Bagua (concept)

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Bagua (Chinese: 八卦; pinyin: bā guà; Wade-Giles: pa kua; literally "eight symbols") is conceptually a template or a ruler within the Taoist cosmology to track changes. There are two types of Bagua, firstly the Primordial Bagua (先天八卦) or Fuxi Bagua (伏羲八卦) attributable to Fuxi (2852 BCE) as a tool to track manifestations before changes, and secondly as the Manifested Bagua (後天八卦), which has wider applications including astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, time, the seasons as well as the twenty-four Jieqi (節氣). In Taoism eschatology and in the Chinese creation myth (...四象演八卦), Bagua takes on the connotation of manifestations flourishing in multiple directions.

The octagonal trigram template is a common symbol for the term Bagua.

[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.

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	Summer	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	Autumn	Still	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	Winter	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	Spring	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*	Summer	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	Autumn	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	Winter	Still	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	Spring	Gentle	長女 Eldest Daughter	東南 Southeast	Gentle penetration, flexibility.

Note,* some trigrams are also among the five elements of Wu Xing: Water and Fire. The element of Earth corresponds with both the trigrams of Earth and Mountain. The element of Wood corresponds with the trigrams of Wind (as a gentle but inexorable force that can erode and penetrate stone) and Thunder. The element of Metal corresponds with the trigrams of Sky and Lake.

[edit] Bagua map

A bagua map is a tool used in modern forms of Feng Shui to map a room or location and see how the different sections correspond to different aspects in one's life. These sections are believed to relate to every area or aspect of our lives and are divided into such categories as: fame, relationships/marriage, children/creativity, helpful people/travel, career, inner knowledge, family/ancestors/health, and wealth/blessings.

In this system, the map is intended to be used over the land, one's home, office or desk to find areas lacking good chi, and to show where there are negative or missing spaces and what may need rectifying or enhancing in life or the environment.

For example, if the Bagua grid is placed over the entire house plan and it shows the toilet, bathroom, laundry, or kitchen in the wealth/blessings area it would be considered that the money coming into that particular environment would disappear very fast, as if to be 'going down the drain.' Malaysia I Ching Net

[edit] In Popular Culture

The Unicode character set has characters for each of the eight trigrams at codepoints U+2630 to U+2637: ^[1] ☰☱☲☳☴☵☶☷

In the cartoon Jackie Chan Adventures, the trigrams are each written on a face of the Pan Ku Box, though Lake is reassigned to mean Moon.

The creators of the television series Lost incorporated the bagua symbol into the logos for the DHARMA Initiative stations found around the island.

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.

In the anime Cowboy Bebop, episode titled Boogie Woogie Feng Shui, the device that Maefa uses with the Sunstone contains trigrams from the Bagua, shaped in a Octagon that has a gyroscopic outer and inner ring. The device was used as a MacGuffin of sorts to get Maefa and Jet Black out of trouble. This would be in contrast to the Sunstone, which functions more as a Plot coupon: it not only powered the device, but was destroyed with a single shot from Spike's Swordfish II and opened a rift in hyperspace to provide a resolution to the story.

In the anime/manga Outlaw Star, there is a form of energy called Tao Magic which is employed extensively by the Kei Pirates. There is a somewhat obscure bagua reference near the end of the series when the Kei Pirate Hazanko constructs a method to force the Galactic Leyline open. When the method is completed, a giant bagua-like shape appears in space with the Leyline as the center just before the way inside is opened.

In the Nickelodeon television show Avatar: The Last Airbender, air bending is based on baguazhang (sometimes called "Bagua" for short). The forms used in the show for airbending are similar or identical to baguazhang techniques. All four bending styles are based on four ancient forms of Chinese martial arts. Firebending is based on Northern Shaolin Kung Fu; Waterbending is based on taijiquan; Earthbending is based on Hung Gar; and Airbending is based on baguazhang.

The 8 Diagrams, an album released by The Wu-Tang Clan in 2007, features an adaptation of the Bagua map on its cover. The title of the album itself is a reference to the eight trigrams that are found around the outside of the map.

[edit] See also

• Feng Shui
• I Ching
• Taiji / Taeguk
• Flag of South Korea: the Taeguk Flag
• Flag of South Vietnam: 3 trigrams, representing "south"
• Baguazhang: a martial art based on principles derived from bagua
• Taijiquan another martial art partially based on bagua

[edit] References

1. ^ http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf

[edit] External links

• Bagua - Animated
• Bagua - Full Diagram
• About the bagua
• Kheper.net on the trigrams
• Chart with trigrams & bagua
• Bagua diagram
• Bagua images from Google
• The two kinds of Bagua (Chinese)
• Early And Later Heaven Arrangements
• Malaysia I Ching Net