Ba Gua ( Eight Trigrams ) Branch
Feng Shui ToolsThe main tools used in Feng Shui analysis are the Compass and the Bagua ( 8 Trigrams ). Bagua is an octagonal grid incorporating the symbols ( Trigrams ) of the I Ching, the ancient oracle on which Feng Shui is based. A Feng Shui analysis of one's home or office will help one to identify key sectors, directions, and factors crucial to one's well-being and wellness.
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Ba Gua ( Eight Trigrams )Ba Gua is a set of eight symbolic signs or trigrams, and each of the eight trigrams holds special meaning.
Trigrams are unique combination of the Yin and Yang. A trigram consists of three lines on top of one another, each line being either a whole line ( Yang ) or a broken line ( Yin ). |
Sage Fu Hsi invented the trigrams more than 4000 years ago, and the Former Heaven Bagua comprising 8 combinations of the Yin and Yang lines ( 8 Trigrams ).
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King Wen ( the first ruler of the Chou dynasty, 1150BC ) went on to combine each of the eight Trigrams with each of the others to form 64 hexagrams, and the classic I’Ching. Each of these Hexagrams has a textual interpretation, and symbolizes all the things and phenomena in nature and life. The ancient Chinese believes all changes can be predicted from these 64 hexagrams. King Wen derived the Later Heaven Bagua from these 64 Hexagrams using complex and metaphoric formulas.
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Layout of Ba GuaThe chinese character of Gua comprises two parts. The left part refers to a mud pillar used to observe the shadow of the sun, and right part meaning measurement. Thus, Ba Gua is meant to observe the sun shadow from every quarter in order to know the seasons, and guide the agricultural production. In I Ching, the meaning of Gua was extended to the phenomena in the universe.
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There are two basic layouts of the Ba Gua. The Early Heaven or Fu Xi Ba Gua was created by Fu Xi, at the same time with I Ching, while the King Wen Ba Gua was arranged by King Wen, the first king of the Zhou Dynasty who toppled the Shang Dynasty. Qian Gua is the first trigram in Fuxi Ba Gua, instead of Dui Gua which is used in King Wen Ba Gua. The other seven Guas changed their places accordingly.
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Symbols of the Eight Trigrams
(Each trigram has more symbols than those listed below)
Trigram Nature Feature Body Animal Yin Yang Wu Xing
Qian Heaven Bouncing Head Horse Yang Metal
Dui Marsh Pleasing Mouth Goat Yin Metal
Li Fire Clinging Eye Pheasant Yang Fire
Zhen Thunder Arousing Foot Dragon Yin Wood
Xun Wind Pneumatic Thigh Rooster Yang Wood
Kan Water Sinking Ear Cattle Yin Water
Gen Mountain Still Hand Dog Yang Earth
Kun Earth Receptive Belly Bull Yin Earth
Qian Heaven Bouncing Head Horse Yang Metal
Dui Marsh Pleasing Mouth Goat Yin Metal
Li Fire Clinging Eye Pheasant Yang Fire
Zhen Thunder Arousing Foot Dragon Yin Wood
Xun Wind Pneumatic Thigh Rooster Yang Wood
Kan Water Sinking Ear Cattle Yin Water
Gen Mountain Still Hand Dog Yang Earth
Kun Earth Receptive Belly Bull Yin Earth
Please read I-Ching for more information on trigrams.
Feng Shui ToolEach trigram corresponds to an aspect of life and cardinal direction. Therefore, the Ba Gua or Hexagram is also a tool in Feng Shui used to audit a room or location. The explanation on each trigram is complicated. It is undoubtedly the classic of ancient cosmic principles.
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Former and Later Heaven BaguaFormer Heaven Bagua is representation of ideal Heavenly order, and is used mainly in Yin Feng Shui. It represents the ideal situations in which the 4 seasons will occur, while Later Heaven Bagua takes into account the less perfect circles of seasons, and earth's rot and decay over time.
Later Heaven Bagua was devised by King Wen, and is more appropriate for Feng Shui audit of houses and gardens. |
Generally, most of the Feng Shui theories and principles are based on the Later Heaven Bagua where the Southeast orientation is associated with the Wood Element.
In more advanced Xuan Kong Flying Star Feng Shui practice, the theories and principles of both the Former Heaven Bagua and Later Heaven Bagua are used. Note that the Element associated with each sector is different under both bases. For instance, the Southeast sector is associated with the Wood Element ( Sun trigram ) under the Later Heaven's whereas it is associated with the Metal Element ( Tui trigram ) under the Earlier Heaven's. |
Former Heaven BaguaIn Former Heaven Bagua, the third line determines the sex of each Trigram, the middle line is the next criterion of relative Yin or Yang, and the first line is the least crucial.
As such ' = ' is major Yang and minor Yin while ' == ' is major Yin and minor Yang. In this way a hierarchy can be built up extending from Chien to Kun. The very Yang trigram ' = ' called Chien corresponds to the Summer Solstice whereas the very Yin trigram, Kun corresponds to the Winter Solstice. |
South is associated with summer while north is associated with winter. The Chinese view the beginning of spring as the beginning of a new year. They also correlated the beginning of the year with the beginning of the day. Since the sun rises in the east, they naturally linked east with the spring.
The sun reaches its peak in the South at all times of the year during noon in China, and as noon is the warmest period of the day just as summer is the warmest period of the year; the Chinese correlated South with Midsummer. The same goes for Autumn, as the sun sets in the west; and both are thus correlated. After sunset, the sun continues its revolution until it is in the north of China at midnight. As midnight is the coldest period of the day just as winter is the coldest period of the year, they are both correlated. |
Later Heaven BaguaThe Later Heaven Bagua is linked to the Former Heaven's as it was devised from it. Both may exist as two different rings together in a Luo Pan, and are used for the detection of Yin-Yang harmony or disharmony at a particular point. In fact, they are prominent in many types of Luo Pan in use nowadays.
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