Ba Gua

Ba Gua (Chinese 八卦, bāguà — "the eight trigrams") is a system of eight symbols, each composed of three lines (yao, 爻): solid (Yang, ⚊) and broken (Yin, ⚋).

The foundation of Chinese metaphysics. Ba Gua is the basis of the I Ching (易經, "Book of Changes", #6) and Feng Shui (#22). From the eight trigrams arise all 64 situations of the world.

The Eight Trigrams (Earlier Heaven Order of Fu Xi, 伏羲先天八卦)

• ☰ Qian (乾, qián) — Heaven, father, creativity, northwest
• ☷ Kun (坤, kūn) — Earth, mother, receptivity, southwest
• ☳ Zhen (震, zhèn) — Thunder, eldest son, arousing, east
• ☴ Xun (巽, xùn) — Wind, eldest daughter, penetration, southeast
• ☵ Kan (坎, kǎn) — Water, middle son, the abyss, north
• ☲ Li (離, lí) — Fire, middle daughter, clarity, south
• ☶ Gen (艮, gèn) — Mountain, youngest son, stillness, northeast
• ☱ Dui (兌, duì) — Lake, youngest daughter, joy, west

From Trigrams to Hexagrams

The 64 hexagrams. Combinations of two trigrams form 64 hexagrams (卦, guà) of the I Ching — a complete "alphabet of change" describing every possible situation in the world.

The Two Main Arrangements

• Earlier Heaven (先天, xiāntiān, Fu Xi) — the ideal cosmic order, the symmetry of opposites
• Later Heaven (後天, hòutiān, King Wen) — the manifest world, used in Feng Shui for spatial analysis