OK, so last time, we talked about the inner and outer trigrams that make up the image of a hexagram. In that case, it was Heaven (qian, also known as "Force") and Water (kan, also known as "Danger"). Well, in this case, it's the same two trigrams, but reversed. You'll see this pattern a lot in the I Ching -- at least in what's called the "King Wen sequence." Not all versions of the book put the hexagrams in the same order, you see. But most seem... more

When last we got into this stuff, we talked about youthful folly. Now, we're looking at the majestic force of Heaven wrapped in the shady perils of the Abyss.

Gosh, that sounds terribly gothy. I'm sorry, Raven Darckchylde. It's not. It's about the trigrams that make up this hexagram.

OK, so, you remember the business with trigrams, right? Sets of three lines, either... more

If you remember the previous hexagram, you'll notice this one is the same figure upside down. That little blade of grass? Growing straight into the earth this time. Stupid blade of grass! But it's too young to know any better!

This hexagram paints a picture of a mountain resting over an abyss -- something that seems rugged and immovable, but is being undermined by something truly powerful gnawing at its feet. Or, it could be a spring (the "abyss" trigram represents... more

So, continuing on from hexagrams 1 & 2, which between the two of them represented, well, everything there is, we reach a difficult beginning.

Literally, I mean.

According to the Wilhelm/Baynes translation, this hexagram represents a blade of grass trying to sprout, but meeting some kind of obstacle. Poor blade of grass! It has to struggle to reach the sun! Rising up from the Earth into the Heavens isn't easy!

Where does that image come from?

Well,... more

These are the first two hexagrams of the I Ching, and, in a nicely introductory way, they include all the other hexagrams between them. Qian (or, in the old style, ch'ien) is the ultimate expression of yang, the high point of the wave. That's another way of saying it's all solid lines. As well as being called "The Creative" and "Force," it's also sometimes called "Heaven" -- it's made from two of the "Heaven" trigrams put... more

Continued from the introduction post...

We left off with the One Thing (the universe, I suppose) giving rise to two things, yin and yang, which are the two fundamental elements of everything there is. They are opposites, but not opposing, necessarily. And their presence is absolutely relative -- a mountain can be yang and a lake can be yin when looking... more

What is the I Ching?

Quoting from the introduction to the Yi Jing (I Ching) at the Wengu collection (who are in turn quoting Richard Wilhelm, who did the first, greatest European translation):

Nearly all that is greatest and most significant in the three thousand years of Chinese cultural history has either taken its inspiration from this book, or has exerted an influence on the interpretation of its text. Therefore it may safely be said that the seasoned... more