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I-ChingThe I Ching (often spelt as I Jing, Yi Ching, Yi King, or Yi Jing) is an ancient Chinese representation of wisdom and philosophy. It is based on a text of the same name supposedly dating back to around 2850 BC, the I Ching or Book of Changes, 'I' meaning 'change' and 'ching' meaning 'book'. The I Ching is reputedly the oldest of Chinese classic texts. The book consists of a series of symbols, rules for manipulating these symbols, and poems. It discusses an ancient system of philosophy and cosmology at the very centre of Chinese beliefs, and was studied by no lesser a person than Confucius. The philosophy of I Ching centres on the ideas of ‘the dynamic balance of opposites’, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change.
Following the universal law of eternal change, these lines are always in motion, moving ever upwards, thus as a new line enters from the bottom it pushes the five lines above it upwards, and as a result displaces the line at the top. This movement is considered to be always in time to the rhythm of the universal heartbeat, constantly mirroring the universe itself. Taken together, the hexagrams and their lines represent every conceivable condition to be found in heaven and on earth with all their states of change. N.B. Hexa within hexagram means six, which refers to the six lines that form that hexagram. Each of these lines can be solid or broken, which means there are 26 (2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2) = 64 possible combinations of lines into hexagrams. In I Ching, each hexagram has its own particular meaning in divination, as do its lines, which represent yin and yang, the basic polarities of Chinese cosmology and philosophy. Return to top of page. |
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The 8 Trigrams of the I ChingThe great Chinese sage Fu Hsi, to whom the I Ching system is attributed, constructed his answers to questions in the form of sixty-four figures, these being six linear lines stacked one above the other, either divided or undivided, called hexagrams or kua. The top (upper) three lines and the bottom (lower) three lines of each hexagram are called trigrams, or bagua ('ba' means 'eight', while 'gua' means 'figures' or 'images'), each representing the fundamental ways in which energy moves, and their interactions creating new layers of meaning in each hexagram.The I Ching hexagrams have their own symbolic meanings, but these stem from the two trigrams of which they consist. A trigram is a combination of three lines that can either be whole or broken in two, which makes a total of eight possible trigrams (2 x 2 x 2). Each trigram represents a basic natural force. The meaning of a hexagram is decided by what two trigrams are paired in it, one above the other.
The 64 Hexagrams / Kua of the I ChingEach of the sixty-four hexagrams can change into one another through the movement of one or more of the six lines that form that hexagram, thus requiring that extra attention be paid to the changing line or lines. The transformation of the changing line to it's opposite results in a supplementary reading to the original hexagram formed. There are 4,096 possible combinations (64 x 64), which is thought to represent every possible condition in heaven and on earth.Additionally, each of the sixty-four hexagrams, with their combined total of 384 lines (64 x 6), represents a specific situation or condition. Each of these situations or conditions contains the six stages of its own evolution:
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Alternative Methods 
Since reaching Western cultures in the 19th century, the I Ching has been used mainly as a form of divination. The most common method is to toss three coins of a kind twice to determine a hexagram. An alternative method is to throw yarrow sticks. The basic meaning of each hexagram is provided above along with the name of that particular hexagram, but there are several sites on the internet which explain how to construct a hexagram and which also provide full meanings to each one, in particular https://www.iching-online.com/hexagrams/
According to Aleister Crowley, in I Ching - Book of Changes, "The I Ching is mathematical and philosophical in form. Its structure is cognate with that of the Qabalah; the actual apparatus is simple, and five minutes is sufficient to obtain a fairly detailed answer to any but the most obscure questions." Incidentally, Crowley used 6 coins or 6 sticks to create his hexagrams. But contrary to Crowley's opinion that the I Ching is straightforward and simple to understand, Carl Gustav Jung, in the foreword to his book I Ching says, "The I Ching does not offer itself with proofs and results; it does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like a part of nature, it waits until it is discovered. It offers neither facts nor power, but for lovers of self-knowledge, of wisdom - if there be such - it seems to be the right book. To one person its spirit appears as clear as day; to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, dark as night. He who is not pleased by it does not have to use it, and he who is against it is not obliged to find it true. Let it go forth into the world for the benefit of those who can discern its meaning."
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The text of the I Ching is a set of predictions represented by 64 abstract line arrangements called hexagrams (kuas). Each hexagram is a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines where each line is either Yang (an unbroken or solid line), or Yin (a broken or open line with a gap in the center). With six such lines stacked from bottom to top there are 2 to the power of 6, or 64 possible combinations, and thus 64 hexagrams.
