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<h2>An essay on the four timeless hexagrams of the <em>I Ching</em></h2>
<h4>Within the sequence of 64 symbols in the ancient Chinese <em>Book of Changes</em>, four stand out as being special. They represent the archetypal concepts of Heaven &amp; Earth, <em>Yáng</em> &amp; <em>Yīn</em>. Together they provide timeless wisdom on how to remain uniquely authentic in the midst of eternal change.</h4>
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<pre class="wp-block-verse">And one peculiar point I see,<br />As one of many ones of me<br />As truth is gathered, I rearrange,<br />Inside out, outside in, <br />Inside out, outside in,<br />Perpetual change.<br />— Yes</pre>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/crcedinburgh/9319486451" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/yi-jing-book-1440.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4583"/></a><i>A copy of the I Ching printed in 1440, China.</i>

<p>I'm now halfway through <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="my 64-week journey (opens in a new tab)" href="http://metametheus.net/64-weeks/" target="_blank">my 64-week journey</a> with the <strong>I Ching</strong>. Thirty-two weeks ago, I woke up one Monday morning with the sudden inspiration to spend each day reading, contemplating, and embodying the wisdom of the <strong>Book of Changes</strong>. The project started very differently to what it is for me now, although even back then I knew that it would evolve and change week after week, for that is the nature of the <em>Dào</em>, as described by the<strong> I Ching</strong>.</p>
<p>Today, I completed my work with the <em>Upper Canon</em>, which comprises the first 30 hexagrams as sequenced by King Wén, the progenitor of the ancient Zhōu Dynasty back in the 11th Century BCE. I began my journey a couple of days after the June solstice (June 25th). As I write this, the Lunar New Year is just 3 days away. I feel the timing is auspicious.</p>
<p>It is said that the hexagrams of the <em>Upper Canon</em> demonstrate the wisdom of all matters as they pertain to 天 <em>Tiān</em>, Heaven. It suggests that these 30 symbols — and the texts and commentaries associated with them — concern themselves with sacred matters; matters that are archetypal in nature, and would be experienced at every level of existence.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The <em>Upper Canon</em> is bookended by four important hexagrams, which I will describe briefly in this article. Known as the 永恆四卦 <em>yǒnghéng sìguà</em> (the four timeless symbols), they stand outside of the time which the remainder 34 symbols exist in. They form the foundation of later Taoist cosmology, and are integral in understanding Yīnyàng theory and the entire ancient Chinese epistemological paradigm, which Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Mohism, Chinese shamanism, Chinese Buddhism, linguistics, medicine, astrology, and the developments of Chinese science and technology owe their existence to.</p>
<p>To understand these ideas is to grasp (as much as one can) the 易<em>Yì</em> (the changes/transformations of everything in existence) and how they happen. It implies the understanding of the nature of 氣 <em>Qì</em> as the effect, substance, or measure of <em>change</em>. </p>
<pre class="wp-block-verse">If you lose your way,<br />Try to find your way;<br />If you lose your way,<br />Never find your space.<br />You might find yourself crawling<br />Between heaven and earth<br />— Midnight Oil</pre>
<h3>Ancient Chinese cosmology 101</h3>
<p>There is a primordial state — pure and untouched by the ravages of time and entropy. It is referred to as 先天 <em>xiāntiān</em>, ‘prior, former, or pre-Heaven’. It is any quality that is innate or <em>a priori</em>, and is also used in TCM to refer to the individual’s state either before birth or conception (there are different ideas on this, and depends on one presupposes a non-material existence or not).</p>
<img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ba-gua-pre-heaven-sequence.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4570" width="180" height="172"/>

<p>In this state, the archetypal polarities are represented by the trigrams (also known as the primary gua) ☰ <em>Qián</em> and ☷ <em>Kūn</em>. In the Primordial Sequence of the trigrams, they form the North–South poles, with the remaking six trigrams becoming variants of a mixing of <em>yīn</em> and <em>yàng</em> lines as secondary polarities. This is described in Section 3 of the <strong>說卦<em> Shuō Guà</em></strong> — the 8th <em>Wing</em> of the Confucian commentaries on the <strong>I Ching</strong>.</p>
<p>But of course if there is an ‘earlier Heaven’ then there must also be a ‘later Heaven’, otherwise why name it as such. This is indicative of the paradigm, where there is always the relative polarity to everything that is in existence; even existence has its polarity in non-existence, which was explicitly mentioned in the later <strong><a href="http://metametheus.net/the-nourishment-of-the-person/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Dao De Jing (opens in a new tab)">Dao De Jing</a></strong>.&nbsp;</p>
<img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ba-gua-post-heaven-sequence.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4571" width="180" height="172"/>

<p>This is then referred to as the Temporal State, or 後天 <em>hòutiān</em>, ‘later or post-Heaven’, and describes anything that is acquired or <em>a posteriori</em>. There is the sense that there is something not-quite-pure or original about this state. It exists in normal, or real time as we experience it, once entropy has begun its natural process on what was once primordial and pure. </p>
<h3>The alchemical process</h3>
<p>It became the goal of Taoist alchemy to understand where one was in the Temporal State, so that the layers of conditioning could be unravelled to get one back to a pristine, unconditioned state.&nbsp;</p>
<p>In the Temporal State, the north–south polarity is represented by ☵ <em>Kǎn</em> and ☲ <em>Lí</em>, having replaced ☰ <em>Qián</em> and ☷ <em>Kūn</em> respectively. The process was contemporaneous and twofold:</p>
<ul><li>The essence of ☰ <em>Qián</em> (represented by his unbroken middle line — ) mingled with ☷ <em>Kūn</em> to create ☲ <em>Lí.</em></li><li>The essence of ☷ <em>Kūn</em> (represented her middle broken line - - ) mingled with ☰ <em>Qián</em> to create ☵ <em>Kan</em>.</li></ul>
<p>In Taoist alchemy, the metaphor of removing the middle lines from ☵ <em>Kǎn</em> and ☲ <em>Lí </em>and putting them back into their original trigrams to form ☰ <em>Qián</em> and ☷ <em>Kūn </em>is a metaphor for the process of shedding the layers of acquired (temporal) conditioning in order to return to one’s true (primordial) nature, before it was influenced by nature / nurture.<br /></p>
<pre class="wp-block-verse">And we came up on a bee-keeper,<br />And he said "Did you know they can change it all?"<br />You want alchemy.<br />— Kate Bush</pre>
<h3>The four timeless symbols</h3>
<p>The hexagrams of the I Ching are formed by combining two of the eight primary trigrams (8x8 = 64 possible combinations). The four timeless hexagrams are simply iterations of the four cardinal trigrams: ☰ <em>Qián,</em>☷ <em>Kūn</em>, ☵ <em>Kan</em>, and ☲ <em>Lí</em>. </p>
<img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/i_ching_01_qian.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4574" width="131" height="117"/><i>Hexagram 1, 乾 QIÁN, the Initiating</i>

<p>乾 QIÁN is the first hexagram and opens the entire sequence, which is appropriate given its meaning is "the initiating". The image is constructed by doubling the trigram ☰, and represents all aspects of <em>Yáng</em> (Heaven). It is the image of empty space and infinite possibilities. This vast emptiness is what is required for something to start. Imagine needing to start a project; action is not the first step, but instead brainstorming all the potentials, and then considering their possible outcomes. This can be called <em>tàiyáng</em> (greater yang).</p>
<img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/i_ching_02_kun.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4575"/><i>Hexagram 2, 坤 KŪN, the Responding</i>

<p>坤 KŪN is the second hexagram and is also considered to open the entire sequence. However its meaning comes from the inevitable following on from QIÁN in sequence, and its name means "the responding". The doubling of the trigram ☷ signifies all aspects of <em>Yīn</em> (Earth), and exists to respond to the initiating energy of QIÁN. It essentially represents all the actions of 'responding' to an energy, a suggestion, a plan. It's linked to Earth, because it is the <em>manifestation</em> of what was imagined to begin with in QIÁN. This is <em>tàiyīn</em> (greater yin)</p>
<img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2000px-Yin_and_Yang.svg_-150x150.png" alt="" class="wp-image-4550" width="112" height="112"/>

<p>Together, these hexagrams represent <em>Yīnyáng</em>, and the <em>Tàijí</em> symbol (specifically the black and white teardrop shapes). As the opening hexagrams of the I Ching, they form the 'parents', with all other hexagrams being combinations created by mixing the broken and unbroken lines of these two symbols.</p>
<img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/i_ching_29_kan.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4576"/><i>Hexagram 29, 坎 KǍN, the Abyss</i>

<p>坎 KǍN is the 29th hexagram, and is formed from the doubling of the trigram ☵. It is associated with the element <em>water</em> (specifically rushing or flowing water) and the moon. The image however is of an abyss or ravine, or darkness: a state of entrapment that we can find ourselves stuck in. The wisdom of this hexagram outlines the advice and approaches to getting ourselves out of such dangerous situations (which I have already written about extensively in my previous post on the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Year of the Earth Dog (opens in a new tab)" href="http://metametheus.net/year-of-the-earth-dog/" target="_blank">Year of the Earth Dog</a>, and my <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="review of that year (opens in a new tab)" href="http://metametheus.net/being-the-mountain-wolf/" target="_blank">review of that year</a>. This is <em>shàoyáng</em> (lesser yang).</p>
<img src="http://metametheus.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/i_ching_30_li.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-4577"/><i>Hexagram 30, 離 LÍ, the Clinging</i>

<p>離 LÍ is the 30th hexagram and the image is constructed by the repeating of the trigram ☲. Associated with the element <em>fire</em> and the sun, it represents clarity, illumination, and the radiance that brings together (hence an often translated title as "the clinging", in the sense of adhering to something. The idea of two things being paired together is linked with the idea of being able to perceive clearly the nature of the relationship between subject and object. Thus, a much needed quality to have when attempting to accomplish anything in the world. This is <em>shàoyīn</em> (lesser yin).</p>
<p>Both these hexagrams — darkness and light — are formed as the temporal manifestations of their 'primordial parents', initiation and response. They are timeless because in every other moment (the remaining 60 hexagrams) we can find ourselves experiencing either possibilities, responding to the situation, entrapment in darkness, or the clarity about the nature of our attachment to something.</p>
<p>The lines (broken or unbroken) that comprise the structure of the other 60 hexagrams come in four combinations, described as <em>tàiyáng</em>, <em>tàiyīn</em>, <em>shàoyáng</em>, and <em>shàoyīn</em>. That is, they are either stable and unchanging (greater yin/yang), or they are mutable, unstable, and about to change to their polarised state (lesser yin/yang). Each of these four states are represented by these four timeless hexagrams. </p>
<pre class="wp-block-verse">You better turn around and blow your kiss hello to life eternal.<br />— Jeff Buckley</pre>
<h2>Everything changes</h2>
<p>It is by this way that we can use the <strong>I Ching</strong> to understand the quality of the present moment, and the possible future moments that will emerge from it. The text and its framework was designed to provide advice as to how to adapt to any given moment and how it may change.</p>
<p>The four timeless hexagrams are providing us with the key ingredients of this understanding. We either initiate an action or respond to it; we are separated from others (and ourselves) in darkness or we we connect with others in relationship. These four ingredients, combined together in various measure, provide the essence of every moment we find ourselves in.</p>
<p>The <em>Upper Canon</em> explains the archetypes (according to the ancient Chinese understanding) of how the universe itself works. The first 30 hexagrams — underlined by the four timeless hexagrams — give us the structure of how we experience reality on a bigger-picture level. Heaven was considered an exemplar for human behaviour, and by modelling our ourselves, our values, and our virtues on Heaven it was said that we would become the "superior/accomplished person".</p>
<p>As it states in the <strong>Tao Te Ching</strong>:</p>
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。Rén fǎ Dì, Dì fǎ&nbsp;Tiān, <em>Tiān</em> <em>fǎ</em> Dào, <em>Dào</em> <em>fǎ</em> zìrán.</p><p>Humans [follow] the method of Earth, Earth [follows] the method of Heaven, Heaven [follows] the method of the Way, the Way [follows] the method of it-self-so-ing [its true nature].</p><cite><strong>Tao Te Ching</strong>, chapter 25 (my translation)</cite>
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<p>Our true nature is unique to us, and is how we 'human' (as a verb), in the same way that the Earth 'earths', Heaven 'heavens', and the <em>Dào</em> 'daos'. This is what is meant by the term<em> </em>自然 <em>zìrán</em>: to simply be oneself, completely naturally and authentically. And because we have these higher-level exemplars, we  don't have to <em>try</em> and be sacred (like Heaven), and we don't have to <em>try</em> and be always changing (like the <em>Dào</em>), because when we embrace our true nature, we will be, and effortlessly so.</p>
<p>For me, the lesson of the <em>Upper Canon</em> is that the 30 hexagrams contained therein are what I can expect to happen all the time in life. They describe the archetypal themes that I and everyone else encounter. The four timeless hexagrams teach me how to manoeuvre through the changes and these situations that I find myself in all the time.</p>
<p>As I sit on the threshold of the new Lunar Year and begin to journey through the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Year of the Earth Pig (opens in a new tab)" href="http://metametheus.net/2019-the-year-of-the-earth-pig/" target="_blank">Year of the Earth Pig</a>, I feel particularly equipped to adapt to any situation that may arise. Having spent the last 32 (I had two weeks off during that time) weeks learning to perceive and embody the wisdom of the <em>Upper Canon</em>, I feel confident that I can weave through what may emerge and use it to benefit my development as better human being.</p>
<p>I hope there is something in all of this for you to take away and benefit from. Here's to that!</p>
<pre class="wp-block-verse">It's been a long, long time coming,<br />And I know,<br />Change is gonna come.<br />— Greta Van Fleet</pre>
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