What is I-Ching
"I-Ching", one of the classical Chinese books, is a divination book used in ancient China to deduce future good and bad luck. "I-Ching" uses a set of symbolic forms to systematically describe the changes in things, expressing the philosophy and cosmology of Chinese classical culture. Its central idea is to use hexagrams composed of Yin and Yang symbols to represent the status of all things in the world. Fortune-tellers ask questions from the gods and obtain hexagrams to predict the success or failure of events (such as wars, political affairs, agricultural harvests, etc.). The influence of the "I-Ching" is not limited to divination. The idea of Yin and Yang changes can be seen in all aspects of ancient Chinese philosophy, religion, politics, economics, medicine, astronomy, arithmetic, literature, music, art, military, and martial arts.
Interpretations of "I" (易 Yi)
The word "I" (易 Yi) has many interpretations:
①Easy, simple.
②The meaning of change and change means that everything in the world is constantly changing.
③Transaction, that is, the mutual changes of the decrease of Yin energy and the increase of Yang energy,
and the
decrease of Yang energy and and the increase of Yin energy.
④The sun(日) and moon(月) compose the word Yi(易), symbolizing the energy of Yang and Yin.
⑤The sunrise.
⑥Zheng Xuan, the philosopher of the Han Dynasty, his work "I-Lun" believed that the name "I"(Yi) has
three
meanings: one is "simplicity"; the other is "change", and the other is "no change." Therefore, we can
explain "I"(Yi) as: "simplification",
"change", and "constancy".
Meanings of Hexagrams
Yao (爻 Yao): The content of the I-Ching is composed of "hexagrams", with a total of sixty-four hexagrams. Each hexagram is composed of six layers, and each layer is called a "Yao". Each layer uses a long horizontal line "—" to represent Yang, which is called "Yang Yao"; or two broken horizontal lines "--" represent Yin, which is called "Yin Yao". There are six Yao in total, and the six Yao are combined with different Yin and Yang to form sixty-four different combinations.