The ''
I Ching'' book consists of 64 hexagrams.
A hexagram in this context is a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines (
爻 yáo), where each line is either
Yang (an unbroken, or solid line), or
Yin (broken, an open line with a gap in the center). The hexagram lines are traditionally counted from the bottom up, so the lowest line is considered line one while the top line is line six. Hexagrams are formed by combining the original
eight trigrams in different combinations. Each hexagram is accompanied with a description, often cryptic, akin to parables. Each line in every hexagram is also given a similar description.
The Chinese word for a hexagram is
卦 "guà", although that also means trigram.
Types
Classic and modern ''I Ching'' commentaries mention a number of different hexagram types:
*
Eight Trigrams
* Original Hexagram
* Future Hexagram
* Contrasting (Reverse) Hexagram (is found by turning a hexagram upside down)
* Complementary Hexagram (is found by changing all the lines into their opposite)
* Hexagram of Sequence
* Nuclear (Mutual) Hexagram (hu gua) (is found by taking the inner lines of a hexagram; given that the original hexagram's lines are labeled 1 through 6 from bottom up, the nuclear hexagram contains the lines 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5)
* Hexagram of Change (bian gua)
* Internal Hexagram (nei gua)
* External Hexagram (wai gua)
Sequences
The most commonly known sequence is the
King Wen sequence. A totally different sequence was found in the
Mawangdui Silk Texts. The hexagrams are also found in the
Binary sequence, also known as
Fu Xi sequence or
Shao Yong
Shao Yong (; 1011–1077), courtesy name Yaofu (堯夫), named Shào Kāngjié (邵康節) was a
Chinese cosmologist, historian, philosopher, and poet who greatly influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism across China during the Song dynast ...
sequence.
Lookup table
See also
*
List of hexagrams of the ''I Ching''
*
Feng shui
*
Tai Yi Shen Shu
Tai Yi Shen Shu is a form of divination from China. It is also one of the Three Styles () of divination, the others being Da Liu Ren and Qi Men Dun Jia.
Tai Yi Shen Shu is used to predict macroscopic events like wars or the meaning of supern ...
*
Tie Ban Shen Shu
References
{{Reflist
I Ching
Symbolism