Bagua

1 Trigrams

For other uses, see Bagua (disambiguation).

The Bagua (Chinese: ; literally:eight symbols),

2 Relation to other principles

Derivation of the bagua

There are two possible sources of bagua. The rst is from

traditional Yin and Yang philosophy. This is explained by
Fuxi in the following way:
Bagua diagram from Zhao Huiqian's () Liushu benyi (
, 1370s).

or Pa Kua, are eight trigrams used in Daoist cosmology

to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as
a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of
three lines, each line either brokenor unbroken,
respectively representing yin or yang. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to astrigramsin
English.

Another possible source of bagua is the following, attributed to King Wen of 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 guas are their sons and daughters.

The trigrams are related to the ve elements of Wu Xing,

used by Feng Shui practitioners and in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Those ve elements are Water, Wood,
Fire, Earth and Metal. The Water (Kan) and Fire (Li)
trigrams correspond directly with the Water and Fire elements. The element of Earth corresponds with both the
trigrams of Earth (Kun) and Mountain (Gen). The element of Wood corresponds with the trigrams of Wind
(Xun) (as a gentle but inexorable force that can erode
and penetrate stone) and Thunder (Zhen). The element
The ancient Chinese classic, I Ching (Pinyin: Yi Jing), of Metal corresponds with the trigrams of Heaven (Qian)
consists of the 64 pairwise permutations of trigrams, re- and Lake (Dui).
ferred to as "hexagrams", along with commentary on each There are eight possible combinations to render the varione.
ous trigrams ( bgu):
The trigrams are related to Taiji philosophy, Taijiquan
and the Wu Xing, or ve elements.* [1] The relationships between the trigrams are represented in two
arrangements, the Primordial ( ), Earlier
Heaven* [2] orFu Xibagua (), and the Manifested (),Later Heaven,* [2] orKing Wen
bagua. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy,
astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, the family,
and elsewhere.* [3]* [4]

2.1

7 BAGUA USED IN FENG SHUI

Hexagram lookup table

Fu Xi Earlier Heaven

Fuxi Earlier Heavenbagua arrangement

King Wen Later Heaven

(Generative), (Destructive)
, , ,
, , ,
King Wen Later Heavenbagua arrangement

7 Bagua used in Feng Shui

5

(Generative), (Destructive)
, , ,
, , ,

The Bagua is an essential tool in the majority of Feng

Shui schools. The Bagua used in Feng shui can appear
in two dierent versions: the Earlier Heaven Bagua, used
for burial sites, and the Later Heaven Bagua, used for the
residences.

7.1

Xiantian Bagua

or aspect of life and are divided into such categories

as: fame, relationships/marriage, children/creativity,
In Xiantian Bagua, also known as Fu Xi Bagua or Earlier helpful people/travel, career, inner knowledge, famHeaven Bagua, the Heaven is in the higher part and the ily/ancestors/health, and wealth/blessings.
Earth is in the lower part. The trigram Qian (Heaven) is
In this system, the map is intended to be used over the
at the top, the trigram Kun (Earth) is at the bottom (in the
land, one's home, oce or desk to nd areas lacking
past, the South was located at the top in Chinese maps).
good chi, and to show where there are negative or missThe trigram Li (Fire) is located on the left and opposite to
ing spaces that may need rectifying or enhancing in life
it is the trigram Kan (Water). Zhen (Thunder) and Xun
or the environment.
(Wind) form another pair, while being one opposite the
other, the rst on the bottom left next to Li while the sec- For example, if the bagua grid is placed over the entire
ond is next to Qian on the top right of the Bagua. Gen house plan and it shows the toilet, bathroom, laundry, or
(Mountain) and Dui (Lake) form the last pair, one op- kitchen in the wealth/blessings area it would be considposite the other, both in balance and harmony. The ad- ered that the money coming into that particular environjustment of the trigrams is symmetrical by forming exact ment would disappear very fast, as if to be 'going down
contrary pairs. They symbolize the opposite forces of Yin the drain.'
and Yang and represent an ideal state, when everything is
in balance.

8 In popular culture
7.2

Houtian Bagua

The sequence of the trigrams in Houtian Bagua, also

known as the Bagua of King Wen or Later Heaven Bagua,
describes the patterns of the environmental changes. Kan
is placed downwards and Li at the top, Zhen in the East
and Dui in the West. Contrary to the Earlier Heaven
Bagua, this one is a dynamic Bagua where energies and
the aspects of each trigram ow towards the following.
It is the sequence used by the Luo Pan compass which is
used in Feng Shui to analyze the movement of the Qi that
aects us.

7.3

Bagua of the eight aspirations

Feng shui was made very popular in the Occident thanks

to the Bagua of the eight aspirations. Each trigram corresponds to an aspect of life which, in its turn, corresponds
to one of the cardinal directions. Applying feng shui using the Bagua of the eight aspirations made it possible to
simplify feng shui and to bring it within the reach of everyone. The Masters of traditional feng shui call it Neo
Feng Shui, for its simplicity, because it does not take into
account the forms of the landscape or the temporal inuence or the annual cycles. The Bagua of the eight aspirations is divided into two branches: the rst, 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 simplied.

7.4

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 dierent aspects in one's
life. These sections are believed to relate to every area

A TibetanMystic Tabletcontaining the Eight Trigrams on top

of a large tortoise (presumably, alluding to the animal that presented them to Fu Xi), along with the 12 signs of Chinese zodiac,
and a smaller tortoise carrying the Lo Shu Square on its shell

Film
The Filipino horror lm Feng Shui is about a cursed
Bagua mirror that involves a person getting killed in
a way that relates to their Chinese zodiac if they stare
at the Bagua mirror.
In the lm G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Snake-Eyes
has the Bagua symbols for water and re printed on
the arm of his uniform, since the original comics had
the same symbols as the arm tattoo used by members of the Arashikage clan (Snake-Eyes and Storm
Shadow's clan).
In the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid, the matches
in the nal contest sequence take place on large circular Bagua arrangements that delimit the combat
area.

10

REFERENCES

In the John Woo historical movie, Red Cli, Dong

In Blade & Soul, Bagua are used as accessories to
Wu Princess Sun Shang Xiang baited a Cao general
increase players' stats. They are found throughout
and his entire cavalry unit into a Bagua formation,
the game in tiles and a complete Bagua is made by
which was set up by Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu as
combining eight tiles.
a counter-attack to Cao Cao's intended ambush on
Red Cli Fortress.
Music
Television
In Jackie Chan Adventures, the trigrams are each
written on a face of the Pan'ku Box and each of the
trigrams represent their own demon sorcerer with
corresponding nature.
The television series Lost incorporated the Bagua
into the logos for the DHARMA Initiative.
Cartoons, manga and anime

The 8 Diagrams, an album released by The WuTang Clan in 2007, features an adaptation of the
Bagua map on its cover.
Marilyn Manson's 8th studio album, "Born Villain",
makes extensive visual use of the trigrams.
Blur's 8th album, 2015's The Magic Whip, features
the FuXi arrangement on its rear sleeve.
Hexagram 50 is featured in the cover of Future Days
by Can.

In the cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, Other

Airbending is based on Bagua. The Bagua appears
again on Air Temple Island in Avatar's sequel series
The Unicode character set has characters for each
The Legend of Korra.
of the eight trigrams at codepoints U+2630 to
U+2637:* [6] ( ).
In the manga and anime Naruto, the Hyuga clan's
main attack is the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
Additionally, the Eight Trigram Sealing Style is used
to seal the Nine Tailed Fox inside of Naruto.
In the anime Cowboy Bebop episodeBoogie Woogie Feng Shui, the device that Maefa uses with the
sunstone contains trigrams from the Bagua.
Games
In Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, there is a
level where the player is tasked with solving a puzzle
based on the Earlier Heaven Bagua.
Ling Xiaoyu, a character from the Tekken series,
uses various forms of Chinese martial arts, Bagua
being one of those styles.
In Touhou Project, a bullet hell series, the character
Marisa Kirisame uses a mini-Hakkerowith one
of the Bagua diagrams on it.
In Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires, the main menu uses
the Earlier HeavenBagua arrangement as the
oorfor the selections.

9 See also
Flag of South Korea: the Taegeuk ag.
Singapore dollar: the one dollar coin is shaped like
a bagua.
Flag of South Vietnam: a trigram representing
south.
Baguazhang: a martial art based on principles derived from bagua.
Taijiquan: the Taoist martial art that uses bagua
principles.
Tian gan and Di zhi: the archaic calendar system of
East Asia.
Tekes County, a planned community with a shape
of a bagua.

10 References

In Elsword, the character Ara Haan receives a skill

calledEight Trigram Palm(orDouble Collision [1] CHEN, Xin (tr. Alex Golstein). The Illustrated Canon of
Chen Family Taijiquan, INBI Matrix Pty Ltd, 2007. page
) upon advancing to a Little Hsien.
11. (accessed on Scribd.com, December 14, 2009.)

In Battleeld 4, many trigrams are found on the

four maps of theDragon's Teethexpansion pack.
Some players believe the trigrams could be used to
decrypt the password that will unlock thePhantom
Initiateassignment.

[2] Wilhelm, Richard (1950). The I Ching or Book of

Changes. translated by Cary F. Baynes, forward by C.
G. Jung, preface to 3rd ed. by Hellmut Wilhelm (1967).
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 266, 269.
ISBN 069109750X.

[3] TSUEI, Wei. Roots of Chinese culture and medicine Chinese Culture Books Co., 1989.
[4] ZONG, Xiao-Fan and Liscum, Gary. Chinese Medical
Palmistry: Your Health in Your Hand, Blue Poppy Press,
1999.
[5] 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)
[6] http://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2600.pdf

11

External links

Malaysia Iching Net

The Spiritual Feng Shui
Kheper.net on the trigrams
Bagua
The oirigin of Bazhai Feng Shui based on the Bagua

12

12
12.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Bagua Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagua?oldid=741840960 Contributors: Matusz, Shii, Spi~enwiki, Mgmei, DopeshJustin,

Ahoerstemeier, Bueller 007, Edededed, Robbot, Tomchiukc, Gak, Lowellian, Litefantastic, Sunray, Giftlite, Crculver, Bradeos Graphon,
Lode Runner, Andycjp, SarekOfVulcan, Bumm13, AndrewTheLott, Huaiwei, Freakofnurture, Dbachmann, Visualerror, Yuje, Nsaa, Tabor, RainbowOfLight, Instantnood, Vanished user j123kmqwfk56jd, Blaxthos, Red dwarf, Sburke, Chochopk, Bobgould, Mana Excalibur,
Rjwilmsi, FlaBot, Kerowyn, Mjoseph, Flowerparty, Alberrosidus, Le Anh-Huy, Benjwong, Chobot, DaGizza, Vmenkov, YurikBot, JWB,
999~enwiki, MythicFox, RussBot, Pigman, Nowa, Nad, Caiyu, Chichui, Palpalpalpal, GeoCapp, ClaesWallin, Nikkimaria, PRehse,
Pentasyllabic, SmackBot, Daijaga, Grantb, Du cos, Evanreyes, Betacommand, Fetofs, Thumperward, TheLeopard, Colonies Chris, Hongooi, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, OrphanBot, Vanished User 0001, Abrahami, Cybercobra, MrMunky, Eristikophiles, LoveMonkey,
Iridescence, Autodidaktor~enwiki, Steliosmegelios, Interlingua, Buinne, Intranetusa, Keahapana, MU, HongQiGong, CmdrObot, Magnatron1995, D.A.Martin, Erik-the-red, Ibadibam, Shandris, Cydebot, Rieman 82, Myscrnnm, Seaphoto, TimVickers, Exteray, Fayenatic
london, Aranho, Joshua, .anacondabot, OM, VoABot II, Linguixperiments, ***Ria777, TheMiner, Fengshuifan, STBot, Davidjcmorris,
Ugajin, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker, Alexhchen, Redwrathe, Itzcuauhlti, Thaurisil, TimofKingsland, Jedd the Jedi, Ultatri, Zerokitsune,
Squids and Chips, VolkovBot, IWhisky, Je G., Lolicaust, Rosewelsh, Brusinsky, VanBuren, Mike4ty4, Spyguy149, Fanatix, Dagmon,
Anon von Zilch, Helikophis, Flying Roundhouse, Cloudz1, Reisig, ClueBot, ACHKC, Excirial, Alexbot, Ernobe, Arjayay, Editor2020,
XLinkBot, Koro Neil, Alexius08, B Fizz, Addbot, AkhtaBot, Ichingmaster, Stonezephyr, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Cath9c, Yobot, Idot,
AnomieBOT, JackieBot, Hochung4, St.nerol, Timmyshin, Antonymous2, Ozlfb, Penguinag, TerraHikaru, Bloodmerchant, FrescoBot,
Fortdj33, Paine Ellsworth, DanC1110, Machine Elf 1735, Shanghainese.ua, I dream of horses, WuDangDaoBahir, ZhBot, Katriel911,
EmausBot, GoingBatty, Paul Martyn-Smith, ZroBot, Sky380, Erianna, EdoBot, 28bot, ClueBot NG, Reify-tech, Helpful Pixie Bot, Xaule,
BG19bot, Wheatsing, Cold Season, Suzukaze-c, Gorobay, PatTag2659, TheGnerd, Glenli, Cathry, Lewis Goudy, Yanchunguang, Richard
Gooi, A guy saved by Jesus, Serpperior, NickOsipczakMMA, Marcantoinefortier, AndyFovargue, KakashiHatake, WilliamJennings1989,
Invisible Guy, Jamesholbert, Iching4096, Cmchan1995 and Anonymous: 157

12.2

Images

File:Bagua-name-earlier.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Bagua-name-earlier.svg License: CCBY-SA-3.0 Contributors:

Pakua_with_name.svg Original artist: Pakua_with_name.svg: 2006-09-23T21:16:47Z BenduKiwi 547x547 (101558 Bytes)
File:Bagua-name-later.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Bagua-name-later.svg License: CC-BY-SA3.0 Contributors:
Pakua_with_name.svg Original artist: Pakua_with_name.svg: 2006-09-23T21:16:47Z BenduKiwi 547x547 (101558 Bytes)
File:Bagua_Zhao_Huiqian.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Bagua_Zhao_Huiqian.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: Liushu benyi Original artist: Zhao Huiqian
File:Carus-p48-Mystic-table.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Carus-p48-Mystic-table.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: A Tibetan work, reproduced rst in Waddell, The Buddhism of Tibet..., p. 453, and then in Carus, "
Chinese thought, p 48 Original artist: An unknown Tibetan artist
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2630_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Trigramme2630_%E2%98%B0.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2631_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Trigramme2631_%E2%98%B1.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2632_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Trigramme2632_%E2%98%B2.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2633_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Trigramme2633_%E2%98%B3.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2634_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Trigramme2634_%E2%98%B4.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2635_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Trigramme2635_%E2%98%B5.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2636_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Trigramme2636_%E2%98%B6.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Trigramme2637_ .svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Trigramme2637_%E2%98%B7.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Xiantianbagua.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Xiantianbagua.png License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Philolo
File: .jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/%E6%AD%B8%E8%97%8F%E5%85%AB%
E5%8D%A6%E5%9C%96.jpg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Cmchan1995
File: .jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/%E9%80%A3%E5%B1%B1.jpg License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Cmchan1995

12.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0