The I-Ching, Book Of Changes
Feng Shui is an applied philosophy that has been used in China, in its
oldest form, since before the use of written language. It is based on
an ancient divination system, a binary language describing the interplay
of yin and yang. The ancient Chinese used sticks of yarrow wood as a tool
for divination. They then engaged in a complex ritual of throwing these
sticks to create a series of broken and unbroken lines. The broken lines
indicate female, or yin energy, and represent the number 0, the void or
source. The unbroken lines symbolize male, or yang energy, and represent
the number 1, creation. These lines are combined to form guas, or trigrams,
which are composed of 3 lines each. The gua represents the action of change
as yin and yang dance together. All the gua are considered to be in movement
all the time, and the 8 gua move from absolute yin to absolute yang.
The ancient Chinese saw an ever changing universe, in which the energies
of yin and yang were forever shifting and moving, in a constant strive
for balance. The three lines of the trigram are some combination of unbroken
and broken, and when two trigrams are put together, they form a hexagram.
These lines represent the ever shifting forces of nature and the universe.
The constant movement of chi, expressed as the opposite forces of yin
and the yang, are engaged in their infinite dance, and at the center of
all this movement, creation is born, movement happens, and the dance goes
on.
Interpretations of the 64 possible combinations of hexagrams are given
in the I Ching, or Book Of Changes, one of the 5 Chinese Classics.
Though the original divinatory practice is probably 5000 years old (if
not older), and is one of the most ancient languages still in use, the I Ching itself is a written recording and interpretation, attributed
to the Kau dynasty, with different possible authors within that period.
There are appendices, attributed to Confucius, who studied the I Ching vigorously in the later years of his life, as well as others. Studying
the I Ching is an important part of the inner practice of Feng
Shui. (For more information on the use and interpretations of the I
Ching, refer to the UMS course Divination Systems).