Bagua

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Bagua diagram explanation from Zhao Huiqian's (趙撝謙) Liushu benyi (六書本義, 1370s).

The Bagua or Pakua are eight symbols used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either "broken" or "unbroken", respectively representing yin or yang, 0 or 1 forming binary numbers 000-111 (0 to 7). Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to as Eight Trigrams in English.

The trigrams are related to Taiji philosophy, Taijiquan and the Wuxing, or "five elements".^[1] The relationships between the trigrams are represented in two arrangements, the Primordial (先天八卦), "Earlier Heaven"^[2] or "Fu Xi" bagua (伏羲八卦), and the Manifested (後天八卦), "Later Heaven,"^[2] or "King Wen" bagua. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, the family, martial arts and elsewhere.^[3][4]

The ancient Chinese classic, I Ching (Pinyin: Yi Jing), consists of the 64 pairwise permutations of trigrams, referred to as "hexagrams", along with commentary on each one.

Trigrams[]

Relation to other principles[]

Derivation of the bagua

There are two possible sources of bagua. The first is from traditional Yin and Yang philosophy. This is explained by Fuxi in the following way:

無極生有極、 有極是太極、 太極生兩儀、 即陰陽。 兩儀生四象: 即少陰、太陰、 少陽、太陽、 四象演八卦、 八八六十四卦。[citation needed]

Wújí shēng yǒují, yǒují shì tàijí. Tàijí shēng liǎngyí, jí yīnyáng. Liǎngyí shēng sìxiàng: jí shǎoyīn, tàiyīn, shǎoyáng, tàiyang Sìxiàng yǎn bāguà, bā bā liùshísì guà

The Limitless (無極; Wuji) produces the Delimited (有極; Youji),    and this Delimited is equivalent to the Highest Limit (太極; Taiji), or the Absolute.    The Taiji (i.e. the two opposing forces in embryonic, unmanifested form) produces two forms Liangyi (兩儀),    namely yin-yang(陰陽), the manifested opposing forces.    These two forms produce four phenomena:    namely: lesser yin (少陰, shaoyin), and greater yin (太陰, taiyin, which also refers to the Moon);    lesser yang (陽, shaoyang), and greater yang (太陽, taiyang, which also refers to the Sun).    The four phenomena (四象; sìxiàng) act on the eight trigrams (八卦; Bagua).    Eight 'eights' results in sixty-four hexagrams.[citation needed]

Another possible source of bagua is the following, attributed to King Wen of Zhou Dynasty: "When the world began, there was heaven and earth. Heaven mated with the earth and gave birth to everything in the world. Heaven is Qian-gua, and the Earth is Kun-gua. The remaining six guas are their sons and daughters".

The trigrams are related to the five elements of Wu Xing, used by Feng Shui practitioners and in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Those five elements are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. The Water (Kan) and Fire (Li) trigrams correspond directly with the Water and Fire elements. The element of Earth corresponds with both the trigrams of Earth (Kun) and Mountain (Gen). The element of Wood corresponds with the trigrams of Wind (Xun) (as a gentle but inexorable force that can erode and penetrate stone) and Thunder (Zhen). The element of Metal corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven (Qian) and Lake (Dui).

There are eight possible combinations to render the various trigrams (八卦 bāguà):

Hexagram lookup table[]

64 Hexagrams

Upper → Lower ↓	乾 Qián Heaven	坤 Kūn Ground, Earth	震 Zhèn Thunder	坎 Kǎn Water	艮 Gèn Mountain	巽 Xùn Wind, Air	離 Lí Flame, Fire	兌 Duì Lake
乾 Qián Heaven	01 Force	11 Pervading	34 Great Invigorating	05 Attending	26 Great Accumulating	09 Small Harvest	14 Great Possessing	43 Displacement
坤 Kūn Earth	12 Obstruction	02 Field	16 Providing-For	08 Grouping	23 Stripping	20 Viewing	35 Prospering	45 Clustering
震 Zhèn Thunder	25 Innocence	24 Returning	51 Shake	03 Sprouting	27 Swallowing	42 Augmenting	21 Gnawing Bite	17 Following
坎 Kǎn Water	06 Arguing	07 Leading	40 Deliverance	29 Gorge	04 Enveloping	59 Dispersing	64 Before Completion	47 Confining
艮 Gèn Mountain	33 Retiring	15 Humbling	62 Small Exceeding	39 Limping	52 Bound	53 Infiltrating	56 Sojourning	31 Conjoining
巽 Xùn Wind	44 Coupling	46 Ascending	32 Persevering	48 Welling	18 Correcting	57 Ground	50 Holding	28 Great Exceeding
離 Lí Flame	13 Concording People	36 Intelligence Hidden	55 Abounding	63 Already Fording	22 Adorning	37 Dwelling People	30 Radiance	49 Skinning
兌 Duì Lake	10 Treading	19 Nearing	54 Converting the Maiden	60 Articulating	41 Diminishing	61 Inner Truth	38 Polarising	58 Open

Fu Xi's "Earlier Heaven"[]

Fuxi "Earlier Heaven" bagua arrangement

This is also known as the "binary sequence" or Shao Yong sequence. A binary interpretation of each hexagram is made by interpreting yin as "0" and yang as "1", and reading the leading "digit" from the inside of the diagram, so the hexagram kūn is interpreted as 0, and gèn as 1. The hexagrams are in binary order when read up from the bottom around on the right, then up again on the left to the top.^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}

King Wen's "Later Heaven"[]

King Wen "Later Heaven" bagua arrangement

Lianshan^{[citation needed]}[]

Cycles of elements in this chart: 生 (Generative/Counter-clockwise), 剋 (Destructive/Clockwise)

火生水, 水生木, 木生金, 金生火
火剋金, 金剋木, 木剋水, 水剋火

Fire brings water, water feeds wood, wood brings metal, metal brings fire

Fire melts metal, metal chops wood, wood drains water, water quenches fire

Earth is now consted in Yellow River Map.

Guicang^{[citation needed]}[]

Cycles of elements in this chart: 生(Generative/Counter-clockwise),剋(Destructive/Clockwise)

水生木,木生金,金生火,火生水
水剋火,火剋金,金剋木,木剋水

Water feeds wood, wood brings metal, metal brings fire, fire brings water

Water quenches fire, fire melts metal, metal chops wood, wood drains water

Earth is now contest in element. Wood, Fire, Metal and Water is contest.

Bagua used in Feng Shui[]

The Bagua is an essential tool in the majority of Feng Shui schools. The Bagua used in Feng shui can appear in two different versions: the Earlier Heaven Bagua, used for burial sites, and the Later Heaven Bagua, used for the residences.

Orthodox Bagua[]

In the Chinese orthodoxy culture, five elements do not exist. In ancient China, Chinese people created four elements theory as the earliest theory of Bagua. A historian expert from Hong Kong discovered the genuine versions of eight trigrams should follow the rule of clockwise Gold (Spring), Wood (Summer), Water (Autumn), Fire (Winter). Another Bagua must follow Spring (Fire), Summer (Gold), Autumn (Wood), Winter (Water). Both Xiantian Bagua and Houtian Bagua were counterfeited versions promoted by Confucianism.^{[11][unreliable source?]}

Xiantian Bagua[]

In Xiantian Bagua, also known as Fu Xi Bagua or Earlier Heaven Bagua, the Heaven is in the higher part and the Earth is in the lower part. The trigram Qian (Heaven) is at the top, the trigram Kun (Earth) is at the bottom (in the past, the South was located at the top in Chinese maps). The trigram Li (Fire) is located on the left and opposite to it is the trigram Kan (Water). Zhen (Thunder) and Xun (Wind) form another pair, while being one opposite the other, the first on the bottom left next to Li while the second is next to Qian on the top right of the Bagua. Gen (Mountain) and Dui (Lake) form the last pair, one opposite the other, both in balance and harmony. The adjustment of the trigrams is symmetrical by forming exact contrary pairs. They symbolize the opposite forces of Yin and Yang and represent an ideal state, when everything is in balance.

Houtian Bagua[]

The sequence of the trigrams in Houtian Bagua, also known as the Bagua of King Wen or Later Heaven Bagua, describes the patterns of the environmental changes. Kan is placed downwards and Li at the top, Zhen in the East and Dui in the West. Contrary to the Earlier Heaven Bagua, this one is a dynamic Bagua where energies and the aspects of each trigram flow towards the following. It is the sequence used by the Luo Pan compass which is used in Feng Shui to analyze the movement of the Qi that allegedly affects us.

Western Bagua[]

Feng shui was made very popular in the Occident thanks to the Bagua of the eight aspirations. Each trigram corresponds to an aspect of life which, in its turn, corresponds to one of the cardinal directions. Applying feng shui using the Bagua of the eight aspirations (or Bagua map for short) made it possible to simplify feng shui and to bring it within the reach of everyone. Western Bagua focuses more heavily on the power of intention than the traditional forms of feng shui.^[12]

Masters of traditional feng shui disregard this approach,^[13] for its simplicity, because it does not take into account the forms of the landscape or the temporal influence 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. It is clear that, not taking into account the cardinal directions, the second is even more simplified.

Bagua map[]

A bagua map is a tool used in Western forms of feng shui to map a room or location and see how the different sections correspond to different aspects in one's life. These sections are believed to relate to every area or aspect of life and are divided into such categories as: fame, relationships/marriage, children/creativity, helpful people/travel, career, inner knowledge, family/ancestors/health, and wealth/blessings.

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 negative or missing spaces that may need rectifying or enhancing in life or the environment.

For example, if the bagua grid is placed over the entire house plan and it shows the toilet, bathroom, laundry, or kitchen in the wealth/blessings area it would be considered that the money coming into that particular environment would disappear very fast, as if to be 'going down the drain.'

A Tibetan "Mystic Tablet" containing the Eight Trigrams on top of a large tortoise (presumably, alluding to the animal that presented them to Fu Xi), along with the 12 signs of Chinese zodiac, and a smaller tortoise carrying the Lo Shu Square on its shell

In Unicode[]

The bagua symbols are in the Miscellaneous Symbols block of Unicode:

In culture[]

In Peking Opera, a role that has Taoist technique or military strategy wears a costume decorated with Taiji and Bagua.

Baguazhang and Taijiquan are two Chinese martial arts based on principles derived from bagua.

Other adoptions[]

• Flag of South Korea: a flag that has four trigrams surrounding the taegeuk.
• Singapore dollar: the one dollar coin is shaped like a bagua.
• Flag of South Vietnam: the three stripes is said as a trigram representing "south".
• Tekes County and Zhuge Village: both these communities has a layout based on bagua.

See also[]

• Tian gan and Di zhi: the archaic calendar system of East Asia.
• Ba Xian
• Ba Mai (奇經八脈; qí jīng bā mài)
• Ba Duan Jin

References[]