The bagua (Chinese: 八卦; literally: "eight symbols") are eight trigrams used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either "broken" or "unbroken," representing yin or yang, respectively. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to as "trigrams" in English.
The trigrams are related to taiji philosophy, taijiquan and the wu xing, or "five elements". The relationships between the trigrams are represented in two arrangements, thePrimordial (先天八卦), "Earlier Heaven" or "Fuxi" bagua (伏羲八卦), and the Manifested (後天八卦), "Later Heaven," or "King Wen" bagua. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, the family, and elsewhere.
This teory is central to the Baguazhang Style, as well as key to the Taijiquan.
The ancient Chinese classic I Ching (Pinyin:Yi Jing) consists of the 64 possible pairs of trigrams (called "hexagrams") and commentary on them.
The Eight Trigrams[]
乾 Qián ☰ |
兌 Duì ☱ |
離 Lí ☲ |
震 Zhèn ☳ |
巽 Xùn ☴ |
坎 Kǎn ☵ |
艮 Gèn ☶ |
坤 Kūn ☷ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heaven/Sky | Lake/Marsh | Fire | Thunder | Wind | Water | Mountain | Earth |
天 Tiān | 澤(泽) Zé | 火 Huǒ | 雷 Léi | 風(风) Fēng | 水 Shuǐ | 山 Shān | 地 Dì |
There are two possible sources of bagua. The first is from traditional Yin and Yang philosophy. The interrelationships of this philosophy has been attributed to 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 yin, great yin (taiyin also means the Moon), lesser yang, great yang (taiyang also means the Sun). The four phenomena act on the eight trigrams (bagua), eight eights are sixty-four hexagrams. Another philosophical description of the source is the following, attributed to King Wen of 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".
The trigrams are related to the five elements of wu xing, used by feng shui practitioners and in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Those five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The Water (Kan) and Fire (Li) trigrams correspond directly with the Water and Fire elements. The element of Earth corresponds with both the trigrams of Earth (Kun) and Mountain (Gen). The element of Wood corresponds with the trigrams of Wind (Xun) (as a gentle but inexorable force that can erode and penetrate stone) and Thunder (Zhen). The element of Metal corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven (Qian) and Lake (Dui).
There are eight possible trigrams (八卦 bāguà):
Trigram Figure | Binary Value | Name | Translation: Wilhelm | Image in Nature (pp.l-li) | Direction (p. 269) | Family Relationship (p. 274) | Body Part (p. 274) | Attribute (p. 273) | Stage/ State (pp.l-li) | Animal (p. 273) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ☰ | 111 | 乾 qián |
the Creative, Force | heaven, sky 天 |
northwest | father | head | strong | creative | 馬 horse |
2 | ☱ | 110 | 兌 duì |
the Joyous, Open | lake 澤 |
west | third daughter | mouth | pleasure | tranquil (complete devotion) | 羊 sheep, goat |
3 | ☲ | 101 | 離 lí |
the Clinging, Radiance | fire 火 |
south | second daughter | eye | light-giving, dependence | clinging, clarity, adaptable | 雉 pheasant |
4 | ☳ | 100 | 震 zhèn |
the Arousing, Shake | thunder 雷 |
east | first son | foot | inciting movement | initiative | 龍 dragon |
5 | ☴ | 011 | 巽 xùn |
the Gentle, Ground | wind 風 |
southeast | first daughter | thigh | penetrating | gentle entrance | 雞 fowl |
6 | ☵ | 010 | 坎 kǎn |
the Abysmal, Gorge | water 水 |
north | second son | ear | dangerous | in-motion | 豕 pig |
7 | ☶ | 001 | 艮 gèn |
Keeping Still, Bound | mountain 山 |
northeast | third son | hand | resting, stand-still | completion | 狗 wolf, dog |
8 | ☷ | 000 | 坤 kūn |
the Receptive, Field | earth 地 |
southwest | mother | belly | devoted, yielding | receptive | 牛 cow |
Martial Equivalents[]
Trigram Symbol | Name | Eastern Cosmos | Five Elements | T'ai Chi Ch'uan | Ba Gua Zhang | Xingyi Quan |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
乾 Qián/Chien |
Heaven South Summer White Tiger West Lungs Taste |
Metal |
"P'eng" (Ward Off) Step Forward |
Upward Palm (Yang Zhang) Lion Form |
"Pi Quan" (Splitting Fist) Metal Element Forward Step | |
巽 Xùn/Sun |
Wind East Blue Dragon Liver Sight |
Wood |
"Cai" (Pulling) Move Back |
Chopping Palm (Pi Zhang) Phoenix Form |
"Beng Quan" (Crushing Fist) Wood Element Forward Half-Step | |
坎 Kǎn |
Water West Autumn Black Tortoise Kidney Touch |
Water |
"Ji" (Press) Face Left |
Picking Palm (Tiao Zhang) Snake Form |
"Zuan Quan" (Drilling Fist) Water Element Forward Step | |
艮 Gèn/Ken |
Mountain Earth Center Yellow Dragon Spleen Smell |
Earth |
"Kao" (Shoulder) |
Scooping Palm (Liao Zhang) Bear Form |
"Heng Quan" (Crossing Fist) Earth Element Circular Zig-zag Step | |
坤 Kūn/K'un |
Earth North Winter Center Yellow Dragon Spleen Smell |
Earth |
"Lu" (Roll Back) Centered |
Screwing Palm (Luo Xuan Zhang) Unicorn Form |
"Heng Quan" (Crossing Fist) Earth Element Circular Zig-zag Step | |
震 Zhèn/Chen |
Thunder East Blue Dragon Liver Sight |
Wood |
"Lieh" (Splitting) Move Back |
Embracing Palm (Bao Zhang) Dragon Form |
"Beng Quan" (Crushing Fist) Wood Element Forward Half-Step | |
離 Lí |
Fire East Spring South Red Phoenix Hearth Sound |
Fire |
"An" (Push) Look Right |
Upright Palm (Shu Zhang) Hawk Form |
"Pao Quan" (Exploding Fist) Fire Element Zig-zag Step | |
兌 Duì/Tui |
Lake Valley Marsh White Tiger West Lungs Taste |
Metal |
"Shou" (Elbow Strike) Step Forward |
Downward Palm (Fu Zhang) Monkey Form |
"Pi Quan" (Splitting Fist) Metal Element Forward Step |
This Image represents the relation between the Traditional Pre-Heaven Bagua (Inverted) and Taichi : Each Gate and Step corelates to a Trigram, while each Element has an specific correlation with the Trigrams as well.
This Image represents the relation between the Traditional Pre-Heaven Bagua and Baguazhang/Pa kua chang: Each Form corelates to a Trigram.