I Ching

Alternative meaning: I Ching (monk)

It describes an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy which is at the heart of Chinese cultural beliefs. The philosophy centres around the ideas of balance through opposites and acceptance of change. See the Philosophy section below for more.

The book is also known as Zhou Yi (周易 zhōu yì; alternately Chou I), the "Changes of Zhou", in ancient Chinese literature which indicates the book was based on work from Zhou Dynasty. See the History section below for more.

In the Western cultures, it is known mostly as a system of divination.

Table of contents

1 Structure 1.1 Components of Hexagrams 1.2 The Hexagrams 2 Philosophy 3 History 4 Divination 4.3 Methods 4.3.1 Cracks on turtle shell 4.3.2 Yarrow stalks 4.3.3 Coins 4.3.3.1 Three-coin method 4.3.3.2 Two-coin method 4.3.4 Dice 4.3.5 Marbles or Beads 4.3.6 Rice grains 4.3.7 Calligraphy brush strokes 4.3.8 Calendric Systems 4.3.9 Symbolism 5 External links and references

Structure

The I Ching symbolism is embodied in a set of 64 abstract line arrangements called hexagrams (卦 guà). These are each composed of six horizontal lines (爻 yáo); each line is either Yang (unbroken, a solid line), or Yin (broken, an open line with a gap in the centre). With six such lines stacked from bottom to top in each hexagram, there are 2⁶ or sixty-four possible combinations and thus sixty-four hexagrams.

Each hexagram is made of two trigrams. There are 8 possible trigrams.

Each hexagram represents a state, a process, a change happening at the present moment. When an hexagram is casted, it is possible for one, many or all of the lines to be determined to be moving, ("old", or "instable") lines, i.e. their polarity is in the process of reversal and thus the meaning of the hexagram is completed and the "target" hexagram resulting from these changes is also considered.

Note that because the lines in the hexagrams are traditionally determined by biased random-number generation procedures, the 64 hexagrams are not equiprobable if generated in these ways.

There are a few formal arrangements of the trigrams and hexagrams with a traditional context. The bā gùa is a circular arrangement of the trigrams, traditionally printed on a mirror, or disk. Legend states that Fu Hsi found the bā gùa on the scales of a tortoise's back.

The King Wen sequence is considered the authoritative arrangement of the hexagrams.

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 (☯), known as taijitu (太極圖), but more commonly known in the west as the yin-yang (陰陽) diagram, expressing the idea of complementarity of changes: when Yang is at top, Yin is increasing, and the reverse.

In the following lists, the trigrams and hexagrams are 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 (i.e. to visualize the actual trigrams or hexagrams, rotate the text counterclockwise 90°).

There are eight possible trigrams (八卦 bā guà).

1. ||| Force (☰ 乾 qián) = heaven (天)
2. ::: Field (☷ 坤 kūn) = earth (地)
3. |:: Shake (☳ 震 zhèn) = thunder (雷)
4. :|: Gorge (☵ 坎 kǎn) = water (水)
5. ::| Bound (☶ 艮 gèn) = mountain (山)
6. :|| Ground (☴ 巽 xùn) = wind (風)
7. |:| Radiance (☲ 離 lí) = fire (火)
8. ||: Open (☱ 兌 duì) = swamp (澤)

The Hexagrams

The text of the I Ching describes each of the 64 hexagrams, and later scholars added commentaries and analyses of each one; these have been subsumed into the text comprising the I Ching.

• 01. |||||| Force (乾 qián) ;
• 02. :::::: Field (坤 kūn) ;
• 03. |:::|: Sprouting (屯 chún) ;
• 04. :|:::| Enveloping (蒙 méng) ;
• 05. |||:|: Attending (需 xū) ;
• 06. :|:||| Arguing (訟 sòng) ;
• 07. :|:::: Leading (師 shī) ;
• 08. ::::|: Grouping (比 bǐ) ;
• 09. |||:|| Small Accumulating (小畜 xiǎo chù) ;
• 10. ||:||| Treading (履 lǚ) ;
• 11. |||::: Prevading (泰 tài) ;
• 12. :::||| Obstruction (否 pǐ) ;
• 13. |:|||| Concording People (同人 tóng rén) ;
• 14. ||||:| Great Possessing (大有 dà yǒu) ;
• 15. ::|::: Humbling (謙 qiān) ;
• 16. :::|:: Providing-For (豫 yù) ;
• 17. |::||: Following (隨 suí) ;
• 18. :||::| Corrupting (蠱 gǔ) ;
• 19. ||:::: Nearing (臨 lín) ;
• 20. ::::|| Viewing (觀 guān) ;
• 21. |::|:| Gnawing Bite (噬嗑 shì kè) ;
• 22. |:|::| Adorning (賁 bì) ;
• 23. :::::| Stripping (剝 bō) ;
• 24. |::::: Returning (復 fù) ;
• 25. |::||| Without Embroiling (無妄 wú wàng) ;
• 26. |||::| Great Accumulating (大畜 dà chù) ;
• 27. |::::| Swallowing (頤 yí) ;
• 28. :||||: Great Exceeding (大過 dà guò) ;
• 29. :|::|: Gorge (坎 kǎn) ;
• 30. |:||:| Radiance (離 lí) ;
• 31. ::|||: Conjoining (咸 xián) ;
• 32. :|||:: Persevering (恆 héng) ;
• 33. ::|||| Retiring (遯 dùn) ;
• 34. ||||:: Great Invigorating (大壯 dà zhuàng) ;
• 35. :::|:| Prospering (晉 jìn) ;
• 36. |:|::: Brightness Hiding (明夷 míng yí) ;
• 37. |:|:|| Dwelling People (家人 jiā rén) ;
• 38. ||:|:| Polarising (睽 kuí) ;
• 39. ::|:|: Limping (蹇 jiǎn) ;
• 40. :|:|:: Taking-Apart (解 xiè) ;
• 41. ||:::| Diminishing (損 sǔn) ;
• 42. |:::|| Augmenting (益 yì) ;
• 43. |||||: Parting (夬 guài) ;
• 44. :||||| Coupling (姤 gòu) ;
• 45. :::||: Clustering (萃 cuì) ;
• 46. :||::: Ascending (升 shēng) ;
• 47. :|:||: Confining (困 kùn) ;
• 48. :||:|: Welling (井 jǐng) ;
• 49. |:|||: Skinning (革 gé) ;
• 50. :|||:| Holding (鼎 dǐng) ;
• 51. |::|:: Shake (震 zhèn) ;
• 52. ::|::| Bound (艮 gèn) ;
• 53. ::|:|| Infiltrating (漸 jiàn) ;
• 54. ||:|:: Converting The Maiden (歸妹 guī mèi);
• 55. |:||:: Abounding (豐 fēng) ;
• 56. ::||:| Sojourning (旅 lǚ) ;
• 57. :||:|| Ground (巽 xùn) ;
• 58. ||:||: Open (兌 duì) ;
• 59. :|::|| Dispersing (渙 huàn) ;
• 60. ||::|: Articulating (節 jié) ;
• 61. ||::|| Centre Confirming (中孚 zhōng fú) ;
• 62. ::||:: Small Exceeding (小過 xiǎo guò) ;
• 63. |:|:|: Already Fording (既濟 jì jì) ;
• 64. :|:|:| Not-Yet Fording (未濟 wèi jì) ;

Philosophy

Gradations of binary expression based on yin and yang (Old yang, old yin; young yang or young yin, see the divination paragraph below) are what the hexagrams are built from. Yin and yang, while common expressions associated with many schools known from classical Chinese culture, are especially associated with the Taoists.

Another view holds that the I Ching is primarily a Confucianist ethical or philosophical document. This view is based upon the following:

• The Wings or Appendices are attributed to Confucius.
• The study of it was required as part of the Civil Service Exams. These exams only studied Confucianist texts.
• It is one of the Five Confucian Classics.
• It does not appear in any surviving editions of the Dao Zheng.
• The major commentaries have been written by Confucianists, or Neo-Confucianists.

History

Traditionally it was believed that the principles of the I Ching originated with the legendary Fu Hsi. In this respect he is seen as an early culture hero, one of earliest legendary rulers of China (traditional dates 2852 BC-2738 BC), reputed to have had the trigrams (八卦 bā gùa) revealed to him supernaturally. Before the Zhou Dynasty, there was other literature on the "Change" philosophy, e.g. Lian Shan Yi (『連山易』 Lián Shān Yì) and Gui Cang Yi (『歸藏易』 Gūi Cáng Yì). The philosophy heavily influenced the literature and government administration of the Zhou Dynasty. It was refined over time and I Ching was completed around the time of Han Wu Di (漢武帝 Hàn Wǔ Dì) during the Han Dynasty (circa 200 BC).

In the past 50 years a "Modernist" history of the I Ching has been emerging, based on context criticism and research into Shang and Zhou dynasty oracle bones, as well as Zhou bronze inscriptions and other sources (see below). These reconstructions are dealt with in growing number of books, such as "The Mandate of Heaven: Hidden History in the I Ching", by S J Marshall, Columbia University Press, 2001, and Richard Rutt's "Zhouyi: The Book of Changes" from Curzon Press, 1996. Scholarly PhDs dealing with the new view of the Book of Changes include the dissertations by Richard Kunst and Edward Shaughnessy. These and other scholars have been helped immensely by the discovery in the 1970s by Chinese archaeologists of intact Han dynasty era tombs in Mawangdui near Changsha, Hunan province. One of the tombs contained more or less complete 2nd century BC texts of the I Ching, the Dao De Jing and other works, which are mostly similar yet in some ways diverge significantly from the "received" or traditional texts preserved by the chances of history. The tomb texts include additional commentaries on the I Ching, previously unknown, and apparently written as if they were meant to be attributed to Confucius. All of the Mawangdui texts are many centuries older than the earliest known attestations of the texts in question. When talking about the evolution therefore of the Book of Changes the Modernists contend that it is important to distinguish between the traditional history assigned to texts such as the I Ching (felt to be anachronistic by the Modernists), assignations in commentaries which have themselves been canonized over the centuries along with their subjects, and the more recent scholarly history aided by modern linguistic textual criticism and archaeology. Many feel that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but, for instance, many Modernist scholars doubt the actual existence of Fuxi, think Confucius had nothing to do with the Book of Changes, and that the hexagrams came before the trigrams.

Divination

The process of consulting the oracle involves determining the hexagram by some random method, and then reading the I Ching text associated with that hexagram. This method of divination is a form of bibliomancy.

Each line of a hexagram determined with these methods is either stable ("young") or changing ("old"); thus, there are four possibilities for each line, corresponding to the cycle of change from yin to yang and back again:

• old yin (yin changing into yang), which has the number 6
• young yang (unchanging yang), which has the number 7
• young yin (unchanging yin), which has the number 8
• old yang (yang changing into yin), which has the number 9

Methods

Several of the methods use a randomising agent to determine each line of the hexagram. These methods produce a number, which corresponds to the numbers of changing or unchanging lines discussed above, and thus determine each line of the hexagram.

Cracks on turtle shell

The turtle shell oracle is probably the earliest record of fortune telling. A piece of a turtle shell had heat applied to it (sometimes with a hot poker), and the resulting cracks were interpreted for divination. The cracks were sometimes annotated with inscriptions, which are the oldest Chinese writings that have been discovered. This oracle predated the earliest versions of the Zhou Yi (dated from about 1100 BC) by hundreds of years.

A variant on this method was to use ox shoulder bones. When thick material was to be cracked, then the underside was thinned by carving with a knife.

Yarrow stalks

The yarrow stalk method of divination was the next major advance in oracle methodology after the turtle shell method. It was comparatively quick and easy to perform. A yarrow stalk is piece of dried stem from the yarrow plant, approximately 15-18 inches in length.

However, the yarrow oracles is not a truly randomized method, since it is statistically biased toward certain answers. It seems fairly clear that the ancient Chinese neither understood nor intended this statistical bias.

The yarrow stalk method is performed as follows:

• use fifty dried stalks of the yarrow plant and a large clear table space
• set aside one stalk to represent unity, using forty-nine stalks for the remainder of the ritual
• for each of the six lines of the hexagram (starting from the bottom and moving up)
  • divide and count the stalks three times as follows
    • gather the stalks into the left hand
    • split them randomly into two bundles with the left thumb
    • place the two bundles separately, as left and right piles, onto the table
    • take one stalk from the right side pile, hold it between the little finger and ring finger of the left hand
    • pick up the left side pile in the left hand
    • count the stalks from the pile into separate piles of four, until four or fewer remain
    • hold this remainder between the ring and middle finger of the left hand
    • pick up the right side pile in the left hand
    • count the stalks from the pile into separate piles of four, until four or fewer remain
    • hold this remainder between the index and middle finger of the left hand
    • set aside all the stalks held between fingers of the left hand
    • count the number of piles of four stalks
    • if this is not the third iteration, gather all the piles of four together to repeat the dividing and counting process
  • after the third iteration, the number of piles of four stalks will be six, seven, eight or nine
  • determine the current line of the hexagram from this number: 6 = old yin, 7 = young yang, 8 = young yin, 9 = old yang.
• once six lines have been determined the hexagram is formed

Three-coin method

The three coin method was the next major advance in oracular method, and occurred well over a thousand years later. It was also the quickest and easiest by far, which is probably why it has largely supplanted the yarrow stalks.

• use three coins with distinct "head" and "tail" sides
• for each of the six lines of the hexagram, beginning with the first (bottom) line and ending with the sixth (top) line:
  • toss all three coins
  • assign the value 2 to each "head" result, and 3 to each "tail" result
  • total all the coin values
  • the total will be six, seven, eight or nine
  • determine the current line of the hexagram from this number: 6 = old yin, 7 = young yang, 8 = young yin, 9 = old yang.
• once six lines have been determined, the hexagram is formed

• 3 tails = old yin
• 2 tails = young yang
• 1 tail = young yin
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