The Eight

A preliminary survey
1.2.1 © May 2002, Mesker

Contents

2 List of tables
The designer: JTng Fang 2 1. King Wen's sequence of the 5
The system 4 2. The Eight Palaces 5
The of the hexagrams 5 Table 3. Jou Tsung Hwa's Quihun and Youhun 8
The yóu hun and the 6 Table 4. and lines
The in Chinese society 6 Table 5. Hidden hexagrams 12
Jou Tsung and Miki 8 Table 6. The Ten Stems 12
The Generation 9 Table 7. The Twelve Branches 12
relationships: 9 Table 8. The Five Phases 12
and 'Other' in Sherril & Chu Table 9. Stems, Branches and Phases associations
hexagrams: with the lines of the Pure Hexagrams 13
Branches and Table Flying Hexagrams in the Duanyi-tianjT
The Six Relationships 14 Table Hidden hexagrams in the Duanyi-tianjT 20
Wen divination 15
Hidden hexagrams in Wen Wang bagua
The Duanyi-tianjT 16
Jou Tsung Hwa's The Tao of
A page the
Hidden hexagrams in the 18
hypotheses 20
The hypothesis used on other hexagrams 21
Conclusion 21
Bibliography 21
Notes 22
Introduction

At the end of WilhelnYs YijTng there is an appendix with the T h e hexagrams arranged by Houses'. Ever

was introduced to the YijTng this system had my interest. Where did it what was its purpose,

who designed it? For years not find any about it. But in 1996 ran into the dissertation of

Paul George Fendos, Chih's place in the of Ching" studies, and there it was: a

introduction to the Eight Houses. To owe great debt. the years that followed collected information

about the Eight Houses, part which can be found in this part which will be added Consider this

as an intro to the system of the Eight Houses. This system, known as ba gong which translates

better as 'Eight Palaces', consists of eight groups of each eight hexagrams. The system itself contains several

which provide for use in divination. This article with the technical contents of the

Eight Palaces system; it the system and its sub-systems, but doesn't give information on how to use

these because that is beyond my knowledge at this

The designer: JTng Fang

The Eight Palaces designed during the Han dynasty by a called JTng Fang However, in history

there have been two JTng Fangs, and which one is the designer of the Eight Palaces, is not known for The

first JTng Fang lived around 80 BC, the second from 77 to 37 BC. Both JTng Fangs were YijTng experts, and the

Younger wrote several books about the YijTng. The Yi Chuan Explanation of the Yi by the

JTng deals with the Eight Palaces system, as as the JTng Fang Yi Chuan explanation of

the Yi by JTng Fang. The latter did not survive the ages, and that is are or later

Fendos writes:

The earliest of JTng Fang's Yi Chuan goes back to the Song dynasty (960-1279). There are
many versions of this work, the most popular being the Lu Chi (187-219) Zhu Xu Ang Jian Often the
Jing-shi Yi Chuan is with JTng Fang 's JTng Fang Yi Chuan - only of which exist - and on the
basis of this suspected of being a forgery. There are two reasons for this: difference in content and
approximate

The JTng Fang Yi Chuan is quoted 68 in the "Wiking zhi section of the Generally
speaking, these 68 quotes are all zaiyi in they explain specific social or political in of
having resulted from or leading to disasters or freaks of of these quotes can be found in Jing-
shi Yi Chuan. fact, there is little evidence of in the JTng-shi Yi Chuan. The JTng-shi Yi Chuan is, instead,
to a book of diving used by a conjurer or

have a book called JTng Fang Yi Chuan (author Wang Mó Woolin Publishing Company, ISBN 957-35-
0561-4) , the frontispice says it is based on a book written during the year of the reign of Jia Qing
from the QTng dynasty. contains several sections, one dealing with the Eight Palaces system. to
me that Fendos used this section for his information about the Eight Palaces system, as he quotes examples of the system,
which find in this section.
in the of "When when collapse, this a king who doesn't care about virtue, or
who want to
2
 Chronologically, the JTng Fang Yi Chuan appears to be than the JTng-shi Yi Chuan. The Han Shu dates from
the first century. This that the JTng Fang Yi Chuan quotes found in it probably around or before that
As above, the earliest reference to the JTng-shi Yi Chuan goes back only to the Song dynasty. This
suggests that the JTng-shi Yi Chuan before the Song dynasty, perhaps as as the Tang
dynasty.

The differences between the JTng Fang Yi Chuan and JTng-shi Yi Chuan are thought to suggest two conclusions. 1)
JTng Fang probably authored the JTng Fang Yi Chuan. There is evidence that this work existed shortly after JTng
Fang 's time. 2) JTng Fang probably did not author the JTng-shi Yi Chuan. There is no of this work
900 years aftyer JTng Fang 's time. The content is different enough from the JTng Fang Yi Chuan to suspect
1
that JTng Fang did not author it.

Michael Loewe gives extensive information about JTng Fang the Younger in his A Dictionary of the

Han & Xin Periods (221 BC - AD which will give here because it a lot about a who

was very influential in the history of YijTng studies, and yet quite unknown here in the West:

JTng Fang the Younger, style of Dongjun, had changed his surname from to JTng after
consultation of the pitch-pipes He specialized in what was perhaps a exceptional type of
interpretation of the Changes (Yi his predecessors and being largely with textual
exegesis, he applied that work to events of natural, and dynastie history whether of the past or
the present. As an advocate of regular of examining the qualities of he courted opposition from a
of men in high places, falling a victim to their
JTng Fang adopted the interpretative of his teacher Jiao Yanshóu but the that these be
traced back to Meng XT was denied by of Meng XT's own pupils. He explained unusual and
disastrous events in of the hexagrams, applied such to and took
conditions as indicators of the
An expert at musie JTng Fang was a Gentleman (Lang in 45. Events in the years around
40 such as the rebellions of the western Qiang tribes or an drew from JTng Fang whose
explanations and frequently correct predictions met with Yuandi's pleasure. When he further advised that
appropriate means of selecting officials according to their merits result in the cessation of strange phenomena
and natural disasters, he received orders to draw up a means of judging officials' achievements and
abilities. This was regarded as being too complex for adoption but was later approved by Zheng Imperial
Counsellor A A) from 42 to 37 and Zhóu Counsellor of the Dafu
A A ) ; there is no record that it was on a
a which is reported in dialogue form, JTng Fang Yuandi of the danger of putting undue trust in
some of those around who were exercising powers of government. Without any he had in
Shi Xian I I , Director, Writers Ling Yuandi was aware. Shi Xian and his
friend Chóngzóng Director of the (Shangshu Ling had been at vahance with
JTng Fang to the point of hatred. Asked to the names of those of his pupils who were to judge the
performance of officials, JTng Fang Ren Liang and Yao Ping with the intention or hope
that they would be appointed Regional Inspectors He hoped that with access to official registers
they would be able to send in reports that would bring certain abuses to an end. Persuaded by Shi Xian and
Chóngzóng to remove JTng Fang from the capital, Yuandi appointed him Governor of Weijun (37), at
the grade of 800 shf this capacity he was able to appraise officials of the according to his
own methods. Aware of the dangers of the to which he was subjuect, JTng Fang a
 in which he invoked changes to show how Yuandi had been open to deception. a further
he referred to certain hexagrams in protest against to frustrate his direct
with the throne.
Within a of his JTng Fang was and put to prison. At an earlier period Zhang Bó his
pupil and his had tried to help him in his efforts to introduce his system of of
officials; but JTng Fang was away in Weijun both he and Zhang Bó had been denounced by Shi Xian on
charges which included into a plot and denigrating the Both JTng Fang and Zhang Bó were
executed in public, JTng Fang then (37) being 41 years

Little is known about the first JTng Fang:

JTng Fang the had been trained in the Changes (Yi by Yang He of Zichuan. As Grand Counsellor of the
( Dafu A he had been the instructor of Liangqiu He and was appointed Governor
3
of Qi jun.

Because so little is known about JTng Fang the Elder, it is safe to the Younger designed the
system of the Eight Palaces. He did than designing the Eight Palaces. Larry James Schulz writes in his
dissertation Lai Chih-Te, and the of the of Change" (YijTng).

JTng Fang's is the associated with the earliest appearance of other explanatory and integrative
devices, the application of a hexagram's "nuclear or zhóngyao it)" -
lines two through four and three through five separately considered - to expound the hexagram's verbal properties;
the "Eight Palaces (ba gong system of arranging hexagrams (...); and incorporation of the Five Phases
the "heavenly stems (tiangan and the "earthly branches (dizhT designations to
4
the Change's in what is called the "najia theory.
From Meng Xi's effort to correlate hexagrams and natural phenomena it is said that JTng Fang developed the concept
of "twelve and dispersion hexagrams xiao-xT gua which assignes that of
hexagrams to the twelve and stock-in-trade for exegetes thenceforward. Beginning with the
hexagram RETURN (hex. 24 at approximately the winter solstice, the twelve accumulation and dispersion
hexagrams present a graphic illustration of the ascent of yang the first six months and its by yin
the the year: U

about this system can be found in Fung Yu-lan's A History of Chinese Volume II.

The system
make The Eight Palaces by listing them as a table, this shows which system is used to dehve
the other seven hexagrams in from the Hexagram.
The sequence in which Wilhelm gives the Eight Palaces is not the sequence. The sequence
orders the Palaces the order of the eight trigrams, often to King Wen:
 _ z ~ ~ _ _ z _ _ _ Z Z
3 3 3 3

3rd 3rd
Father Mother
Sons Daughters

Table 1. King Wen's sequence trigrams

We will this here.

gong gua gua gua san shi gua si shi gua wu shi gua hun hun

The of Qian — 3-3

1 44 33 12 20 23 35 14

The of Zhen 3-3

51 16 40 32 46 48 28 17

The of = = = = = =
29 60 3 63 49 55 36 7

The of Gen 3-3 3-3 3-3 3-3 3-3

52 22 26 41 38 10 61 53

The of Kun - — 3 3 3 3

2 24 19 11 34 43 5 8

The of Xun 3-3

= =
57 9 37 42 25 21 27 18

The of Li 3-3 3-3

30 56 50 64 4 59 6 13

The of

58 47 45 31 39 15 62 54

Table 2. The Eight Palaces

Every begins with one of the hexagrams (1 2 11, 29 30 i i , 51 52 57 and 58 i i ) ; the

first hexagram is called gong gua Hexagram' or chun gua 'Pure Hexagram'. later
it is called 'head hexagram'.

The names hexagrams

Within each every hexagram has a

The first hexagram is called ... with ... being the name of the first hexagram in the
The second hexagram is called shi gua 'first generation hexagram'
The third is called er shi gua 'second generation hexagram'
 The fourth is called san shi gua
The fifth is called si shi gua
The sixth is called wu shi gua
The seventh hexagram is called
The eighth hexagram is called guThun
'third generation hexagram'
'fourth generation hexagram'
'fifth generation hexagram'
soul'.

The problem with the Eight Palaces is that the designer, JTng Fang, didn't give any explanation about his
system. We don't know why each hexagram is called how it is, nor do we know why each is how it

The yóu hun and the guThun

The names of the first to sixth hexagram in each are 'generation hexagrams', and their names to
indicate each stage in the progressive moment we can see in each The names of the seventh and
eighth hexagram, however, are puzzling. They are both hun hexagrams, and this word is a key
to find the original of the ba gong system - although confess have not found this yet.
But the word 'soul', an role in the Chinese view on and death, and in DaoTst
not quite with this subject, but fortunately my book shelves contain some works of experts in this
field. By presenting some citations from these works, hope to make the term hun a bit and at the same
time present a possible explanation for the use of this word in the ba gong system.

The soul in Chinese society

Jean writes in her Chinese Alchemy - The Taoist

The idea of the soul developed in a unique way in China. The soul was up of two essences, its positive and
negative the and the body-nature, the yang and the yTn The yTn was the soul,
heavier, earthly, which reverted to the earth at death, and the the hun or lighter, heavenly soul, rising to
the heavens, each retuming to its natural element. Later these in there being three hun and
seven souls, the different attributes being. The hun controlled the intelligence and the

The Can Tong an important work on Chinese Alchemy, which uses from the YijTng, says:

you would foster your inborn

Lenghten your years and back time,
Consider the of all things,
And ponder that which before -
is endowed with a solid body
Which is pure and
The original vital seed showers out as a
Depending on an energy to surround it at the beginning.
As the yTn and yang the
They to rest as souls, the hun and the
 The of the is the hun,
The yTn spirit of the is the po;
The hun and together
And link in accord to set up

Michael Loewe, an expert on the Han dynasty, writes about what first thought be by the ,
the retuming soul in the Eight Palaces:

is unlikely that any definition of death can be found in Chinese but many have
agreed that death was by the seperation of the hun from the body. Very often the first steps that were
taken, when it appeared that this had occured and that was extinct, were designed to or persuade the hun
to return to its and thus to defer the moment of death. This to have been the motive that behind
a of rituals of invocation. (...) From some of the treatises on correct behaviour (...) we of the rite that
was for this purpose. At the moment of death the official of the deceased person was carried to the
roof of the and an invocation was to the hun to return to the body that it had apparently deserted. The
appeal was by an official or attendant whose rank suited that of the deceased person; he faced north and
the invocation three has been suggested that the of the deceased person acted as a
8
substitute for the body, should the hun be induced to make a return then and there.

When read this paragraph, at first thought this could be what was meant with a a soul which, after
some persuasion, successfully to his body to continue life. The movement of the lines at this stage in
each could support this view. But when looked in my at the several of the
character guT and the in which it is used, noticed the character is often used in words
an irrevocable death. 3617), which is the name of hexagram 54
'the Marrying = retuming) Maiden' means 'retuming', but it is a different retuming than fu (Mathews 1992),
which is hexagram 24 i i , or (Mathews 2309), characters which are used for denoting 'return' than
Mathews gives the following words and expressions, which distinctively show how has to do with death:

- a dead
guTjia - to die (lit. 'to return to the beautiful city')
- to die
A guTtian - to return to Heaven, to die
guTsu - the resting place
guTgen - at finally; in the end; to revert to the original condition.
- to die (lit. 'return to the spring, the source')
guTzhen - finally; in the end. To die (Buddh.)

Except for huTsha, 'the return of the soul, which is said to take place several days after death', and
'to return to the west - to die', could not find words or phrases using fu. Therefore
that a is a soul that has, despite some effort, not retumed to its body and that the person
be pronounced dead.
There is not much to say about yóu (Mathews 7524), except that it is often exchanged with yóu 'Ą- (Mathews
7522); both 'to wander, to travel'. Maybe the yóu hun is the condition of the soul just before it is

irreversibly detached from his body, not knowing which way to go.

These are just speculations, and there are sources which with this far better than here.

However, do believe that the words yóu hun and guT hun are important to grasp the original meaning of the

Eight Palaces.

Jou Tsung Hwa and Miki

There are at two books which the yóu hun and the guT hun, but they do not the Eight

Palaces, although they are clearly dehved from them.

Jou Tsung Hwa, the venerable Tai Chi master, says in his The Tao of Ching - Way to (my

added in square brackets):

a hexagram's 5th yao is bian or moving yao, and the shi gua [resulting hexagram] is a pure hexagram, than
this hexagram is called guihun [sic] or soul retuming hexagram. we change quihun's each
Yao Yin to Yang or Yang to Yin, we get a new hexagram which is called Yóuhun or soul wandering
hexagram. When one gets guihun or Yóuhun hexagram, it is a bad omen, especially related to illness. These
9
hexagrams are:

Pure Yóuhun the we see the pure hexagrams, the

hexagrams which form the starting point for each

The right column shows the seventh hexagram

8 2 5 of each the yóuhun, and the column shows

the guihun, the hexagram of each

7 29 36
Jou says the guT hun and the yóu hun hexagrams are
bad especially related to illness. Probably this

14 1 35 from the associations the names have with

death. At hexagram Jou says:

13 30 6
we change the 5th Yao Yin to Yang, Gu a

Chun or pure hexagram 57 Sun. So Gu is a Quihun or

soul retumed hexagram. you get this hexagram, and
17 51 28
even a little the best thing to do is going to
10
your doctor to find out what is happening.

18 57 27
And, at hexagram 35

53 52 61 Jin or Advancing is a Yóuhun hexagram of Dayou or

great possession. a patient consults YijTng and gets Jin,
11
he is in a very serious condition.
54 58 62
Table 3. Jou Tsung and
At hexagrams he of the dangers of guihun and

Miki in The YijTng, against these hexagrams, saying

The guihun hexagrams are considered inauspicious because they suggest the soul or hun retuming to
its origin, i.e., death. [Yóu huns] are also unfavorable because they connote such conditions as or
near-death when the soul wanders around outside the body. (...) medical divination, both guThun and you
hexagrams are considered inauspicious and sinister portents indicating possible higher and than
other hexagrams. Traditionally, guT hun hexagrams have been strongly associated with death and dying by many
12
have been associated with near-death or conditions.

The Generation yao

Every hexagram has a called the shi yao the 'generation the hexagram, the first
hexagram of every this is the top the second to seventh hexagram it is the which has
changed to the hexagram. the eighth hexagram it is the third the top of the three
lines which change at the same time.

relationships: shi
the appendix know as the Ten Wings, there is mention of relationships between the six lines of a hexagram.
1 and 4, 2 and 5, 3 and 6 are in if the one is yang and the other is yin. This is called yTng
'response'. this way the two trigrams are connected. This also a role in the Eight Palaces, but only with
consideration to the shi the few examples of hexagram interpretations that are by JTng Fang, he uses
this shi yTng system to explain the meaning of a hexagram. To do so, he gives the lines the following
names:

• 6 zóngmiao ancestral tempie

• 5. Son of Heaven
• 4. zhuhóu feudal
• 3. san gong three nobles
• 2. dafu AA senior official
• 1. yuanshi senior serviceman

Mansvelt Beck from the University of Leiden gave me some info about these names. He explains that the
names signify, as Fendos it, a 'degree of nobility':

• \s the rank, and means nothing than 'administrator in service'.

• Dafu is the highest noble of the court, they have a rank in nobility and a position in court; in later time
the nobility aspect disappears.
• San gong is the collective name for the three highest who assist a sovereign.
• Zhuhóu is the name for all feudal princes, those who stood a step than the who is
designated by the name
 • TianzT, the Son of Heaven. Above the we find his ancestors, who were honoured in the
• Zóngmiao, the ancestral tempie.

Fendos gives an example which shows how JTng Fang applied shi \n with these names:

The yao of [the hexagram stands in the position of the ancestral tempie. resides in a yin position. is
adjacent to 5. is in the way of is far from disaster and The three nobles reside in [the
position of] response. They are also yin and

and 'Other' lines in & Chu

The shi yTng is in Sherril and Chu's An YijTng, where it is used for, as they it,
'advanced divination'. Here they the shi yao the 'self and the yTng yao the 'other'. They make no
14
mention of the different names of the lines as JTng Fang used them.

The following table shows the shi and yTng lines for every hexagram.

The of

1 44 33 12 20 23 35 14

The of Zhen

51 16 40 32 46 48 28 17

The of Kan

29 60 3 63 49 55 36 7

The of Gen

52 22 26 41 38 10 61 53

The of Kun

2 24 19 11 34 43 5 8

The ofXun

57 9 37 42 25 21 27 18

The of Li

30 56 50 64 4 59 6 13

The of Dul

58 47 45 31 39 15 62 54

4. and lines

10
Hidden hexagrams: feifu
According to the bagong system every hexagram contains a hidden hexagram. This principle is called feifu
means 'flying', and the term is used to refer to the hexagram generated during divination; fu means
'hidden' and refers to the hexagram hidden in de divined hexagram. To find the hidden hexagram, the following
six can be used:

1. The hidden hexagram is always one Hexagrams (gong gua, 1 2 i i , 29 i i , 30 51 i i ,

H, 57
2. The hidden hexagram of a Hexagram is always the Hexagram with the opposite polarity.
3. The hidden hexagrams of a yi shi gua, shi gua, and san shi gua (see p. 5) are obtained by doubling
the hexagram.
4. The hidden hexagrams of a si shi gua and wu shi gua are obtained by doubling the upper trigram
hexagram.
5. A yóu hun hexagram has the same hidden hexagram as the wu shi gua in the same
6. A has the same hidden hexagram as the Hexagram in the same does.

To make finding the hidden hexagram easier, the following table shows the hidden hexagram of all hexagrams
in the Eight Palaces:

gong gua shi gua gua san shi gua si shi gua wu shi gua

33;
The of —— —

1 44 33 12 20 23 35 14

The of Zhen
3-3 3-3
II 3-3
II II u
51 16 40 32 46 48 28 17

The of Kan 3-3 II

29 60 3 63 49 55 36 7

3-3 3-3
The of Gen 3-3 3-3 •

52 22 26 41 38 10 61 53
33; 3-3
The of Kun —

2 24 19 11 34 43 5 8
33; 3-3 3 3
The ofXun — —

57 9 37 42 25 21 27 18

11
 gong gua shi gua gua san shi gua si shi gua wu shi gua

—— — —
The of Li — — — — — — =-

30 56 50 64 4 59 6 13

IIII

III:

IIII
The of Dul

:I::I

MIII
"II
MIII
MIII

MIII
58 47 45 31 39 15 62 54

Table 5. Hidden hexagrams

Just as with the shi yao, JTng Fang uses the hidden hexagram to explain the significance of a hexagram
obtained through divination.

Stems, Branches and

The Han dynasty was a time when all kinds of whether related or not, were linked with each other.
Especially the oldest system for time reckoning, the system of Heavenly Stems and
Branches, and the wuxfng system, the Five Phases (here in the west most by the erroneous
name 'Five Elements'), were important collaborators in the xiangshu 'image and school, as
opposed to the 'meaning and school. Therefore think it will not as a that JTng
Fang also used these systems in his Eight Palaces. He them with the lines Pure Hexagrams.
The following tables show the tiangan the Heavenly Stems, the the Earthly Branches, and the
the Five Phases. For easier reference respectively give them a letter, a number and
abbreviation.

A. ? jia 1. zT E.
B. 2. M. jin
C. bTng 3. yin Wa. shuT
D. T dTng 4. Wo. mu
E. 5. F. A huó

F. 6. Table 8. The Five Phases

G. 7.

H. xTn 8. i
9. shen
J. guT 10. yóu

Table 6. The Ten Stems 11. xu

12. hai

Table 7. The Twelve Branches

JTng Fang links them to the lines of the Pure Hexagrams as follows:

12
 = Z Z zz = —

1 51 29 52 2 57 30 58
M Wo Wa E E Wo F M

A A A
11 G 11 E 1 C 3 J 10 H 4 F 6 D 8 branch

6 E E Wa
fit
Wo M Wo F
TA
E

A A A
9 G 9 E 11 C 1 J 12 H 6 F 8 D 10

5 M M E Wa Wa F E M

A A A
7 G 7 E 9 C 11 J 2 H 8 F 10 D 12

4 F F M E E E M Wa

A A A A A
A 5 G 5 E 7 C 9 B 4 H 10 F 11 D 2

3 E E F M Wo M Wa
Ti
E

A A A
A 3 G 3 E 5 C 7 B 6 H 12 F 2 D 4

2
Wo E F F Wa E Wo

A A A A
A 1 G 1 E 3 C 5 B 8 H 2 F 4 D 6

1 Wa Wa Wo E E E Wo F

A A A A
Table 9. Stems, Branches and Phases associations with the lines Pure Hexagrams

Every in the sixty-four hexagrams has a of a Stem, a Branch and a Phase connected to
their lines, according to the table on the page. depends on the position of the trigram (nei or wai
- inside or outside) which combination is applied.
For instance, take hexagram 5 The upper trigram is kan so the upper trigram of hexagram 29 in the table
gives the for this trigram. The trigram is qian so the trigram of 1 gives the
for this trigram. Which produces:

13
 E 1

6 Wa

E
A 11

5 E

A
E 9

4
M

A 5
%
3 E

A
A 3

2
Wo

A 1

1
Wa

The Six Relationships

Every Phase stems from another Phase:
• Wood gives birth to Fire,
• Fire gives birth to Earth,
• Earth gives birth to Metal,
• Metal gives birth to Water, and
• Water gives birth to Wood.

Also a Phase suppresses another Phase:

• Wood suppresses Earth,
• Earth suppresses Water,
• Water suppresses Fire,
• Fire suppresses Metal, and
• Metal suppresses Wood.

From this are the the Six Relationships are dehved:

• 'Parents'
• xióngdi 'Brothers'
• 'Descendants'
• 'Wife and Wealth'
• guan 'Officials and Ghosts'.

14
These titles are applied to the six lines of a hexagram. As shown above, every in a hexagram has a Phase
assigned to it.
• When the Phase creates the Phase of the the hexagram belongs to (see the top in
Table 9), the the Parents.
• When the Phase is the same as the this becomes the Brothers.
• When the Phase is created by the Phase, the becomes the Descendants.
• When the Phase suppresses the Phase, this becomes the Wife & Wealth.
• When the Phase suppresses the Phase, this becomes the Officials & Ghosts.

the JTngyun The perfect of the He (map and) Luó (map), it is up

this:

• • • •
• • •
• • • • • •

• • • • • •
• hexagrams and dul. Regard Earth as the Parents. Metal as the Brothers. Water as the
Descendants. Wood as the Wife and Wealth. Fire as the Officials and Ghosts.
• hexagrams gen and kun. Regard Fire as the Parents. Earth as the Brothers. Metal as the Descendants.
Water as the Wife and Wealth. Wood as the Officials and Ghosts.
• hexagrams zhen and xun. Regard Water as the Parents. Wood as the Brothers. Fire as the
Descendants. Earth as the Wife and Wealth. Metal as the Officials and Ghosts.
• hexagram kan. Regard Metal as the Parents. Water as the Brothers. Wood as the Descendants. Fire as
the Wife and Wealth. Earth as the Officials and Ghosts.
• hexagram Regard Wood as the Parents. Fire as the Brothers. Earth as the Descendants. Metal as the
Wife and Wealth. Water as the Officials and Ghosts.

Wen Wang bagua divination

Wen Wang bagua divination is a form of YijTng divination which uses all the of the ba gong
system as by JTng Fang, but also applies other rules not found in JTng Fang's Yi Chuan. These rules
involve interaction between the Stems, Branches and Five Phases, and to be dehved from bazi
Four Pillars Astrology.

Hidden hexagrams in Wen Wang bagua

A difference found in WWBG divination is the designation of the Hidden Hexagram. JTng Fang's Yi Chuan
every hexagram has a Hidden Hexagram, but not in WWBG. WWBG speaks of a 'Hidden
The Hidden Spirit is always a in a Hexagram. can be found by looking at the Six Relationships.
When one of the Relationships is not present in the hexagram, then the in the Hexagram who has
the Relationship, is the Hidden Spirit. The same in the original hexagram is called the feishen
the Flying Spirit.

take hexagram 44 as an example. Hexagram 44 belongs to the of Qian

15
 Phases & Relationships Phases & Relationships
in the original hexagram in the Hexagram
E E

A Parents A Parents
M M
Brothers Brothers
F F
4. Officials and Ghosts 4. Officials and Ghosts
A = A
M E
44 Brothers 1 Parents
A
Wa Wo
Descendants Wife and Wealth
A
E Wa
Parents Descendants
A A
Wife and Wealth is missing is

The of 1 is the Hidden Spirit

The of 44 is the Flying Spirit

The Duanyi-tianjT
A good of all this can be found in a book from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the Duanyi-tianjT
'the (or definitive) YijTng Mystery'. the Midaughter wrote that the
author was Xu Shao-jTn but the frontispiece of the copy recently obtained says that Xu was only one
proofreaders The other proofreader was Yu The
book were prepared by MTn and Zheng Yun-zhai All these names are to
me, and have not been able to find some information about these persons.

Jou Tsung Hwa's The Tao of/ Ching

Jou Tsung Hwa borrowed quite some from the DYTJ for his book The Tao of Ching. The pictures in
his book are pictures from the DYTJ. Also, at every hexagram, in the section Zhan or hints on divining'
he writes is a hexagram. is good in spring and bad in This directly
from the DYTJ. However, think he a little when he the months, because the DYTJ
, 'er yue' etc. - 'first 'second etc. Whether this is the calendar
or the calendar, it never is the same as the Western calendar. The section 'Window of the hexagram' is a
direct translation of the text that comes with the pictures in the DYTJ. Also the section 'Image and Symbol'
comes from it. The pictures in my version of the DYTJ are different in style than the pictures of Jou,
and my version to be closer to the text than Jou's version. For instance, at hexagram 24, in the window
text, there is mention of the character dong ('east') which should be in the picture. Jou's picture it can't be
found, but in my version it does appear.
Another interesting feature of the DYTJ is the fact that the hexagrams are arranged in the sequence of the Eight
Palaces.

16
A page from the

#1 304

tt

» •

• •

• •

"

fci

a. the upper and lower trigram

b. 'six relationships', it the Stem, Branch and Phase of every
c. the lines - • • for a yin • for a yang and the 'self and 'other' lines
d. the relation for each (see b.)
e. fei Stem, Branch and Phase
f. the month this hexagram belongs to
g. Stem, and Phase
h. The favorability of this hexagram for each season (also in Jou, Tsung Hwa)
i. explanation and interpretation picture (also in Jou, Tsung Hwa)
j. 'image and symbol' (also in Jou, Tsung Hwa)

17
Hidden hexagrams in the Duanyi-tianjT
There is strange in the DYTJ. What JTng Fang the Hidden Hexagrams, the DYTJ fei,
'flying'. What is called fu, 'hidden' in the DYTJ is the Hexagram of the in which a hexagram
resides - except for the first and the hexagram in each Moreover, the designation of the and fu
hexagrams is not done by the hexagram names, as JTng Fang does, but by to the
combination of Stems, Branches and Phases as in Table 9.

For instance, at hexagram ii we find:

A
The column is the fu hexagram, and in Table 9 we can find the combination A at the

second of hexagram 2. The the right column, gives A, which belongs to the second

of hexagram 58. this way not only a hexagram is given, but also a indication. But it the is

always the shi yao the generation

short, according to the DYTJ, the Flying Hexagram is always found by doubling the trigram which contains
the shi yao. So, when work out the Flying Hexagrams in the DYTJ, it produces the following table:

gua yi shi gua Er shi gua san shi gua si shi gua shi gua yóu hun hun

llllll

llllll
_ _ _
llllll

llllll

The of Qian
MIII
MIII

1 44 33 12 20 23 35 14

The of Zhen EE
MIII

51 16 40 32 46 48 28 17

z-z -- z-z -- z-z —

llllll

The of Kan = EE
EEE
EE
E_E
llllll
llllll

29 60 3 63 49 55 36 7

The of Gen _ _
Z-Z ZZZ EE zzz

52 22 26 41 38 10 61 53

18
 gua shi gua Er shi gua san shi gua si shi gua shi gua yóu hun hun

The of Kun == zz EE --
EE EE

2 24 19 11 34 43 5 8

The ofXun _
_

57 9 37 42 25 21 27 18

llllll

IIII
The of Li EE

IIIII
Z-Z

IIIII
ZZ EE

30 56 50 64 4 59 6 13
llllll

llllll

llllll
The of Dul llllll Ezz -- EE EE
IIIII

IIIII
MIII
MIII

58 47 45 31 39 15 62 54

Table 10. Flying Hexagrams in the Duanyi-tianjT

To make the picture a table with the Hidden Hexagrams according to the DYTJ:

gua shi gua Er shi gua san shi gua si shi gua wu shi gua yóu hun hun

The of Qian = r- _ _ _ _ == — EE

1 44 33 12 20 23 35 14

--
llllll
The of Zhen 5= zz EE EE z-
IIIII

51 16 40 32 46 48 28 17

—
llllll

--
llllll

llllll

llllll

The of Kan
llllll

llllll
llllll
llllll

llllll
llllll

29 60 3 63 49 55 36 7
llllll

_ --
llllll

The of Gen —
llllll

EE EE EE
llllll

52 22 26 41 38 10 61 53

19
 gua shi gua shi gua san shi gua si shi gua shi gua yóu hun hun

iliiii
The of Kun EE --

liiiii

llllll
EE

llllll
llllll
llllll

llllll
llllll

llllll
llllll
2 24 19 11 34 43 5 8

llllll
liiiii liiiii
The ofXun

llllll

llllll

llllll
_ z-z II

llllll
57 9 37 42 25 21 27 18

The of Li EE EE — == _ _ =

30 56 50 64 4 59 6 13

llllll
The of Dul Ezz _ -- -- r- -- EE EE

58 47 45 31 39 15 62 54

Table Hidden hexagrams in the

As you can see, the Hidden Hexagram is the Hexagram, except for the first and hexagram in each

hypotheses
When wrote the first version of my Dutch book "De Tjing in ons Leven", added a chapter about the Eight
Palaces, but didn't have the dissertation of Fendos at that time. The information had was and had
to find some significance in the Eight Palaces just by examining the system That is how up with
the following hypothesis.

Every of a hexagram depicts a of the ancient Chinese population. The lower stands for the
the second for the and the third for the scientists, diviners and
priests, the fourth for the the fifth for the and the sixth for the sages. if we
at the progressive changes in every it is possible to see in every the overthrow of a
dynasty. This overthrow begins with in the layer of the people, up to the higher
levels, and sooner or later the country is in state of rebellion. The ministers of the fourth
against their emperor, and after a the emperor is deposed. A new emperor is chosen (depicted by the
change in the fifth new ministers are appointed (the change in the fourth and spread the orders to the
people them. The people retake their proper positions, and the country is in peace, the next
revolution takes place. The sixth isn't affected, because the isn't moved by the developments in the
empire.

20
The hypothesis used on other hexagrams
The principle of the progressive changes in each can also be applied with any hexagram as a starting
point, giving results. Suppose a country is in the situation of hexagram 12, 'Stagnation'
=1. The people are dissatisfied, starting to protest, the dissatisfaction moves upwards, the emperor is
overthrown and the country comes at peace again. The result: hexagram 35, 'Progress' i i . Another example is
hexagram 47, 'Oppression' i i . This ends in hexagram 40, 'Liberation' i i . A country which is in a state of 54 i i , a
hexagram whose text sounds quite negative, ends in 58 H.

These are some of the examples found quite striking. Of course not all hexagrams give remarkable results.
There are also hexagrams which, when changed, don't give a positive result. Maybe not every revolution
changes things for the better. Except hexagram 5 maybe this is because a country in a state of Waiting isn't
very healthy.

Conclusion
This is what we know about JTng Fang's Eight system. This doesn't the story ends here. Through
the centuries the Eight Palaces have served several purposes - other divinatory systems are on it and the
system itself has been expounded upon, adding and rules to it. There is much to be said.
hope this article will answer some questions many people have about the Eight Palaces, but no doubt it will
raise some too. corrections and additions are very much appreciated.

Mesker.

Bibliography
Fendos, Paul George, Jr.; Fel Chihs place in the development of Ching" studies; Dissertation
Services, Ann Arbor
Schulz, Larry James Schulz; Chih-Te, (1525-1604) and the of the of
Change"(I Ching); UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor
Fung, A History of Chinese Princeton University Press
Loewe, Michael; A Biographical Dictionary of the Han & Xin Periods (221 BC - AD 24)
Leiden
Jou, Tsung Hwa; The Tao of Ching - Way to Tai Chi Foundation
Miki; The Medical Ching - Oracle within; Poppy Press
Mathews, R.H.; Chinese - Dictionary, Harvard University Press
Cooper, Chinese Alchemy - The Taoist Quest for Immortality, Sterling Publishing Co.
Bertschinger, Richard; The Secret of Everlasting life - the first ancient Chinese text on
immortality, Element Books Ltd.
W.A. and W.K. Chu; An Anthology of i Ching; Routledge & Kegan Paul
Wang Mó JTng Fang Yi Chuan Woolin Publishing Company Taipei
wei-hua Ming Bao Chubanshe Hong
Kong
21
Notes

Fendos, p. 301 n. 26
Loewe, Michael; A Dictionary of the Qin, Han & Xin Periods p. 199-200
199
Schulz, Larry James; Lai Chih-Te, and the of the "Classic of Change"(l Ching); p.
16
id.; p. 14
Cooper, Chinese Alchemy, p. 82-83
Richard Bertschinger, The Secret Everlasting Live; p. 75
Michael Loewe, Chinese of Life and Death; p.
Jou Tsung Hwa, The Tao of Ching - Way to divination; p.
id.; p. 193
265
Miki The Medical i Ching; p. 25-26
Fendos, p. 356-357
W.A. and W.K. Chu, An Anthology of Ching, p. 39

22