Birth of Trigrams through Yin and Yang (+ -)

Living organisms reproduction and Feng Shui birth of Trigrams

Living organisms reproduce using cell division. In Feng Shui a similar process occurs in the creation of the bagua or eight trigrams, trigram literally means “a figure composed of three solid or interrupted parallel lines”. Legend has it that Fu Xi uncovered the trigrams after discovering the formula for the Luo Shu on the back of a turtle as it emerged from the Luo River, he uncovered the eight trigrams which form the basis for the philosophy in the Book of Changes (I Ching) and is widely used by Feng Shui masters.

In the Yin Yang (Taijitu) symbol below, YIN represents the female, negative, darkness, softness, moisture, night-time, even numbers and docile aspects of things. YANG represents the male, positive, brightness, hardness, dryness, day-time. odd numbers and dominant aspects. YIN and YANG are continually in the state of flux and always looking for Balance, Yin contains a little Yang and Yang contains a little Yin.

This is the traditional image of feng shui above also called the Yin & Yang(Ying and Yang) or Tai Ji. The white area is Yang (male) side and the black area is the Yin or Ying (female) side. There is always a little Yin in Yang and a little Yang in Yin. How do we get from the traditional image above to the bagua which means eight symbols or trigrams. We begin by separating the symbol into two main components Yin and Yang

Each component is divided/split creating 2 Yin(female) and 2 Yang(male) components

Starting on the left side we add the sequence Yin(female) and Yang(male)

The resulting in 4 bigrams as below.

Each bigram is divided/split resulting in duplicates of the original four.

Starting on the left again we add the sequence Yin(female) and Yang (male)

8 completed trigrams below.

8 completed trigrams below including their names.

A Trigram consists of three straight lines which either refer to yin or yang as they are broken or solid lines. Together the eight trigrams represent the trinity of man, heaven and earth. Trigrams are always read from the bottom up.

• The top line in the trigram is the domain of heaven or yin and yang

• The middle line represents heaven and creation, the coming together to create the four seasons and the cardinal points of the compass.

• The bottom line represents earth.

Based on the Tai Chi (Taijitu) symbol, trigrams are a universal symbol of natural balance and formed the foundations of Chinese philosophy, the I Ching and Feng Shui. These ancient symbols, first discovered by Fu Xi in 3300 BCE, contain great wisdom and incredibly advanced knowledge.

Individually, they teach us about important phenomena that affect life; collectively, they describe how nature works and show us how to live a naturally balanced life.

The eight trigrams can be arranged in two ways: Early Heaven (前天) or Later Heaven (后天). The Early Heaven is the unconditioned, celestial state, distinguished by oneness and true consciousness, when the Original Spirit is present, and the Later Heaven is the conditioned, human state, distinguished by multiplicty and discriminating concsiousness.

The trigrams Heaven ☰, Earth ☷, Fire ☲, and Water ☵ have multiple meanings. Understanding them is not simply a matter of gathering knowledge about them, but also requires that one sees their operation in oneself.