I Ching
I Ching is a philosophical system which dates back to ancient
Chinese civilization. It is derived from the world’s oldest oracle
known as the Book of Changes. Its collection of texts contains an incredible
mixture of imagery and advice, philosophy and poetry.
I Ching
Categories
Ancient Chinese scholars believed the universe was divided into three
parts. These three parts are part of a cycle that relates to cause and
effect.
- First – Heaven
- Second – Earth
- Third – Humans or any other living things
The Five Elements
The five elements Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth were part of an ancient
philosophical concept used to explain the composition and phenomena of
the physical universe. Human beings are considered a part of the 5 elements
because we exist between the earth and heaven and respond to environmental
changes.
In China the theory of the five elements coexisted with the two forces,
yin and yang.
Yin -
Shady, secret, dark, mysterious, cold
- Yin represents everything dark, hidden, passive, receptive, yielding,
cool, soft, and feminine.
- Yin is represented as a broken line in the I Ching
Yang - Clear, bright, the sun, heat
- Yang represents everything that is bright, active, aggressive, controlling
and masculine.
- It is represented by an unbroken line in the I Ching.
The I Ching is divided into 64 chapters that represent 64 hexagrams.
These hexagrams are made up of piles of 6 broken (yin) or unbroken lines
(yang).
I Ching History
Chinese legend states that China’s first emperor named Fu Hsi
found the eight trigrams on the shell of a tortoise. From these eight
"trigrams," he came upon a stack of three lines, each of which
relates to Earth, Humans, and Heaven.
These sixty-four line figures were known as the Kua. After some refinement
from King Wen and his sons the I Ching was refined and considered complete
around 1109 BC.
During the Shang Dynasty (1523-1028 BC), tourtise shells were used to
answer questions with a yes or no. The shells were heated and then placed
into water where they would either crack into a few broken lines which
meant no, or an unbroken crack which answered yes.
Consulting the I Ching
When you consult the I Ching, your answer comes in the form of a
hexagram, which you build up line by line. A couple of coins are tossed
and a line is drawn from the results. The hexagram’s particular
texts are examined for meaning and breakings or merging of the lines
Taoism
The Yin Yang figure is the most common graphic representation of
Taoist theology. Its original source came from the ancient I Ching. Taoism
uses these forces as a way to look at the world with some enlightenment.
Taoism is somewhere in between being a philosophy and a religion. It is
a way of living in harmony with ‘the way of the universe’
(known as Tao).
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