I Ching - The Trigrams.

A trigram is made up of three individual lines.

Each line possesses the properties of either Yin (represented by a broken line) or Yang (an unbroken line). Furthermore, every line has the potential to change in character from one into the other.

The eight possible three-line trigrams are the foundations of the I Ching - each of its six-line hexagrams being formed through the coexistence within it of two trigrams, making a total of 64 possible combinations.

The nature of a trigram's composition determines its character, as identified through its meanings, associations and state of change.

These are some of the more fundamental relationships, taken from Richard Wilhelm's introduction. Here I've linked each trigram to the hexagram in which it is found doubled...

  Name Associations & Meanings
Ch'ien Ch'ien / Creative Strong Heaven Father
Chen Chên / Arousing Arousing Thunder Eldest son
K'an K'an / Abysmal Dangerous Water Middle son
Ken Kên / Keeping Still Resting Mountain Youngest son
K'un K'un / Receptive Yielding Earth Mother
Sun Sun / Gentle Penetrating Wind Eldest daughter
Li Li / Clinging Light-giving Fire Middle daughter
Tui Tui / Joyous Joyful Lake Youngest daughter

Beyond these lies a world of further associations. They range from the archetypal examples above - which feature strongly in the I Ching itself - to the finest differentiations of everyday things, as favoured by astrologers and fortune tellers.

further reading...

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