Basic Principles of Numerology in the I Ching The Tao begot one. One begot two. Two begot three. And three begot the ten-thousand things. The ten-thousand things carry yin and embrace yang. 1 -Lao Zu Today, many people in the western hemisphere are vaguely aware of the I Ching, or the Book of Changes, as a sort of Chinese divination tool fewer have actually opened the book and, out of those that have, even fewer have been able to wrest meaning from it and it is a rare person indeed who is able to make practical use of it. Though there seem to be ten-thousand different ways to approach the I Ching, this paper shall endeavor only to elucidate the basic underlying principles of number that inhere in it. Daoist Cosmology 101: Yin & Yang According to ancient Chinese scriptures, such as the Dao De Jing, out of an ineffable something, which for lack of a better word, is called Dao (often translated as the way ), existence arose in an undifferentiated state called one; this one then differentiated into two complementary and opposing principles called yin and yang. Yin has a passive quality and is substantial and dark; yang has an active quality and is insubstantial and light. 2 Everything that exists is made up of these two fundamental energies but so long as they remain in perfect harmony nothing 1. Feng, Gia. Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage Books, 1972, p. 45 2. Feng, Gia, 1972.
much appears to be happening it is only when the third principle becomes activated, called taiji, or the great differentiation, that the universe, or the tenthousand things, is manifested. This is what Lao Zu is referring to when he states,...and three begot the ten-thousand things. 3 All phenomena are ultimately derived from yin and yang differentiating and interacting dynamically in different combinations through taiji. In the scriptures, yin and yang are often referred to as Heaven (or sky) & Earth, and the human being, which is associated with three, or taiji, finds itself in the midst of the ten-thousand things which are arising in the myriad interactions between them. Change: Harmony & Disharmony Within this system, every thing or event is understood to be in a process of seeking harmony and any manifested thing, by definition, is in a state of some kind of imbalance or disharmony 4 think of existence this way: yin is oil while yang is water and they have been placed inside of a jar; left at rest, the water will rest on top and the oil will rest on the bottom but someone has come along and shaken the jar up this is taiji now, for a time determined by the severity of the shaking, there will be a lot of movement and different shapes, configurations, or constellations dancing around in the jar; though it may seem chaotic, if all is left alone, everything 3. Ibid. 4. Huang, Alfred. The Numerology of the I Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols, Structures, and Traditional Wisdom. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2000.
is ultimately moving back towards its original stasis or harmony. Understanding existence like this, all phenomena are seen to be temporary configurations of the two primordial energies that are inherently moving back towards a state of simplicity or harmony. These are the changes that the I Ching is talking about and according to these principles, though the universe might be a bit more complicated than a jar of water and oil, it is possible to understand the nature of any phenomenon and even to predict the outcome of events. The purpose of the I Ching is to understand this process of seeking harmony through a system of numbers that describes how these changes occur hence, the book of changes. Patterns of Change: the Ba Gua The I Ching is a book of symbols that are made up from the eight primary gua, or tri-grams. Each tri-gram is made up of a combination of three yao. 5 There are two yao, which are symbols of yin and yang, yang being represented by a single line and yin by a broken line (see Fig. 1). Yang is one and yin is two, and all numbers that come after that are considered to repeat this pattern, odd numbers being a manifestation of yang and even numbers manifestations of yin. 6 Confucius says, in his Great Treatise on the I Ching, Two primary 5. Huang, Alfred, 2000. 6. Huang, Alfred, 2000, loc. 107
energies generate four primary symbols. Four primary symbols generate eight primary gua. Out of the two primary energies, or the two yao, there are four possible combinations: two yin yao, two yang yao, yin yao on top of yang yao, and yang yao on top of yin yao these are the four primary symbols called greater and lesser yang and greater and lesser yin. By adding one and then the other of the two primary energies to each of the four primary symbols, eight primary gua (trigrams) are generated, called: earth, heaven, mountain, lake, water, fire, wind, and thunder. These are called the ba gua, or eight gua. The ba gua combine with each other in sixty-four different ways to create sixty-four symbols that are made of smaller symbols of yin and yang. Because they are made up of the different possible combinations of yin and yang, each symbol represents both a certain number and a distinct process or phenomenon which can be understood by the nature of that number and its relationship to the ultimate process of harmonization. 7 Conclusion Though a delineation of the sixty-four hexagrams, or even of the ba gua, is beyond the scope of this paper, I hope that it has clearly explained the basis of I Ching numerology and so it may serve as an introduction for those who might wish to pursue the study of I Ching further. For those who are interested in pursuing a 7. Ibid.
deeper understanding of these principles, I recommend The Numerology of the I Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols, Structures, and Traditional Wisdom by Alfred Huang (and of course, a good translation of the I Ching itself, or better yet, several ).
Fig. 1
Bibliography Feng, Gia. Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. Huang, Alfred. The Numerology of the I Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols, Structures, and Traditional Wisdom. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2000.