For each hexagram, the I Ching contains a pool of wisdom. They form the groups of three representing the stimulating and the receiving - the hexagram of enchantment. Two groups of three give rise to one hexagram (group of six), and the 64 different combinations represent 64 cosmic archetypes, the elementary images pertaining to situations. They represent the creative, receptive, stimulating, unfathomable, silent, gentle, adherent and serene. 8 different groups of three (pa kua) can be constructed using these two basic building blocks, which each possess a special name, a basic meaning and a symbolic value. A broken line represents the feminine, negative principle (Yin), to which we assign the number 0. A continuous line represents the masculine, positive and active principle (Yang) to which we ascribe the number 1. These sets of three are constructed from the bottom upwards. In each case, they consist of six continuous or subdivided lines, or the association of two groups of three. In addition to these two famous pairs - Yin and Yang mean literally «the dark and the light side of a hill» - another 64 symbolic groups of six have found their way from the Book of Changes into Western thought. The harmony of Yin and Yang - elemental forces active since the beginning of creation - is represented by a circle in which white and black attempt to entwine, although there is no danger that one of these powers will prove dominant since the two shapes have long held their opposite within them: two dots, black and white, reassure that the equilibrium as a whole is not jeopardised. Faithful to this construction of opposites, it is apparent that the dark vowels characterise brightness, and vice versa. In a complementary way, Yang is characterised by heaven and light, the masculine, active and penetrating. The earth and darkness are associated with Yin, the feminine and passive - the accommodating. Indeed, there is no separate entity for either Yin or Yang, only Yin and Yang together. The term «complementarity» also causes us a few problems with the related colours: simultaneously, Yin and Yang both contradict and complement each other they oppose and assist each other they are neither separable, nor can they be unified together, they make up an indivisible whole. Our language and terms of reference impose a certain restriction if we wish to explain the meaning of this purely eastern concept: Yin and Yang represent two complementary forces or principles which define all aspects or manifestations of life. and introduces the idea of Ying und Yang. The appendix originates from about the 4th century B.C. The work is most probably based on four different forms of prophecy: firstly, interpretations and predictions stemming from the rural world secondly, the «match sticks» method (longer or shorter match sticks being held in the hand so that their tips are seen, but not their lengths - the resultant symbols are determined from the long or short matches chosen) thirdly, the meaning of signs recognisable in the plates on the tortoise’s shell or the shoulder blades of mammals and fourthly, dice or dominoes. Its contributions are said to date back to the 7th or 6th century B.C. The «Book of Changes» - the I Ching - is an ancient book of divinations.
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