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For other uses, see Bagua (disambiguation).

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Bagua diagram explanation from Zhao Huiqian's 六書本義; Liùshū běnyì, 1370s
Bagua
Chinese name
Chinese 八卦
Literal meaning Eight symbols
Transcriptions

Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet Bát quái
Chữ Hán 八卦
Korean name
Hangul 팔괘
Hanja 八卦
Japanese name
Kanji 八卦
Hiragana はっけ
Transcriptions

The bagua (Chinese: 八卦; pinyin: bāguà; lit. 'eight trigrams') is a set of symbols
from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as being composed of
mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another. Bagua is a group of trigrams—
composed of three lines, each either "broken" or "unbroken", which represent yin
and yang, respectively.[1] Each line having two possible states allows for a total
of 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 trigrams, whose early enumeration and characterization in China has
had an effect on the history of Chinese philosophy and cosmology.
The trigrams are related to the divination practice as described within the I Ching
and practiced as part of the Shang and Zhou state religion, as well as with the
concepts of taiji and the five elements within traditional Chinese metaphysics.
[citation needed] The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, divination,
meditation, astrology, geography, geomancy (feng shui), anatomy, decorative arts,
the family, martial arts (particularly tai chi and baguazhang), Chinese medicine
and elsewhere.[2][3]

The bagua can appear singly or in combination, and is commonly encountered in two
different arrangements: the Primordial (先天八卦), "Earlier Heaven",[4] or "Fuxi"
bagua (伏羲八卦) and the Manifested (後天八卦), "Later Heaven",[4] or "King Wen"
bagua.

In the I Ching, two trigrams are stacked together to create a six-line figure known
as a hexagram. There are 64 possible permutations. The 64 hexagrams and their
descriptions make up the book. The trigram symbolism can be used to interpret the
hexagram figure and text. An example from Hexagram 19 commentary is "The earth
above the lake: The image of Approach. Thus the superior man is inexhaustible in
his will to teach, and without limits in his tolerance and protection of the
people."[5] The trigrams have been used to organize Yijing charts as seen below.

Trigrams
There are eight possible combinations to render the various trigrams:

Trigram figure Possible binary value[6] Possible decimal sequential

number[6] Name Translation: Wilhelm[7] Image in nature (pp.l-li) Phase Later
Heaven's Direction (p. 269)[citation needed] Later Heaven's Equinox or
Solstice[citation needed] Earlier Heaven's Direction[citation needed]
Earlier Heaven's Equinox or Solstice[citation needed] Family relationship (p.
274) Body part (p. 274) Attribute (p. 273) Stage/ state (pp.l-li) Animal
(p. 273) Obtained Images[8]
1 ☰ 111 7 乾
qián the Creative, '(natural) force' heaven, sky
天 metal northwest south Summer Solstice father head strong,
persisting creative 馬
horse 三連
three lines
2 ☱ 110 6 兌
duì the Joyous, 'open (reflection)' lake, marsh
澤 metal west Fall Equinox southeast third daughter mouth
pleasure tranquil (complete devotion) 羊
sheep, goat 上缺
flawed above
3 ☲ 101 5 離
lí the Clinging, 'radiance' fire, glow
火 fire south Summer Solstice east Spring Equinox second daughter eye
light-giving, humane "dependence" clinging, clarity, adaptable 雉
pheasant 中虛
hollow middle
4 ☳ 100 4 震
zhèn the Arousing, 'shake' thunder
雷 wood east Spring Equinox northeast first son foot inciting
movement initiative 龍
dragon 仰盂
face-up jar
5 ☴ 011 3 巽
xùn the Gentle, 'ground' wind, air
風 wood southeast southwest first daughter thigh penetrating
gentle entrance 雞
fowl 下斷
broken below
6 ☵ 010 2 坎
kǎn the Abysmal, 'gorge' water
水 water north Winter Solstice west Fall Equinox second son ear
dangerous in-motion 豕
pig 中滿
full middle
7 ☶ 001 1 艮
gèn Keeping Still, bound mountain
山 earth northeast northwest third son hand resting, stand-
still completion 狗
dog 覆碗
face-down bowl
8 ☷ 000 0 坤
kūn the Receptive, field ground, earth
地 earth southwest north Winter Solstice mother belly devoted,
yielding receptive 牛
cow 六斷
six fragments

Alternative conversion of the trigrams to binary[9]

Relation to other principles
The Book of Changes listed two sources for the eight trigrams. The chapter Xì Cí
shàng; 'The Great Treatise I' explains the first source thus:[10][11]

易有太極，
是生兩儀，
兩儀生四象，
四象生八卦。

Yì yǒu tàijí,
shì shēng liǎngyí,
liǎngyí shēng sìxiàng,
sìxiàng shēng bāguà.

Legge's translation:

[I]n (the system of) the Yi there is the Grand Terminus,

which produced the two elementary Forms.
Those two Forms produced the Four emblematic Symbols,
which again produced the eight Trigrams.

Adler's translation

In Change there is the Supreme Polarity,

 which generates the Two Modes (兩儀; liangyi).
The Two Modes generate the Four Images (sixiang),
and the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams.

Derivation of the bagua

This explanation would later be modified to:[citation needed]

The Limitless (wuji) produces the delimited, and this is the Absolute (taiji). The
taiji produces two forms, named Yin and Yang.[a] (Adler's 2012 translation: "Non-
polar and yet Supreme Polarity (無極而極)! The Supreme Polarity in activity
generates yang 陽; yet at the limit of activity it is still. In stillness it
generates yin 陰; yet at the limit of stillness it is also active. Activity and
stillness alternate; each is the basis of the other. In distinguishing yin and
yang, the Two Modes are thereby established.")[12][13]

The two forms produce four phenomena named lesser yang, great yang (tai yang also
means the Sun), lesser yin, and great yin (tai yin also means the Moon). The four
phenomena act on the eight trigrams (ba gua), eight eights are sixty-four
hexagrams.

Another chapter, 說卦; Shuō Guà; 'Discussing the Trigrams', characterizes the 乾;
Qián trigram, which represents Heaven, and 坤; Kūn, which represent earth, as
father and mother, respectively, of the six other trigrams, who are their three
sons (震; Zhèn, 坎; Kǎn, 艮; Gèn) and three daughters (巽; Xùn, 離; Lí, 兌; Duì).[14]

The trigrams are related to the five elements of Wu Xing, which are used by feng
shui practitioners and in traditional Chinese medicine. The elements are Water,
Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. The Water and Fire trigrams correspond directly with
the Water and Fire elements. The element of Earth corresponds with the trigrams of
Earth and Mountain. The element of Wood corresponds with the trigrams of Wind (as a
force that can erode and penetrate stone) and Thunder. The element of Metal
corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven and Lake.[14]

Hexagram lookup table

Upper

Lower
☰ ☱ ☲ ☳ ☴ ☵ ☶ ☷
乾 qián 兌 duì 離 lí 震 zhèn 巽 xùn 坎 kǎn 艮 gèn 坤 kūn
Heaven Lake Flame Thunder Wind Water Mountain Earth
☰ 1 43 14 34 9 5 26 11
䷀ ䷪ ䷍ ䷡ ䷈ ䷄ ䷙ ䷊
乾 qián 乾 qián 夬 guài 大有 dàyǒu 大壯 dàzhuàng小畜 xiǎoxù 需 xū 大畜
dàchù 泰 tài
Heaven Force Displacement Great Possessing Great Invigorating Small
Harvest Attending Great Accumulating Pervading
☱ 10 58 38 54 61 60 41 19
䷉ ䷹ ䷥ ䷵ ䷼ ䷻ ䷨ ䷒
兌 duì 履 lǚ 兌 duì 睽 kuí 歸妹 guīmèi 中孚 zhōngfú 節 jié 損 sǔn 臨 lín
Lake Treading Open Polarising Converting the Maiden Inner Truth Articulating
Diminishing Nearing
☲ 13 49 30 55 37 63 22 36
䷌ ䷰ ䷝ ䷶ ䷤ ䷾ ䷕ ䷣
離 lí 同人 tóngrén 革 gé 離 lí 豐 fēng 家人 jiārén 既濟 jìjì 賁 bì 明夷 míngyí
Flame Concording People Skinning Radiance Abounding Dwelling People
 Already Fording Adorning Intelligence Hidden
☳ 25 17 21 51 42 3 27 24
䷘ ䷐ ䷔ ䷲ ䷩ ䷂ ䷚ ䷗
震 zhèn 無妄 wúwàng 隨 suí 噬嗑 shìhé 震 zhèn 益 yì 屯 tún 頤 yí 復 fù
Thunder Innocence Following Gnawing Bite Shake Augmenting Sprouting
Swallowing Returning
☴ 44 28 50 32 57 48 18 46
䷫ ䷛ ䷱ ䷟ ䷸ ䷯ ䷑ ䷭
巽 xùn 姤 gòu 大過 dàguò 鼎 dǐng 恆 héng 巽 xùn 井 jǐng 蠱 gǔ 升 shēng
Wind Coupling Great Exceeding Holding Persevering Ground Welling
Correcting Ascending
☵ 6 47 64 40 59 29 4 7
䷅ ䷮ ䷿ ䷧ ䷺ ䷜ ䷃ ䷆
坎 kǎn 訟 sòng 困 kùn 未濟 wèijì 解 jiě 渙 huàn 坎 kǎn 蒙 méng 師 shī
Water Arguing Confining Before Completion Deliverance Dispersing Gorge
Enveloping Leading
☶ 33 31 56 62 53 39 52 15
䷠ ䷞ ䷷ ䷽ ䷴ ䷦ ䷳ ䷎
艮 gèn 遯 dùn 咸 xián 旅 lǚ 小過 xiǎoguò 漸 jiàn 蹇 jiǎn 艮 gèn 謙 qiān
Mountain Retiring Conjoining Sojourning Small Exceeding Infiltrating
Limping Bound Humbling
☷ 12 45 35 16 20 8 23 2
䷋ ䷬ ䷢ ䷏ ䷓ ䷇ ䷖ ䷁
坤 kūn 否 pǐ 萃 cuì 晉 jìn 豫 yù 觀 guàn 比 bǐ 剝 bāo 坤 kūn
Earth Obstruction Clustering Prospering Providing-For Viewing Grouping
Stripping Field
Fuxi's "Earlier Heaven"

Fuxi's "Earlier Heaven" bagua arrangement

卦名
Name 自然
Nature 季节
Season 性情
Personality 家族
Family 方位
Direction 意義
Meaning
乾 Qián 天 Sky (Heaven) Summer Creative 父 Father 南 South 健
Expansive energy, the sky. For further information, see tiān.
巽 Xùn 風 Wind Summer Gentle 長女 Eldest Daughter 西南 Southwest
入 Gentle penetration, flexibility.
坎 Kǎn 水 Water Autumn Abysmal 中男 Middle Son 西 West 陷 Danger,
rapid rivers, the abyss, the moon.
艮 Gèn 山 Mountain Autumn Still 少男 Youngest Son 西北 Northwest 止
Stillness, immovability.
坤 Kūn 地 Earth Winter Receptive 母 Mother 北 North 順 Receptive
energy, that which yields. For further information, see dì.
震 Zhèn 雷 Thunder Winter Arousing 長男 Eldest Son 東北 Northeast
動 Excitation, revolution, division.
離 Lí 火 Fire Spring Clinging 中女 Middle Daughter 東 East 麗
Rapid movement, radiance, the sun.
兌 Duì 澤 Lake Spring Joyous 少女 Youngest Daughter 東南 Southeast
悅 Joy, satisfaction, stagnation.
King Wen's "Later Heaven"

King Wen "Later Heaven" bagua arrangement

卦名
Name 自然
Nature 季节
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 麗
Pulsing motion, radiance, the luminaries.
坤 Kun 地 Earth Summer Receptive 母 Mother 西南 Southwest 順 Receptive
energy, that which yields.
兌 Dui 澤 Lake Autumn Joyous 少女 Youngest Daughter 西 West 悅
Joy, satisfaction, stagnation.
乾 Qian 天 Heaven Autumn Creative 父 Father 西北 Northwest 健
Expansive energy, the sky.
坎 Kan 水 Water Winter Abysmal 中男 Middle Son 北 North 陷 Danger,
rapid rivers, the abyss, the moon.
艮 Gen 山 Mountain Winter Still 少男 Youngest Son 東北 Northeast 止
Stillness, immovability.
震 Zhen 雷 Thunder Spring Arousing 長男 Eldest Son 東 East 動
Excitation, revolution, division.
巽 Xun 風 Wind Spring Gentle 長女 Eldest Daughter 東南 Southeast
入 Gentle penetration, flexibility.
In feng shui
The bagua is a tool in the majority of feng shui schools. The bagua used in feng
shui can appear in two different versions: the Earlier Heaven bagua, used for
burial sites, and the Later Heaven bagua, used for residences.

Primordial bagua
Primordial bagua is also known as Fuxi bagua or Earlier Heaven bagua. In
traditional Chinese medicine, this sequence is known as the prenatal sequence and
is used to understand familial risk for illness or disease, similar to western
medicine's understanding of formative medicine and the study of genetics. The
Heaven trigram is at the top, the Earth trigram is at the bottom (the South was
located at the top in Chinese maps of this period) of the bagua. The Fire trigram
is located on the left, while the Water trigram is on the right. Thunder and wind
form another pair, being the opposites of each other; the first is on the bottom
left next to fire, while the second is next to Heaven on the top right of the
bagua. Mountain and Lake form the last pair, with one opposite the to other. The
adjustment of the trigrams is symmetrical by forming exact contrary pairs. They
symbolize the opposite forces of Yin and Yang and represent a state in which
everything is in balance.

Later Heaven bagua

The sequence of trigrams in the Later Heaven bagua is attributed to King Wen. It is
also known as the postnatal bagua arrangement in traditional Chinese medicine; it
is used to understand physical, emotional and environmental patterns that influence
health or disease, similarly to western medicine's inquiry into functional medical
science.[15] In this arrangement, Water is placed downwards and Fire at the top;
Thunder is in the East, while Lake is in the West. Contrary to the Earlier Heaven
bagua, the Later Heaven bagua is dynamic; energies and the aspects of each of its
trigrams flow towards the following. It is the sequence used by the Luo Pan
compass, which is used in feng shui and referred to as the manifest pattern; it
analyzes the movement of the qi that practitioners believe affect them.

Western bagua
The popularity of feng shui increased in the West because of the bagua of the eight
aspirations. Each trigram corresponds to an aspect of life that also corresponds to
one of the cardinal directions. Applying feng shui using the bagua of the eight
aspirations (or bagua map for short) made it possible to simplify feng shui and to
use it for the general public. Western bagua focuses more heavily on intention than
the traditional forms of feng shui.[16]

Experienced practicers of traditional feng shui disregard Western bagua[17] for its
simplicity, since it does not take into account the forms of the landscape, time,
or the annual cycles. The bagua of the eight aspirations is divided into two
branches: the first, which uses the compass and cardinal directions, and the
second, which uses the bagua by using the main door. It is clear that, not taking
into account the cardinal directions, the second is even more simplified.

Bagua map
A bagua map is a tool used in Western 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 life and are
divided into categories such 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 spaces that may
need rectifying or enhancing in life or the environment.

For example, if the bagua grid is placed over an entire house plan and it shows the
toilet, bathroom, laundry, or kitchen in the wealth/blessings area of the map, it
would be said that the money coming into that particular environment would
disappear very fast.

A Tibetan "Mystic Tablet" containing the Eight Trigrams on top of a large tortoise
(presumably, alluding to the animal that presented them to Fuxi), along with the 12
signs of Chinese zodiac, and a smaller tortoise carrying the Lo Shu Square on its
shell
In Unicode
The bagua symbols in the Miscellaneous Symbols block of Unicode include the
following:

Miscellaneous Symbols Unicode block

Official Name Glyph Unicode # HTML Element
Trigram for Heaven ☰ U+2630 ☰ Metal
Trigram for Lake ☱ U+2631 ☱
Trigram for Fire ☲ U+2632 ☲ Fire
Trigram for Thunder ☳ U+2633 ☳ Wood
Trigram for Wind ☴ U+2634 ☴
Trigram for Water ☵ U+2635 ☵ Water
Trigram for Mountain ☶ U+2636 ☶ Earth
Trigram for Earth ☷ U+2637 ☷
The Miscellaneous Symbols block also encodes the constituents ⚊ (yang—U+268A;
&#9866) and ⚋ (yin—U+268B; &#9867), as well as the digrams ⚌ (greater yang—
U+268C; &#9868), ⚍ (lesser yin—U+268D; &#9869), ⚎ (lesser yang—U+268E; &#9870),
and ⚏ (greater yin—U+268F; &#9871).
The hexagrams they form are separately encoded in the Yijing Hexagram Symbols
Unicode block U4DC0..U4DFF.

In culture
In traditional Chinese medicine, including the profession of acupuncture, the
Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven arrangements are used to understand the
pathogenesis of disease or illness and to select treatment plans specifically
related and tailored to a patient's constitution.

In Peking opera, a role with Daoist techniques or military strategy wears a costume
decorated with taijitu and bagua.

Baguazhang and tai chi are two Chinese martial arts based on principles derived
from bagua.

The 2004 Philippine horror film Feng Shui and its 2014 sequel, Feng Shui 2, revolve
around a cursed bagua mirror that kills those who stare into it.

Representations
Singapore dollar: the one dollar coin is shaped like a bagua.
Flag of South Korea: a flag that has four cardinal trigrams (qian, kun, kan, li)
surrounding the taegeuk, the taijitu or yin-yang symbol.
Flag of South Vietnam: the three stripes is said as a trigram representing "south".
Tekes County and Zhuge Village: both these communities has a layout based on bagua.
See also
Tian gan and Di zhi: the archaic calendar system of East Asia.
Ba Xian, Eight Taoist Immortals
Ba Mai
Ba Duan Jin
Chinese ritual mastery traditions
Chinese spiritual world concepts
Fuji (planchette writing)
Fulu
Octal
Note
Compare this statement from Zhou Dunyi's 太極圖說 Taijitu shuo "Explanation of the
Supreme Polarity Diagram" : 「自無極而為太極。太極動而生陽，動極而靜，靜而生陰，靜極復動。一動
一靜，互為其根；分陰分陽，兩儀立焉。」
References
The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 19. Chicago: Scott Fetzer Company. 2003. p. 36.
ISBN 0-7166-0103-6. OCLC 50204221.
TSUEI, Wei. Roots of Chinese culture and medicine Archived 2012-08-12 at the
Wayback Machine Chinese Culture Books Co., 1989.
ZONG, Xiao-Fan and Liscum, Gary. Chinese Medical Palmistry: Your Health in Your
Hand, Blue Poppy Press, 1999.
Wilhelm, Richard (1950). The I Ching or Book of Changes. translated by Cary F.
Baynes, foreword by C. G. Jung, preface to 3rd ed. by Hellmut Wilhelm (1967).
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 266, 269. ISBN 0-691-09750-X.
Wilhelm, Richard (1950). I Ching. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p.
79.. The quote is from the "Image" commentary, which is one of the Ten Wings, part
of the Yijing.
"Understanding Bagua sequence" (December 6, 2015) Shanghai Daily. Quote:
"According to the authentic rules of binary method, the value conversion is bottom-
up. The ID numbers of Mountain (☶, 100) and Thunder (☳, 001) should be reversed,
[i.e. Mountain (☶)'s binary value should be 001 while Thunder (☳)'s binary value
should be 100] [...] their sequential numbers are 0-Earth, 1-Mountain, 2-Water, 3-
Wind, 4-Thunder, 5-Fire, 6-Valley, and 7-Sky."
 Wilhelm, R. & Baynes, C., (1967): "The I Ching or Book of Changes", With foreword
by Carl Jung, Introduction, Bollingen Series XIX, Princeton University Press, (1st
ed. 1950)
Zhouyi Jie (Explaining the Zhou's [Book of] Changes) "Bagua Quxiang Ge (Song about
how the Eight Trigrams Obtained Their Images)"《八卦取象歌》 (Bagua Quxiang Ge (Song
about how the Eight Trigrams Obtained Their Images), quote:「☰乾三連，☷坤六斷，☳震仰盂，
☶艮覆碗，☲離中虛，☵坎中滿，☱兌上缺，☴巽下斷。」
"Understanding Bagua sequence" (December 6, 2015) Shanghai Daily. Quote: "Leibniz
came up with the ID number of each 3-yao gua's based on the position of yao from
top down to base. He defined yang yao (whole line) as 1 and yin yao (broken line)
as 0. Here are some examples according to Leibniz-Shao Yong approach. Mountain (☶ )
can be converted to 100. [...]"
Book of Changes "繫辭上 - Xi Ci I (The Great Treatise) 11.3" with James Legge's
translation
Zhu Xi (2020). The Original Meaning of the Yijing: Commentary on the Scripture of
Change. Translated by Joseph A. Adler. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 46.
Zhou Dunyi, Taijitu shuo. text at wikisource
Adler, Joseph A. (2012) "On Translating Taiji 太極" in David Jones and He Jinli,
eds., Rethinking Zhu Xi: Emerging Patterns Within the Supreme Polarity. Albany:
SUNY Press
Yi Jing "Shuo Gua 10". Translated by James Legge
Golding, Roisin (2010). The Complete Stems and Branches: Time and Space in
Traditional Acupuncture. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 978-0-7020-2961-5.
Cisek, Jan. Feng Shui London blog, 2007.
Moran, Elizabeth and Master Yu, Joseph. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui,
3rd Edition, Penguin, 2005.
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