Bagua (concept)
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The bagua (Chinese: 八卦; pinyin: bā guà; Wade-Giles: pa kua; literally "eight symbols") is a fundamental philosophical concept in ancient China. It is generally represented with an octagonal diagram with one trigram on each side. The concept of bagua is applied not only to Chinese Taoist thought and the I Ching, but is also used in other domains of Chinese culture, such as fengshui, martial arts, navigation, and so on.
[edit] Origin
There are two possible sources of bagua:
- The first is from traditional Yin and Yang philosophy. The interrelationships of this philosophy were described by Fuxi in the following way:
無極生有極, 有極是太極,
太極生兩儀, 即陰陽;
兩儀生四象: 即少陰、太陰、少陽、太陽,
四象演八卦， 八八六十四卦
The Limitless (Wuji) produces the delimited, and this is the Absolute (Taiji)
The Taiji produces two forms, named yin and yang
The two forms produce four phenomena, named lesser yang, great yang (taiyang also means the Sun), lesser yin, great yin (taiyin also means the Moon).
The four phenomena act on the eight trigrams (ba gua), eight eights are sixty-four hexagrams.
This has some parallels to Genesis where God starts with a void and separates light from darkness, heaven from earth, land from sea, sun from moon, etc. Gi-ming Shien of the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francicso taught that the logos of ancient greece was the same as the Tao of Lao Tzu. Pangu or Yu Huang or Nüwa could also be considered comparable to Plato's demiurge.
- Another philosophical description of the source is the following, attributed to King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty: "When the world began, there was heaven and earth. Heaven mated with the earth and gave birth to everything in the world. Heaven is Qian-gua, and the Earth is Kun-gua. The remaining six gua are their sons and daughters".
Note that "South" is always found at the top of the Bagua.
[edit] The Eight Trigrams (Pre-King Wen "Earlier Heaven" order)
| 卦名 Name |
自然 Nature |
Season |
性情 Personality |
家族 Family |
方位 Direction |
意義 Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 乾Qian | 天 Heaven | Summer | Creative | 父 Father | 南 South | Expansive energy, the sky. |
| 巽Xun | 風 Wind | Gentle | 長女 Eldest Daughter | 西南 Southwest | Gentle penetration, flexibility. | |
| 坎Kan | 水 Water | Autumn | Abysmal | 中男 Middle Son | 西 West | Danger, rapid rivers, the abyss, the moon. |
| 艮Gen | 山 Mountain | Mountain | 少男 Youngest Son | 西北 Northwest | Stillness, immovability. | |
| 坤Kun | 地 Earth | Winter | Receptive | 母 Mother | 北 North | Receptive energy, that which yields. |
| 震Zhen | 雷 Thunder | Arousing | 長男 Eldest Son | 東北 Northeast | Excitation, revolution, division. | |
| 離Li | 火 Fire | Spring | Clinging | 中女 Middle Daughter | 東 East | Rapid movement, radiance, the sun. |
| 兌Dui | 泽 Lake | Joyous | 少女 Youngest Daughter | 東南 Southeast | Joy, satisfaction, stagnation. |
[edit] The Eight Trigrams (King Wen "Later Heaven" order)
| 卦名 Name |
自然 Nature |
Season |
性情 Personality |
家族 Family |
方位 Direction |
意義 Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 離Li | 火 Fire | Summer | Clinging | 中女 Middle Daughter | 南 South | Rapid movement, radiance, the sun. |
| 坤Kun | 地 Earth | Receptive | 母 Mother | 西南 Southwest | Receptive energy, that which yields. | |
| 兌Dui | 泽 Lake | Autumn | Joyous | 少女 Youngest Daughter | 西 West | Joy, satisfaction, stagnation. |
| 乾Qian | 天 Heaven | Creative | 父 Father | 西北 Northwest | Expansive energy, the sky. | |
| 坎Kan | 水 Water | Winter | Abysmal | 中男 Middle Son | 北 North | Danger, rapid rivers, the abyss, the moon. |
| 艮Gen | 山 Mountain | Mountain | 少男 Youngest Son | 東北 Northeast | Stillness, immovability. | |
| 震Zhen | 雷 Thunder | Spring | Arousing | 長男 Eldest Son | 東 East | Excitation, revolution, division. |
| 巽Xun | 風 Wind | Gentle | 長女 Eldest Daughter | 東南 Southeast | Gentle penetration, flexibility. |
[edit] Bagua map
A bagua map is a tool used to map a room or location and see how the different sections correspond to different aspects in one's life. The map is intended to be used to map one's home or office and find areas lacking good chi, and to demonstrate how those physical areas are reflected in one's life.
[edit] Other meanings
In Taiwan's colloquial Mandarin and Hong Kong's Cantonese slang, bagua, symbol of all changes and transformations, means "gossip" ; ex : 你很八卦 = You're such a gossip ; 八卦新聞 = tabloid news;
[edit] In Popular Culture
The creators of the television series, Lost, incorporated the bagua symbol into the logo for the DHARMA Initiative.
In the anime/manga Naruto, the clan known as the Hyuga clan uses combat based on the Eight Trigrams, with their main attack called the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, involving a series of heavy strikes into pressure points on the opponent's body, or as a means of fast weaker attacks against many opponents.
[edit] See also
- Feng Shui
- I Ching
- Taiji / Taeguk
- Flag of Korea: the Taeguk Flag
- Baguazhang: a martial art based on principles derived from bagua
- Taijiquan another martial art partially based on bagua
