I-ching Glossary

I-ching Glossary

Chien - name of hexagram 1.

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Ching - classical book, scripture.

Chun-tzu (Junzi) superior man, noble man - in the

view of Confucius an exemplary person, one worthy
of high station by virtue of moral achievement. He
is the main character in I-ching. One may stress
that this term was altered by Confucius because
initially it meant prince (literally, son of a
lord).

Coins method - method of consulting the I-ching

consisting in throwing three coins.

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 I-ching Glossary

Confucianism - philosophical system founded on the

teachings of Confucius. It hardly influenced the
philosophy of the I-ching.

Chou - the name of the third Chinese dynasty that

reigned between the 12th and the 3rd century BC.

Chou I - the name, familiar for the Chinese, for

the Book of Changes. In translation: The Changes
of [the dynasty] Chou.

Duke of Chou - the name of Tan, King Wens son.

He took over the regency after the death of his
brother Wu. He is credited for the yao texts.

Five Classics - or the Confucian Classics, the

fundamental books from Confucius school. These Five
Classics constituted the program of learning for
anyone in the upper classes, the ruling or the
educated classes. The Classics not only recorded
early Chinese history infallibly, they also
completely contained all the ethics and wisdom of
China. These classics are the I-ching, The Book of
History, The Book of Odes, The Book of Rites, and
The Spring and Autumn Annals.

Fu Hsi - divine forefather who is said to have

invented the trigrams (pa-kua). In the Great
Treatise to we can read the following about him:
When in early antiquity Pao Hsi [same as Fu Hsi]
ruled the world, he looked upward and contemplated
the images in the heavens; he looked downward and
contemplated the patterns on earth. He contemplated

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the markings of birds and beasts and the

adaptations to the regions. He proceeded directly
from himself and indirectly from objects. Thus he
invented the eight trigrams in order to enter into
connection with the virtues of the light of the
gods and to regulate the conditions of all beings.
(Part II, chapter 2, Wilhelms version).

Fu Hsi is represented as leaf-wreathed head sitting

down or going out of a mountain, with a brush in
his hand, which he uses to draw the trigrams.

Great Treatise (Ta chuan) - essential text that

forms the wings 5 and 6 of the canonic commentaries
to on I-ching. This text is the first to mention
the terms yin and yang.

Hexagram - the name of the 64 lineal figures made

of 6 continuous or discontinuous lines forming the
Book of Changes.

Huang-ti Yellow Emperor, mythical character of

the ancient Chinese civilization. He is credited
with various social and economic accomplishments,
and, in any way, the Chinese acupuncture books
refer to him as their patron.

I-ching - spelling for the Book of Changes in the

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 I-ching Glossary

Wade-Giles transliteration system.

Images (Hsiang) - the traditional name of wings 3

and 4 of the canonic commentaries to I-ching. These
commentaries are attributed to the Confucian school
and start with a description of hexagrams according
to the two trigrams that form it. Then, they deduct
the attitude to be used for the situation in
general.

Judgments (Tuan) - the descriptions of the

hexagrams. They are attributed to King Wen. They
contain divinatory phrases which seem to come from
other sources.

King Wen or Wen Wang - historic character, founder

of the Chou dynasty, even if he himself never
governed.
He made substantial contributions to writing the
Book of Changes. He allegedly introduced the 64
hexagrams, their names and description (Judgments).

Kua - the name of the hexagrams and, in general, of

all the divination items of I-ching.

Kun - name of hexagram 2.

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Millefolium (yarrow) - plant used to make the

stalks necessary for consulting the oracle (the
yarrow stalks method).

Moving lines - lines in a hexagram which have

values of 6 or 9. They change into their opposite
continuous or discontinuous (yin or yang).

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Nuclear trigrams - trigrams formed by the lines 2,

3 and 4 or 3, 4 and 5 in a hexagram.

Pa-kua - the eight trigrams.

Primary trigrams: the bottom 1, 2 and 3 or the top

4, 5, and 6 lines in a hexagram.

Shang - The name of the second Chinese dynasty

which reigned between the 18th and the 12th
centuries AD. The dynasty was replaced by the Chou
dynasty after the Hsin tyrant was overthrown by Wu
Wang, King Wens son.

Tao - in I-ching, a yin and a yang, i. e. the

complete sequence of the yin-yang Movement.

Ten Wings - refers to the canonic comments on I-

ching. These are: Tuan-chuan (Commentary on the
Decisions of Judgments, 2 parts), Hsiang-chuan
(Commentary of the Images, 2 parts), Ta-chuan
(Great Treatise [Commentary] on the Appended
Judgments, 2 parts), Wen-yen (Commentary on the
Words of the Text), Sho-kua (Discussion of the
Trigrams), Hsu-kua (Sequence of the Hexagrams),
Tsa-kua (Miscellaneous Notes).

Texts of the lines - They are attributed to King

Wens son, Tan, also known by the name of Duke of
Chou.

Trigrams - groups of three continuous or

discontinuous lines (yin and yang). There are 8 of
them (pa-kua).Their invention is credited to Fu
Hsi.
There are two arrangements of the trigrams called
the Precelestial - attributed to Fu His - and the
Postcelestial - attributed to King Wen.

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I-ching Glossary

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Yao - name of the lines forming the hexagrams in I-

ching.

Yin-yang in I-ching the continuous ______ and

respectively discontinuous __ __ lines forming the
hexagram.

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