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The trigrams are three-line patterns that represent general and universal qualities of experience. They are easy to understand in terms of their equivalents in Western astrology:
The Sun (Ch'ien) Associated Ideas ggggg The Father, The Originating One ggggg Origination, Life, Idea, Concept, Virtue, Male ggggg The Earth (K'un) gg gg The Mother, The Sustaining One gg gg Matter, Substance, Actualization, Realization, Female gg gg Saturn (Ken) gggggThe Youngest Son, The Loyal One gg gg Quiescence, Inaction, Support, Preparation gg gg Jupiter (Chen) gg gg The Oldest Son, The Commanding One gg gg Initiation, Beginning, Stimulus, Action ggggg Mars (Kan) gg gg The Middle Son, The Aggesive One ggggg Struggle, Resistence, Opposition, Injury, Blood, Death gg gg Venus (Tui) gg gg The Youngest Daughter, The Pretty One ggggg Yielding, Relaxation, Softness, Weakness, Sickness ggggg Mercury (Sun) ggggg The Oldest Daughter, The Smart One ggggg Extension, Spreading, Dispersal, Care, Supervision gg gg The Moon (Li) ggggg Middle Daughter, The Bright One gg gg Contraction, Limitation, Containment, Law, Ritual ggggg
Only the ideas associated with the Moon will be unfamiliar to anyone acquainted with Western astrology. The Moon has these properties of containment and contraction because it delimits, packages, and regulates time.
This astrological interpretation of the trigrams clarifies the various circular arrangements the reader should already be familiar with from his reading of Legge's introduction to the I Ching:
Sun ggggg ggggg gg gg ggggg ggggg Venus ggggg ggggg Mercury ggggg gg gg ggggg gg gg Moon gg gg ggggg Mars ggggg gg gg gg gg ggggg Jupiter gg gg gg gg Saturn ggggg gg gg gg gg gg gg gg gg Earth
The brightest are on the left (East), darkest on the right. Venus and Mercury are bound to the Sun as they are when viewed in the sky.
Moon ggggg gg gg ggggg ggggg gg gg Mercury ggggg gg gg Earth gg gg gg gg gg gg gg gg Jupiter gg gg ggggg Venus ggggg ggggg ggggg ggggg Saturn gg gg ggggg Sun gg gg gg gg ggggg ggggg gg gg Mars
What occurred between the time of Fu Hsi and that of King Wen to make this reorganization of the heavens necessary was probably the discovery of the apparent order of the planets. The apparent order of the planets is the sequence they appear to be in when viewed in the sky.
Notice the Saturn-Earth polarity and how the apparent order of the planets is displayed: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Earth. To put the planets in their apparent cosmic order is a subtle observation, beyond the ability of one individual. It took accumulated cultural experience to do this.
A person unfamiliar with astrology may choose to experience the trigrams directly. Do this:
