Structure
The I Ching symbolism is embodied in a set of 64 abstract line arrangements called hexagrams (guà). These are each composed of six stacked horizontal lines (yáo); each line is either Yang (unbroken, a solid line), or Yin (broken, an open line with a gap in the centre). With six such lines stacked from bottom to top in each hexagram, there are 26 or 64 possible combinations and thus 64 hexagrams.
Each hexagram is composed of two three-line arrangements called trigrams (卦 guà). There are 23, hence 8, possible trigrams. The traditional view was that the hexagrams were a later development and resulted from combining trigrams. However, in the earliest relevant archaeological evidence, groups of numerical symbols on many Western Zhou bronzes and a very few Shang oracle bones, such groups already usually appear in sets of six. A few have been found in sets of three numbers, but these are somewhat later. Note also that these numerical sets greatly predate the groups of broken and unbroken lines, leading modern scholars to doubt the mythical early attributions of the hexagram system (see, e.g., Shaugnessy 1993).
Each hexagram represents a state, a process and may represent a change happening. When a hexagram is cast using one of the processes of divination with I Ching, each of the lines may be indicated as moving or fixed. Moving ("old", or "unstable") lines have a polarity in the process of reversal; a full reading will consider the hexagram that would result from the lines changing polarity.
The traditional methods for casting the hexagrams use biased random number generation procedures, so the 64 hexagrams are not equiprobable.
There are a few formal arrangements of the trigrams and hexagrams with a traditional context. The bā gùa is a circular arrangement of the trigrams, traditionally printed on a mirror, or disk. According to legend, Fu Hsi found the bā gùa on the scales of a tortoise's back.
The King Wen sequence is considered the authoritative arrangement of the hexagrams: But when the workings of the River Maps are revealed it is found that the Ho Tu (Yellow River) and Lo Shu (Lo River) work together, and so, the workings of the I Ching are far more ancient than the historical figure of King Wen, going back to Fu Hsi who is a mythical figure of an estimated 3500 BC., or to the mythical Yellow Emperors of 2000 BC (as these older mthical characters are said to have invented the Ho Tu, and in some texts the Lo Shu, or the alternations of the days and nights). The workings of the River Maps are revealed when they are combined with the values of Heaven and Earth that are the 'Original Trigrams' (father and mother) - Heaven has all light or unbroken lines and corresponds to odd numbers 1,3,5,7,9, and Earth has all broken lines and corresponds to even numbers 2,4,6,8,10. The father and mother produce the values of the other 6 Trigrams which are called 'The Children'. When the values of Heaven and Earth are placed into the River Maps the right sequences of the all 8 Trigrams appears. The values of the Trigrams form an 8 x 8 square in each of the directions or elements, so the Ho Tu produces 4 squares that can be symetrical add together as opposite light and dark Hexagrams. The adding together of the values then produces a 5th inner which then corresponds with the Lo Shu. The Lo Shu therefore tell one how the Hexagrams formed in Ho Tu actually work, and thus the workings of the River Maps together with the values of Heaven and Earth allows all the mathematics of I Ching to appear (see Magic Square - of Lo Shu).
Components of hexagrams
The solid line represents yang, the creative principle. The open line represents yin, the receptive principle. These principles are also represented in a common circular symbol, known as taijitu, but more commonly known in the west as the yin-yang diagram, expressing the idea of complementarity of changes: when Yang is at top, Yin is increasing, and the reverse.
In the following lists, the trigrams and hexagrams are represented using a common textual convention, horizontally from left to right, using '|' for yang and ':' for yin. Note, though, that the normal diagrammatic representation is to show the lines stacked vertically, from bottom to top (i.e. to visualize the actual trigrams or hexagrams, rotate the text counterclockwise 90°).
There are eight possible trigrams (baguà):
Trigram__Name_____Nature___Direction
1__|||____Force_____heaven____NW
2__||:____Open_____swamp_____W
3__|:|____Radiance ___fire_______S
4__|::____Shake_____thunder____E
5__:||____Ground____wind______SE
6__:|:____Gorge_____water______N
7__::|____Bound____mountain____NE
8__:::____Field_______earth_____SW
The first three lines of the hexagram, called the lower trigram, are seen as the inner aspect of the change that is occurring. The upper trigram (the last three lines of the hexagram), is the outer aspect. The change described is thus the dynamic of the inner (personal) aspect relating to the outer (external) situation. Thus, hexagram 04 :|:::| Enveloping, is composed of the inner trigram :|: Gorge, relating to the outer trigram ::| Bound.
Chart of trigrams
Upper↓__||| Chien__|:: Chen_:|: Kan__::| Ken___::: Kun___:|| Sun____|:| Li____||: Tui
||| Chien_____ 1_______3______5______26_______11_______9_______14______43
|:: Chen_____25______51______3______27_______24______42_______21______17
:|: Kan______ 6______40______29______4________7______59_______64______47
::| Ken______33______62_____39______52_______15______53_______56______31
::: Kun______12______16______8______23________2______20_______35______45
:|| Sun______44______32_____48______18_______46______57_______50______28
|:| Li _______13______55_____63______22_______36______37_______30______49
||: Tui_______10______54_____60______41_______19______61_______38______58
The hexagrams
The text of the I Ching describes each of the 64 hexagrams, and later scholars added commentaries and analyses of each one; these have been subsumed into the text comprising the I Ching.
Each hexagram's common translation is accompanied by the corresponding R. Wilhelm translation.
01. |||||| Force, The Creative
02. :::::: Field, The Receptive
03. |:::|: Sprouting, Difficulty at the Beginning
04. :|:::| Enveloping, Youthful Folly
05. |||:|: Attending, Waiting
06. :|:||| Arguing, Conflict
07. :|:::: Leading, The Army
08. ::::|: Grouping, Holding Together
09. |||:|| Small Accumulating, Small Taming
10. ||:||| Treading, Treading (Conduct)
11. |||::: Pervading, Peace
12. :::||| Obstruction, Standstill
13. |:|||| Concording People, Fellowship
14. ||||:| Great Possessing, Great Possession
15. ::|::: Humbling, Modesty
16. :::|:: Providing-For, Enthusiasm
17. |::||: Following, Following
18. :||::| Corrupting, Work on the Decayed
19. ||:::: Nearing, Approach
20. ::::|| Viewing, Contemplation
21. |::|:| Gnawing Bite, Biting Through
22. |:|::| Adorning, Grace
23. :::::| Stripping, Splitting Apart
24. |::::: Returning, Return
25. |::||| Without Embroiling, Innocence
26. |||::| Great Accumulating, Great Taming
27. |::::| Swallowing, Mouth Corners
28. :||||: Great Exceeding, Great Preponderance
29. :|::|: Gorge, The Abysmal Water
30. |:||:| Radiance, The Clinging
31. ::|||: Conjoining, Influence
32. :|||:: Persevering, Duration
33. ::|||| Retiring, Retreat
34. ||||:: Great Invigorating, Great Power
35. :::|:| Prospering, Progress
36. |:|::: Brightness Hiding, Darkening of the Light
37. |:|:||Dwelling People, The Family
38. ||:|:| Polarising, Opposition
39. ::|:|: Limping, Obstruction
40. :|:|:: Taking-Apart, Deliverance
41. ||:::| Diminishing, Decrease
42. |:::|| Augmenting, Increase
43. |||||: Parting, Breakthrough
44. :||||| Coupling, Coming to Meet
45. :::||: Clustering, Gathering Together
46. :||::: Ascending, Pushing Upward
47. :|:||: Confining, Oppression
48. :||:|: Welling, The Well
49. |:|||: Skinning, Revolution
50. :|||:| Holding, The Cauldron
51. |::|:: Shake, Arousing
52. ::|::| Bound, The Keeping Still
53. ::|:|| Infiltrating, Development
54. ||:|:: Converting The Maiden, The Marrying Maiden
55. |:||:: Abounding, Abundance
56. ::||:| Sojourning, The Wanderer
57. :||:|| Ground, The Gentle
58. ||:||: Open, The Joyous
59. :|::|| Dispersing, Dispersion
60. ||::|: Articulating, Limitation
61. ||::|| Centre Confirming, Inner Truth
62. ::||:: Small Exceeding, Small Preponderance
63. |:|:|: Already Fording, After Completion
64. :|:|:| Not-Yet Fording, Before Completion
