THE TRIGRAM LI, the Clinging, is made up of one broken Yin line hemmed in by two strong Yang lines. Li is LIGHTNING, and represents the MIDDLE DAUGHTER. Li is also represented by the sun, brightness, heat, and dryness. The character of the trigram suggests something firm on the outside but hollow, weak, and yielding within. This trigram strongly implies dependence, but the kind of dependence which is positive and nourishing – as when the plant “clings” to the soil and grows or when “the sun and the moon attain their brightness by clinging to heaven.” The yielding element in Li is the central line, hence its image is of a strong yet docile type of cow.
Its element is FIRE and as fire flames upwards, the phrase “that which is bright rises” applies to Li. In the spiritual or divination sense, the brightness of this trigram offers the potential (if the illumination of the brightness stays consistent) for its light to “illuminate” the world. Li occupies the east in the Early Heaven arrangement, but under the Later Heaven arrangement it is in the south, which represents the summer sun that illuminates all earthly things. So in applying the formulas for Yang dwellings we use SOUTH as the direction of Li. Its number is 9.
7. THE TWO TRIGRAM ARRANGEMENTS
The eight trigrams are the root symbols of the I Ching’s 64 hexagrams. Each trigram is a combination of three straight lines that are either broken or unbroken – much like dots and dashes in a binary code. Trigrams collectively symbolize a trinity of world principles recognized as the subject (man), the object having form (earth), and the content (heaven). The bottom line is earth, the middle is man, and the top line is heaven.
A significant feature of the trigrams is that they transform, and in doing so create new aspects. This is why we have two arrangements of the trigrams – the Early Heaven and the Later Heaven arrangement thus producing two Pa Kuas – the Yin and Yang Pa Kua. In the Early Heaven arrangement the transformations are expressed as “Heaven and Earth determining the directions” – signified by Chien and Kun; “Mountain and Lake uniting” (Ken and Tui); “Thunder and Wind arousing each other” (Chen and Sun); and as “Water and Fire (Kan and Li) not combating” each other. This summary of the trigram relationships reflects their arrangement in the Early Heaven Pa Kua. These descriptions feature in the application of Yin feng shui of grave sites.
In the Later Heaven arrangement, the trigrams express a seasonal cyclical relationship so that their place in the Pa Kua changes. For feng shui purposes it is very significant to note how these trigrams change locations/directions. This movement of places suggest implications on the luck on houses as a result of the way waters (i.e. rivers) flow towards the house/building from one direction and exit in another direction. The same interpretation can also be analyzed with regard to roads that are in the vicinity of your home. Generally when water or roads flow towards the home from an Early Heaven direction (EHD) and flow out in a Later Heaven direction (LHD), the water reflects luck coming from heaven flowing to earth and is auspicious for Yang houses. Moving in the other direction is not auspicious and suggests illness, death, and loss. So note the following summary of the EHD and LHD of the directions based on the trigram transformations of the two Pa Kuas. When roads or rivers near your home flow in the following way they are said to be auspicious for the home.
The trigram Chien moves from south (in the Early Heaven arrangement) to the northwest (in the Later Heaven arrangement), so when roads or rivers come towards the home from the south and move away in a northwesterly direction the road is auspicious and benefits the father of the household.
The trigram Kun moves from north to the southwest, so roads or rivers moving towards the home from the north and away in a southwesterly direction are auspicious and benefit the mother of the household.
The trigram Chen moves from northeast to east so roads or rivers moving towards the home from the northeast and away in a easterly direction are auspicious and benefit the eldest son in the household.
The trigram Sun moves from southwest to southeast so roads or rivers moving towards the home from the southwest and away in a southeasterly direction are auspicious and benefit the eldest daughter of the household.
The trigram Tui moves from southeast to west so roads or rivers moving towards the home from the southeast and away in a westerly direction are auspicious and benefit the youngest daughter of the household.
The trigram Ken moves from northwest to northeast so roads or rivers moving towards the home from the northwest and away in a northeasterly direction are auspicious and benefit the youngest son in the household.
The trigram Kan moves from west to north so roads or rivers moving towards the home from the west and away in a northerly direction are auspicious and benefit the middle son of the household.
The trigram Li moves from east to south so roads or rivers moving towards the home from the east and away in a southerly direction are auspicious and benefit the middle daughter in the household.
The Yin Pa Kua is based on the arrangement of the trigrams around it in accordance with the Early Heaven sequence. In this arrangement, the eight trigrams are named in a sequence of pairs. The Early Heaven sequence is also known as the Primal Arrangement. It was designed by the original founder Fu Hsi, and under this arrangement the two most important trigrams, Chien and Kun – which are the creative and the receptive, heaven and the earth – are in the south and north compass points respectively. Chien is totally Yang and Kun is totally Yin and in the Early Heaven arrangement they form the north-south axis of any given space.
Then follows the Ken and Tui axis i.e. the mountain and the lake. Their forces are interrelated, in that the wind blows from the mountain to the lake while clouds and mists rise from the lake to the mountain. The relationship suggested is thus circular. The Ken-Tui axis is represented by the directions northwest and southeast in this Yin arrangement.
The third axis is formed by Chen and Sun i.e. thunder and wind, which strengthen each other. This is positioned in the northeast and southwest.
Primal Arrangement
The trigrams Li and Kan, which are fire and water, make up the concluding axis. Though these two elements appear at first to be irreconcilable opposites in the physical world, according to Fu Hsi, in their Primal or “original” state they balance each other so that there is in reality no conflict between them. It is vital to understand this special relationship between the two most destructive and also most powerful elements. While they appear to clash, these two elements also have the potential to harness great power. In the Early Heaven sequence, fire and water occupy east and west respectively and their equivalent numbers here – 3 and 7 – add up to the most auspicious 10. So the Early Heaven relationship between these two elements suggests some powerful force within. Note the sum of 10 prevails in all the four pairs of trigrams suggesting an inner strength to the combinations.
It is further suggested that when the trigrams begin to move and intermingle, a double movement takes place: first the usual clockwise movement which is cumulative and expanding forward, moving and ascending, so that as time progresses this forward movement determines the events which come to pass; second, there is also an opposite backward motion, which folds and contracts, even as time passes, thereby creating “seeds” for the future. The explanation is that if the essence of this backward movement is understood, then the future unfolds clearly.