Bagua

For other uses, seeBagua (disambiguation).

Thebagua(Chinese:Bát quái;pinyin:bāguà;lit.'eight trigrams') is a set of symbols fromChinaintended to illustrate the nature of reality as being composed of mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another.Baguais a group of trigrams—composed of three lines, each either "broken" or "unbroken", which representyin and yang,respectively.Each line having two possible states allows for a total of 2³= 8 trigrams, whose early enumeration and characterization in China has had an effect on the history ofChinese philosophyandcosmology.

Baguadiagram explanation from Zhao Huiqian'sLục thư bổn nghĩa;Liùshū běnyì,1370s

Bagua
Chinese name
Chinese	Bát quái
Literal meaning	Eight trigrams
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bāguà Wade–Giles Pa1kua4 Hakka Romanization Pat-koa Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization baat gwa Jyutping baat3 gwaa3 Middle Chinese Middle Chinese peat kweaH
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	Bát quái
Chữ Hán	Bát quái
Korean name
Hangul	팔괘
Hanja	Bát quái
Japanese name
Kanji	Bát quái
Hiragana	はっけ
Transcriptions Romanization Hakke

The trigrams are related to the divination practice as described within theI Chingand practiced as part of theShang and Zhou state religion,as well as with the concepts oftaijiand thefive elementswithin traditional Chinese metaphysics.The trigrams have correspondences inastronomy,divination,meditation,astrology,geography,geomancy(feng shui),anatomy,decorative arts,the family,martial arts(particularlytai chiandbaguazhang),Chinese medicineand elsewhere.

Thebaguacan appear singly or in combination, and is commonly encountered in two different arrangements: thePrimordial(Tiên thiên bát quái), "Earlier Heaven",or "Fuxi"bagua(Phục hi bát quái) and theManifested(Hậu thiên bát quái), "Later Heaven",or "King Wen"bagua.

In theI Ching,two trigrams are stacked together to create a six-line figure known as ahexagram.There are 64 possible permutations. The 64 hexagrams and their descriptions make up the book. The trigram symbolism can be used to interpret the hexagram figure and text. An example from Hexagram 19 commentary is "The earth above the lake: The image of Approach. Thus the superior man is inexhaustible in his will to teach, and without limits in his tolerance and protection of the people."The trigrams have been used to organizeYijingcharts as seen below.

Trigrams

There are eight possible combinations to render the various trigrams:

	Trigram figure	Possible binary value	Possible decimal sequential number	Name	Translation:Wilhelm	Image in nature(pp.l-li)	Phase	Later Heaven's Direction(p. 269)	Later Heaven's Equinox or Solstice	Earlier Heaven's Direction	Earlier Heaven's Equinox or Solstice	Family relationship(p. 274)	Body part(p. 274)	Attribute(p. 273)	Stage/ state(pp.l-li)	Animal(p. 273)	Obtained Images
1	☰	111	7	Càn qián	the Creative,'(natural) force'	heaven, sky Thiên	metal	northwest		south	Summer Solstice	father	head	strong, persisting	creative	Mã horse	Tam liên three lines
2	☱	110	6	Đoái duì	the Joyous,'open (reflection)'	lake, marsh Trạch	metal	west	Fall Equinox	southeast		third daughter	mouth	pleasure	tranquil (complete devotion)	Dương sheep, goat	Thượng khuyết flawed above
3	☲	101	5	Ly lí	the Clinging,'radiance'	fire, glow Hỏa	fire	south	Summer Solstice	east	Spring Equinox	second daughter	eye	light-giving, humane "dependence"	clinging, clarity, adaptable	Trĩ pheasant	Trung hư hollow middle
4	☳	100	4	Chấn zhèn	the Arousing,'shake'	thunder Lôi	wood	east	Spring Equinox	northeast		first son	foot	inciting movement	initiative	Long dragon	Ngưỡng vu face-up jar
5	☴	011	3	Tốn xùn	the Gentle,'ground'	wind, air Phong	wood	southeast		southwest		first daughter	thigh	penetrating	gentle entrance	Kê fowl	Hạ đoạn broken below
6	☵	010	2	Khảm kǎn	the Abysmal,'gorge'	water Thủy	water	north	Winter Solstice	west	Fall Equinox	second son	ear	dangerous	in-motion	Thỉ pig	Trung mãn full middle
7	☶	001	1	Cấn gèn	Keeping Still,bound	mountain Sơn	earth	northeast		northwest		third son	hand	resting, stand-still	completion	Cẩu dog	Phúc oản face-down bowl
8	☷	000	0	Khôn kūn	the Receptive,field	ground, earth Địa	earth	southwest		north	Winter Solstice	mother	belly	devoted, yielding	receptive	Ngưu cow	Lục đoạn six fragments

Alternative conversion of the trigrams tobinary

Relation to other principles

TheBook of Changeslisted two sources for the eight trigrams. Its chapterXì Cí shàng;'The Great Treatise I' explains the first source thus:

Dịch hữu thái cực, thị sinh lưỡng nghi, lưỡng nghi sinh tứ tượng, tứ tượng sinh bát quái.

Yì yǒu tàijí, shì shēng liǎngyí, liǎngyí shēng sìxiàng, sìxiàng shēng bāguà.

Legge's translation:
[I]n (the system of) the Yi there is the Grand Terminus,
which produced the two elementary Forms.
Those two Forms produced the Four emblematic Symbols,
which again produced the eight Trigrams.

Adler's translation:
In Change there is the Supreme Polarity,
which generates the Two Modes (Lưỡng nghi;liangyi).
The Two Modes generate the Four Images (sixiang),
and the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams.

Derivation of the bagua

This explanation would later be modified to:

The Limitless (wuji) produces the delimited, and this is the Absolute (taiji). Thetaijiproduces two forms, named Yin and Yang.(Adler's 2012 translation: "Non-polar and yet Supreme Polarity (Vô cực nhi cực)! The Supreme Polarity in activity generates yangDương;yet at the limit of activity it is still. In stillness it generates yinÂm;yet at the limit of stillness it is also active. Activity and stillness alternate; each is the basis of the other. In distinguishing yin and yang, the Two Modes are thereby established. ")

The two forms producefour phenomenanamed lesser yang, great yang (tai yang also means the Sun), lesser yin, and great yin (tai yin also means the Moon). The four phenomena act on the eight trigrams (ba gua), eight eights are sixty-four hexagrams.

Another chapter,Thuyết quái;Shuō Guà;'Discussing the Trigrams', characterizes theCàn;Qiántrigram, which represents Heaven, andKhôn;Kūn,which represent earth, as father and mother, respectively, of the six other trigrams, who are their three sons (Chấn;Zhèn,Khảm;Kǎn,Cấn;Gèn) and three daughters (Tốn;Xùn,Ly;Lí,Đoái;Duì).

The trigrams are related to the five elements of Wu Xing, which are used byfeng shuipractitioners and intraditional Chinese medicine.The elements are Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. The Water and Fire trigrams correspond directly with the Water and Fire elements. The element of Earth corresponds with the trigrams of Earth and Mountain. The element of Wood corresponds with the trigrams of Wind (as a force that can erode and penetrate stone) and Thunder. The element of Metal corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven and Lake.

Hexagram lookup table

Upper Lower	☰	☱	☲	☳	☴	☵	☶	☷
	Càn(qián)	Đoái(duì)	Ly(lí)	Chấn(zhèn)	Tốn(xùn)	Khảm(kǎn)	Cấn(gèn)	Khôn(kūn)
	Heaven	Lake	Flame	Thunder	Wind	Water	Mountain	Earth
☰	1	43	14	34	9	5	26	11
	䷀	䷪	䷍	䷡	䷈	䷄	䷙	䷊
Càn(qián)	Càn(qián)	Quái(guài)	Đại hữu(dàyǒu)	Đại tráng(dàzhuàng)	Tiểu súc(xiǎoxù)	Nhu(xū)	Đại súc(dàchù)	Thái(tài)
Heaven	Force	Displacement	Great Possessing	Great Invigorating	Small Harvest	Attending	Great Accumulating	Pervading
☱	10	58	38	54	61	60	41	19
	䷉	䷹	䷥	䷵	䷼	䷻	䷨	䷒
Đoái(duì)	Lí(lǚ)	Đoái(duì)	Khuê(kuí)	Quy muội(guīmèi)	Trung phu(zhōngfú)	Tiết(jié)	Tổn(sǔn)	Lâm(lín)
Lake	Treading	Open	Polarising	Converting the Maiden	Inner Truth	Articulating	Diminishing	Nearing
☲	13	49	30	55	37	63	22	36
	䷌	䷰	䷝	䷶	䷤	䷾	䷕	䷣
Ly(lí)	Đồng nhân(tóngrén)	Cách(gé)	Ly(lí)	Phong(fēng)	Gia nhân(jiārén)	Kí tế(jìjì)	Bí(bì)	Minh di(míngyí)
Flame	Concording People	Skinning	Radiance	Abounding	Dwelling People	Already Fording	Adorning	Intelligence Hidden
☳	25	17	21	51	42	3	27	24
	䷘	䷐	䷔	䷲	䷩	䷂	䷚	䷗
Chấn(zhèn)	Vô vọng(wúwàng)	Tùy(suí)	Phệ hạp(shìhé)	Chấn(zhèn)	Ích(yì)	Truân(tún)	Di(yí)	Phục(fù)
Thunder	Innocence	Following	Gnawing Bite	Shake	Augmenting	Sprouting	Swallowing	Returning
☴	44	28	50	32	57	48	18	46
	䷫	䷛	䷱	䷟	䷸	䷯	䷑	䷭
Tốn(xùn)	Cấu(gòu)	Đại quá(dàguò)	Đỉnh(dǐng)	Hằng(héng)	Tốn(xùn)	Tỉnh(jǐng)	Cổ(gǔ)	Thăng(shēng)
Wind	Coupling	Great Exceeding	Holding	Persevering	Ground	Welling	Correcting	Ascending
☵	6	47	64	40	59	29	4	7
	䷅	䷮	䷿	䷧	䷺	䷜	䷃	䷆
Khảm(kǎn)	Tụng(sòng)	Khốn(kùn)	Vị tế(wèijì)	Giải(jiě)	Hoán(huàn)	Khảm(kǎn)	Mông(méng)	Sư(shī)
Water	Arguing	Confining	Before Completion	Deliverance	Dispersing	Gorge	Enveloping	Leading
☶	33	31	56	62	53	39	52	15
	䷠	䷞	䷷	䷽	䷴	䷦	䷳	䷎
Cấn(gèn)	Độn(dùn)	Hàm(xián)	Lữ(lǚ)	Tiểu quá(xiǎoguò)	Tiệm(jiàn)	Kiển(jiǎn)	Cấn(gèn)	Khiêm(qiān)
Mountain	Retiring	Conjoining	Sojourning	Small Exceeding	Infiltrating	Limping	Bound	Humbling
☷	12	45	35	16	20	8	23	2
	䷋	䷬	䷢	䷏	䷓	䷇	䷖	䷁
Khôn(kūn)	Phủ(pǐ)	Tụy(cuì)	Tấn(jìn)	Dự(yù)	Quan(guàn)	Bỉ(bǐ)	Bác(bāo)	Khôn(kūn)
Earth	Obstruction	Clustering	Prospering	Providing-For	Viewing	Grouping	Stripping	Field

Fuxi's "Earlier Heaven"

Fuxi's "Earlier Heaven"baguaarrangement

Name Quái danh	Nature Tự nhiên	Season Quý tiết	Personality Tính tình	Family Gia tộc	Direction Phương vị	Meaning Ý nghĩa
Càn Qián	Thiên Sky,Heaven	Summer	Creative	Phụ Father	NamSouth	KiệnExpansive energy, the sky. For further information, seetiān.
Tốn Xùn	PhongWind	Summer	Gentle	Trường nữ Eldest Daughter	Tây nam  Southwest	NhậpGentle penetration, flexibility.
Khảm Kǎn	Thủy Water	Autumn	Abysmal	Trung nam Middle Son	Tây West	HãmDanger, rapid rivers, the abyss, the moon.
Cấn Gèn	Sơn Mountain	Autumn	Still	Thiếu nam Youngest Son	Tây bắc Northwest	ChỉStillness, immovability.
Khôn Kūn	Địa Earth	Winter	Receptive	Mẫu Mother	Bắc North	ThuậnReceptive energy, that which yields. For further information, seedì.
Chấn Zhèn	Lôi Thunder	Winter	Arousing	Trường nam Eldest Son	Đông bắc Northeast	ĐộngExcitation, revolution, division.
Ly Lí	Hỏa Fire	Spring	Clinging	Trung nữ Middle Daughter	Đông East	LệRapid movement, radiance, the sun.
Đoái Duì	Trạch Lake	Spring	Joyous	Thiếu nữ  Youngest Daughter	Đông nam Southeast	DuyệtJoy, satisfaction, stagnation.

King Wen's "Later Heaven"

King Wen "Later Heaven" bagua arrangement

Name Quái danh	Nature Tự nhiên	Season Quý tiết	Personality Tính tình	Family Gia tộc	Direction Phương vị	Meaning Ý nghĩa
LyLi	Hỏa Fire	Summer	Clinging	Trung nữ Middle Daughter	Nam South	LệPulsing motion, radiance, the luminaries.
Khôn Kun	Địa Earth	Summer	Receptive	Mẫu Mother	Tây nam Southwest	ThuậnReceptive energy, that which yields.
Đoái Dui	Trạch Lake	Autumn	Joyous	Thiếu nữ  Youngest Daughter	Tây  West	DuyệtJoy, satisfaction, stagnation.
Càn Qian	Thiên Heaven	Autumn	Creative	Phụ Father	Tây bắcNorthwest	KiệnExpansive energy, the sky.
Khảm Kan	Thủy Water	Winter	Abysmal	Trung nam Middle Son	Bắc North	HãmDanger, rapid rivers, the abyss, the moon.
Cấn Gen	Sơn Mountain	Winter	Still	Thiếu nam Youngest Son	Đông bắc  Northeast	ChỉStillness, immovability.
Chấn Zhen	Lôi Thunder	Spring	Arousing	Trường nam Eldest Son	Đông East	ĐộngExcitation, revolution, division.
Tốn Xun	Phong Wind	Spring	Gentle	Trường nữ Eldest Daughter	Đông nam Southeast	NhậpGentle penetration, flexibility.

In feng shui

Thebaguais a tool in the majority of feng shui schools. Thebaguaused in feng shui can appear in two different versions: theEarlier Heaven bagua,used for burial sites, and theLater Heaven bagua,used for residences.

Primordialbagua

Primordialbaguais also known asFuxibaguaor Earlier Heavenbagua.Named after the mythological first emperor of China. In thePreface of Shang Shuby Kong Anguo, he writes that "In ancient times, Fu Xi ruled the whole world. It was he who began to draw Eight Trigrams and to create Scripts in order to substitute the system of tying knots."In traditional Chinese medicine, this sequence is known as the prenatal sequence and is used to understand familial risk for illness or disease, similar to western medicine's understanding of formative medicine and the study of genetics. The Heaven trigram is at the top, the Earth trigram is at the bottom (the South was located at the top in Chinese maps of this period) of thebagua.The Fire trigram is located on the left, while the Water trigram is on the right. Thunder and wind form another pair, being the opposites of each other; the first is on the bottom left next to fire, while the second is next to Heaven on the top right of thebagua.Mountain and Lake form the last pair, with one opposite to the other. The adjustment of the trigrams is symmetrical by forming exact contrary pairs. They symbolize the opposite forces of Yin and Yang and represent a state in which everything is in balance.

Later Heavenbagua

The sequence of trigrams in the Later Heavenbaguais attributed to King Wen. It is also known as the postnatalbaguaarrangement in traditional Chinese medicine; it is used to understand physical, emotional and environmental patterns that influence health or disease, similarly to western medicine's inquiry into functional medical science.In this arrangement, Water is placed downwards and Fire at the top; Thunder is in the East, while Lake is in the West. Contrary to the Earlier Heavenbagua,the Later Heavenbaguais dynamic;energies and the aspects of each of its trigrams flow towards the following. It is the sequence used by the Luo Pan compass, which is used in feng shui and referred to as the manifest pattern; it analyzes the movement of theqithat practitioners believe affect them.

Westernbagua

The popularity of feng shui increased in the West because of thebaguaof the eight aspirations. Each trigram corresponds to an aspect of life that also corresponds to one of the cardinal directions. Applying feng shui using thebaguaof the eight aspirations (orbaguamap for short) made it possible to simplify feng shui and to use it for the general public. Westernbaguafocuses more heavily on intention than the traditional forms of feng shui.

Experienced practicers of traditional feng shui disregard Westernbaguafor its simplicity, since it does not take into account the forms of the landscape, time, or the annual cycles. Thebaguaof the eight aspirations is divided into two branches: the first, which uses the compass and cardinal directions, and the second, which uses thebaguaby using the main door.

Baguamap

Abaguamap is a tool used in Western forms of feng shui to map a room or location and see how the different sections correspond to different aspects in one's life. These sections are believed to relate to every area or aspect of life and are divided into categories such as fame, relationships/marriage, children/creativity, helpful people/travel, career, inner knowledge, family/ancestors/health, and wealth/blessings.

In this system, the map is intended to be used over the land, one's home,officeor desk to find areas lacking goodchi,and to show where there are spaces that may need rectifying or enhancing in life or the environment.

For example, if thebaguagrid is placed over an entire house plan and it shows the toilet, bathroom, laundry, or kitchen in the wealth/blessings area of the map, it would be said that the money coming into that particular environment would disappear very fast.

ATibetan"Mystic Tablet" containing the Eight Trigrams on top of a large tortoise (presumably, alluding to theanimalthat presented them toFuxi), along with the 12 signs ofChinese zodiac,and a smaller tortoise carrying theLo Shu Squareon its shell

In Unicode

Thebaguasymbols in theMiscellaneous Symbolsblock of Unicode include the following:

Miscellaneous Symbols Unicode block

Official Name	Glyph	Unicode #	HTML	Element
Trigram for Heaven	☰	U+2630	☰	Metal
Trigram for Lake	☱	U+2631	☱
Trigram for Fire	☲	U+2632	☲	Fire
Trigram for Thunder	☳	U+2633	☳	Wood
Trigram for Wind	☴	U+2634	☴
Trigram for Water	☵	U+2635	☵	Water
Trigram for Mountain	☶	U+2636	☶	Earth
Trigram for Earth	☷	U+2637	☷

The Miscellaneous Symbols block also encodes the constituents⚊(yang—U+268A; &#9866) and⚋(yin—U+268B; &#9867), as well as the digrams⚌(greater yang—U+268C; &#9868),⚍(lesser yin—U+268D; &#9869),⚎(lesser yang—U+268E; &#9870), and⚏(greater yin—U+268F; &#9871).

Thehexagramsthey form are separately encoded in theYijingHexagram SymbolsUnicode blockU4DC0..U4DFF.

Symbolism

In traditional Chinese medicine, including the profession ofacupuncture,the Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven arrangements are used to understand the pathogenesis of disease or illness and to select treatment plans specifically related and tailored to a patient's constitution.

TheFlag of South Koreahas the four cardinal trigrams (qian,kun,kan,li) surrounding thetaegeuk,ortaijitu.These are specific representations of the movement and harmony of yin and yang. These trigrams were also depicted on the commissioning pennant of theSouth Korean Navy.

Culture references

InPeking opera,a role with Daoist techniques or military strategy wears a costume decorated withtaijiandbagua.

Baguazhangandtai chiare two Chinese martial arts based on principles derived frombagua.

Tekes CountyandZhuge Villagehas a layout based onbagua.

The 2004 Philippine horror filmFeng Shuiand its 2014 sequel,Feng Shui 2,revolve around a cursedbaguamirror that kills those who stare into it.

See also

• Tian ganandDi zhi:the archaic calendar system of East Asia.
• Ba Xian,Eight Taoist Immortals
• Ba Mai
• Ba Duan Jin
• Chinese ritual mastery traditions
• Chinese spiritual world concepts
• Fuji (planchette writing)
• Fulu
• Octal