The Eight Trigrams
Based on the Tai Chi symbol, trigrams are a universal symbol of natural balance and formed the foundations of Chinese philosophy, the I Ching and Feng Shui. These ancient symbols, first discovered by Fu Xi in 3300 BCE, contain great wisdom and incredibly advanced knowledge.
Individually, they teach us about important phenomena that affect life; collectively, they describe how nature works and show us how to live a naturally balanced life.
Trigram Formation
"In the beginning there was the one." Lao Zi (Lao Tse) the father of Taoism
Referring to the formation of the universe and the beginning of life, we can think of this "one" as being electricity in its natural form or the flow of electrons. The one is represented by a single solid line called Great Yang.
"From the one came the two"
According to legend, Great Yang divided and created Great Yin. Shown as two shorter yang lines, it is often wrongly referred to as a "broken" line. It shows how electrons attract other electrons, increase their mass and produce matter and magnetism. The two represents the manifest.
At the molecular level, matter has the ability to break down and change to another element to achieve what is known as a "noble state". Yang represents change and yin represents matter. As all forms of matter have a potential to change, we say that all yin creates yang.
Now that Greater Yang has divided itself and created yin, we can further sub divide them and create Lesser Yang and Lesser Yin. This shows that when yin reaches its peak, yang is born and vice versa. It is a constant rotation and occurs on all levels, from the cosmic to the microscopic.
| Lesser Yang | Lesser Yin |
|---|---|
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This is also depicted in this form.
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This shows that when yin reaches its peak, yang is born and when yang reaches its peak, yin is born. Similar to night and day, where one half of the world is in light, the other is in darkness; a constant revolution. This rotation or evolution occurs on all levels from the cosmic to the microscopic.
As Lao Zi said, "from the two came the three."From Yin and Yang, we see the formation of the Eight Trigrams.
