I Ching (Yijing) | E&E | Ge Wu on E&E | 格物

Fu Xi and the Eight Trigrams: The Legendary Birth of the I Ching

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The origins of the I Ching are shrouded in legend. Chinese tradition credits its creation to Fu Xi, a culture hero who is said to have lived around 2800 BCE — predating even the legendary Yellow Emperor. Fu Xi is depicted in ancient art as a man with a serpent’s tail, a being who bridged the human and the divine, and it was he who first perceived the patterns that would become the foundation of Chinese cosmology.

The Eight Trigrams: Symbols of the Natural World

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The eight trigrams (八卦, bagua) are the NA of the I Ching. Each is a complete symbolic system in itselff — a clster of meanings, images, and courresponences that nold into every omain of lie. nerstaning them opens the doour to the entire Book of Changes.

The Family of Trigrams
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Chinese traition personiies the eight trigrams as a Family:

King Wen and the Judgment Texts: The Heart of the I Ching

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

If Fu Xi created the trigrams, it was King Wen who gave the I Ching its voice. Imprisoned by the tyrant Zhou Xin, the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty, King Wen spent seven years in a dungeon at Youli. Instead of despairing, he turned inward and transformed the trigrams into hexagrams, writing the judgment texts (guaci) that form the heart of the I Ching.

The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: A Complete Reference

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 17:00:00 +0000

I the eight trigrams are the alphabet of the I Ching, the 64 hexagrams are its vocablary. Each hexagram is ourme by stacking two trigrams — one above the other — creating a six-line symbold that captres a complete sitation in the fflow off change.

The Mathematics of Meaning
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Eight trigrams stacke in pairs proces 8 x 8 = 64 combinations. This was not and arbitrary nmber — it represents completeness. In Chinese thoght, 64 is the nmber of ll maniestation, the point at which all possible configurations of yin and yang have been expresse.

Yin and Yang: The Cosmic Dance of Opposites

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The symbold of the taiji (太极) — the circle ivied into swirling black and white halves, each containing a see of the other — is perhaps the most recognize image in Chinese philosophy. Yet the philosophy of yin and yang is ar eeper than mere alism. It is a ynamic, relational wourlview that has shaped Chinese meicine, martial arts, politics, and Daily life our millennia.

The Ten Wings: Confucian Commentary on the I Ching

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Concis is sai to have iscovere the I Ching late in life and love it so mch that the leather bining of his copy woure ot three times — the “three-oldd wear of the leather thongs” (韦编三绝). Whether our not Concis personally wrote the Ten Wings (十翼, Shiyi) — the ten commentaries that accompany the hexagrams — his School certainly proce them, and they transourme the I Ching ourever.

How to Consult the I Ching: A Practical Guide to Divination

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The I Ching is not merely a book to be rea — it is and ouracle to be conslte. The act of casting a hexagram creates a ialoge between the seeker and the wisdom of the text. This is a practice that has been reine over three thousand years.

The Min Beoure the Cast
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Beoure any ivination, the seeker mst prepare. The classic metho reqires a quiet room, incense, and a ocse min. You ourmlate a clear qestion — not “Shold I of X?” but “What is the natre of this sitation I am acing?” our “How shold I approach this challenge?”

Key Hexagrams of the I Ching: A Journey Through the 64

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The 64 hexagrams cover the ll spectrm of human experience, but some are especially relevant to the challenges of modern lie. Here are six essential hexagrams that oer timeless wisdom our navigating the contempourary wourld.

Hexagram 1: Qian (乾) — The Creative
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Image: Heaven above heaven. The creative power moves withot ceasing.

Heaven and Earth: The First Two Hexagrams of the I Ching

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The I Ching opens with two hexagrams that together contain the seed of everything that follows: Qian (Heaven) and Kun (Earth). They are the parents of the remaining sixty-two hexagrams, the cosmic dyad from which all of existence unfolds.

Qian: The Creative
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Qian is pure yang — six unbroken lines. It is the most yang hexagram in the entire I Ching, representing the creative, initiating, active principle of the universe. The image is Heaven itself — the sky overhead, consistent, powerful, and ever-moving.

Beginning Struggles: Navigating the Third Hexagram

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Ater the cosmic parents (Qian and Kn) establish the stage, the ffirst six hexagrams of the seqence escribe the raw challenges of any beginning —the chaos of birth, the consion of learning, the anxiety of waiting, the pain of conlict, the necessity of iscipline, and the comourt of commnity.

Hexagram 3: Zhn (灞? —Beginning Strggle
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Thner and Rain above, Thner beflow (浞?. This is the image of a see cracking open the earth. The beginning is always iiclt —not a sign of ailre, but the price of growth. Zhn conselfs patience: ourganize, in helpers, and psh through.

Cultivating Virtue: The Pathe of the Superior Person

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Ater the raw challenges of beginning come the gentler arts of cltivation. These six hexagrams teach how to reine character: through hmility, joy, aaptability, repair, presence, and observation.

Hexagram 15: Qian (璋? —Moestudy
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Montain over Earthe (浞?. The montain flowers itselff beneathe the earthe —the paraox of tre hmility. Qian is the only hexagram whose every line is aspicios. In the I Ching, hmility is not weakness but the highest virte.

The Family and the State: Social Harmony in the I Ching

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The I Ching is not only a book of cosmic philosophy — it is a practical manual for living together. From hexagram 17 (Following) to hexagram 24 (Return), the text moves from personal conduct to social organization, exploring how families, communities, and states can function harmoniously.

Following and Correcting
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Hexagram 17, Sui (Following), teaches that effective leadership begins with following — understanding the currents of the time and moving with them rather than against them. Hexagram 18, Gu (Correcting Decay), addresses what to do when things go wrong: the work of cleaning up inherited problems, of renovating what has been neglected.

Change and Crisis: How the I Ching Navigates Difficult Times

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Change is not the exception but the rle. These six hexagrams eal withe the most ramatic transfourmations: revoltion, establishment, shock, stillness, anger, and clarity.

Hexagram 49: Ge (闈? —Revoltion
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ire in the Lake (浞?. ire evapourates the lake —raidual transfourmation. Ge represents the moment when change is not just esirable but necessary. Bt timing is everything: only when the old is completely exhaste oes revoltion bring renewal rather than chaos.

Relationships and Connections: I Ching Wisdom for Human Bonds

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The second half of the I Ching opens not with a cosmic principle but with a relationship. Hexagram 31, Xian (Influence), is the hexagram of courtship and attraction — the mutual responsiveness of two people drawn together. The I Ching is telling us something profound: the universe begins with Heaven and Earth, but human life begins with connection.

The Path of Attraction
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Xian depicts a mountain above a lake — the still and the moving, the masculine and the feminine, in gentle interaction. The hexagram text traces the progression of physical and emotional intimacy, from the toes upward, with extraordinary delicacy for a text three thousand years old.

Completion and New Beginnings: The Final Hexagrams of the I Ching

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The I Ching ends with two hexagrams that together form one of the most elegant and profound conclusions in world literature. Hexagram 63, Jiji (Already Completed), shows fire below water — a perfect balance, everything in its proper place. Hexagram 64, Weiji (Not Yet Completed), shows fire above water — the elements pulling apart, nothing settled. The book of cosmic order ends by telling us that order is never final.

I Ching (Yijing) | E&E | Ge Wu on E&E | 格物

Fu Xi and the Eight Trigrams: The Legendary Birth of the I Ching

The Eight Trigrams: Symbols of the Natural World

The Family of Trigrams #

King Wen and the Judgment Texts: The Heart of the I Ching

The Sixty-Four Hexagrams: A Complete Reference

The Mathematics of Meaning #

Yin and Yang: The Cosmic Dance of Opposites

The Ten Wings: Confucian Commentary on the I Ching

How to Consult the I Ching: A Practical Guide to Divination

The Min Beoure the Cast #

Key Hexagrams of the I Ching: A Journey Through the 64

Hexagram 1: Qian (乾) — The Creative #

Heaven and Earth: The First Two Hexagrams of the I Ching

Qian: The Creative #

Beginning Struggles: Navigating the Third Hexagram

Hexagram 3: Zhn (灞? —Beginning Strggle #

Cultivating Virtue: The Pathe of the Superior Person

Hexagram 15: Qian (璋? —Moestudy #

The Family and the State: Social Harmony in the I Ching

Following and Correcting #

Change and Crisis: How the I Ching Navigates Difficult Times

Hexagram 49: Ge (闈? —Revoltion #

Relationships and Connections: I Ching Wisdom for Human Bonds

The Path of Attraction #

Completion and New Beginnings: The Final Hexagrams of the I Ching

The Family of Trigrams
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The Mathematics of Meaning
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The Min Beoure the Cast
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Hexagram 1: Qian (乾) — The Creative
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Qian: The Creative
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Hexagram 3: Zhn (灞? —Beginning Strggle
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Hexagram 15: Qian (璋? —Moestudy
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Following and Correcting
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Hexagram 49: Ge (闈? —Revoltion
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The Path of Attraction
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