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).