu Wang (Without Embroiling)

26. |||::| Ta Ch'u (Great Accumulating)

27. |::::| Yi (Swallowing)

28. :||||: Ta Kuo (Great Exceeding)

29. :|::|: K'an (Gorge)

30. |:||:| Li (Radiance)

31. ::|||: Hsien (Conjoining)

32. :|||:: Heng (Persevering)

33. ::|||| Tun (Retiring)

34. ||||:: Ta Chuang (Great Invigorating)

35. :::|:| Chin (Prospering)

36. |:|::: Ming Yi (Brightness Hiding)

37. |:|:|| Chia Jen (Dwelling People)

38. ||:|:| K'uei (Polarising)

39. ::|:|: Chien (Limping)

40. :|:|:: Hsieh (Taking-Apart)

41. ||:::| Sun (Diminishing)

42. |:::|| Yi (Augmenting)

43. |||||: Kuai (Parting)

44. :||||| Kou (Coupling)

45. :::||: Ts'ui (Clustering)

46. :||::: Sheng (Ascending)

47. :|:||: K'un (Confining)

48. :||:|: Ching (Welling)

49. |:|||: Ko (Skinning)

50. :|||:| Ting (Holding)

51. |::|:: Chen (Shake)

52. ::|::| Ken (Bound)

53. ::|:|| Chien (Infiltrating)

54. ||:|:: Kuei Mei (Converting The Maiden)

55. |:||:: Feng (Abounding)

56. ::||:| Lu (Sojourning)

57. :||:|| Sun (Ground)

58. ||:||: Tui (Open)

59. :|::|| Huan (Dispersing)

60. ||::|: Chieh (Articulating)

61. ||::|| Chung Fu (Centre Confirming)

62. ::||:: Hsiao Kuo (Small Exceeding)

63. |:|:|: Chi Chi (Already Fording)

64. :|:|:| Wei Chi (Not-Yet Fording)

The hexagrams, though, are mere mnemonics for the philosophical concepts embodied in each one. The philosophy centres around the ideas of balance through opposites and acceptance of change.

Philosophy

Taoist thought is at the heart of the I Ching, and the ambient and dualistic nature of this school of thinking is perfectly demonstrated by the nuances of binary possibility within each line of hexagrammatic representation.

History

Divination

Traditionally the determination of the orientation of the lines for the purposes of divination was derived by the casting of sticks, commonly yarrow? sticks, although there are many other methods of achieving the construction of the hexagrams, the most common of which is the throwing of coins.

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