The Eight Trigrams (八卦, Bā Guà)

This video lecture course is an overview of the eight trigrams, or Ba Gua. It is part of a companion course series leading up to the release of my third book, I Ching, The Oracle.
Supplemental written materials and reference downloads, including a downloadable Ba Gua correspondences table: wp.me/p32or0-9Me
Timestamps:
00:48 Introducing the Eight Trigrams
01:16 Theoretical Origins of the Eight Trigrams (Yin and Yang Philosophy)
04:19 Eight Bodhisattvas and the Ba Gua
05:06 Eight Divinities of the Wu Shamans of Shang
05:28 Eight Immortals Overview
06:24 Han Xiangzi, artistic prodigy; immortality via divine blessing
06:35 Zhong Li Quan, warrior general; immortality via alchemy
06:47 Lu Dong Bin, leader and elite scholar; immortality via sutra recitations
07:00 Cao Guo Jiu, royalty and justice seeker; immortality via renunciation
07:14 He Xian Gu, shamaness, priestess; immortality via fairy spirit guide
07:26 Li Tie Guai, physician, pharmacologist; immortality via solitary practice
07:43 Zhang Guo Lao, alchemist, occultist; immortality via mystical potion
07:57 Lan Cai He, eternal youth; immortality via light and pure of heart
08:52 Eight Immortals and Ba Gua Correspondences
09:32 Ba Gua & Eight Archetypes of the Occultist
10:02 Introducing the Early Heaven and Later Heaven Ba Guas | Ref: “Lo Shu Magic Square,” • The Lo Shu Magic Squar...
10:50 Fuxi and the Early Heaven Ba Gua
11:24 King Wen and the Later Heaven Ba Gua
12:08 The Two Sequences of Eight Trigrams
12:18 Fuxi’s Early Heaven Ba Gua: Natural Laws of Flow
12:32 King Wen’s Later Heaven Ba Gua: How to Control the Flow
13:15 First Principles Playbook of the Taoist Occultist
13:24 First Principle of the Yi (Early Heaven Ba Gua)
13:40 Second Principle of the Yi (Later Heaven Ba Gua)
14:25 Wu Xing Five Movements Drive the Trigrams | Ref: “Wu Xing: Five Movements Toward Change,” • Wu Xing: Five Movement...
14:55 Early Heaven Ba Gua: Numerical Sequence and Order
16:24 Later Heaven Ba Gua: Numerical Sequence and Order
17:25 Twelve Zodiac Animals, the Ba Gua, and Jupiter
18:44 narration mentions six dark crosses that don’t appear until 18:56
18:57 narration mentions six light crosses that don’t appear until 19:07
19:28 Four Trigrams and Four Perfected Hexagrams Aligning with Equinoxes and Solstices; Asc, Dsc, Im, Mc; Four Directional Guardians
21:32 Revisiting the Two Ba Gua Arrangements and Wu Xing Forces (Infinity/Chaos vs. Bounds/Order)
22:17 Numerological Parity with the Yarrow Stalk Divination Process | Ref: “Yarrow Stalk Divination,” • Yarrow Stalk Divinatio...
22:58 Ancient Chinese Calculus? Similarities to DNA, Computing Processes, and the I Ching | Ref: “What is the I Ching?” • What is the I Ching (Y...
24:22 Traditional Sequence of the Trigrams; Overview of Trigram Correspondences and Symbolism
24:33 Heaven: Will, Purpose; Creativity, Inspiration
24:44 Lake: Harvest, Multiply; The Womb; Exchange, Commerce
25:04 Fire: Clarify, Enlighten, Attract; Intelligence, Expansion
25:21 Thunder: Incite, Provoke; Show of Force; Clear the Road
25:44 Wind: Gentle Influence; Fertility; Cultivation
25:59 Water: Catharsis; Reflection; Healing, Medicine; Depths; Darkness, Margins
26:18 Mountain: Stabilize, Sustain; The Peak; Stillness; Self-Control, Endurance
26:31 Earth: Receive, Enrich; Receiving; Reaping; Underworld
21:06 The Three Treasures (Jing, Qi, Shen) and the Trigrams
27:08 Eight Paths to Awakening; Eight States of Superconsciousness
27:55 Wind and Thunder (Wood; Arising, Accelerating)
28:06 Fire (Fire; Expanding, Advancing)
28:19 Earth and Mountain (Earth; Transforming; Balance)
28:36 Lake and Heaven (Metal; Disseminating; Order)
28:56 Water (Water; Dissolving, Flux)
29:21 Planetary Correspondences of the Trigrams and Wu Xing
29:22 Conclusion and Review of the Eight Trigrams
30:44 Mnemonic for remembering the eight trigrams
***
I Ching, The Oracle (North Atlantic Books, 2023), benebellwen.com/i-ching-the-o...
- Amazon (US): a.co/d/cmm0qLP
- North Atlantic Books, a California-based non-profit publisher: www.northatlanticbooks.com/sh...
- Penguin Random House: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

Пікірлер: 76

  • @BenebellWen
    @BenebellWen11 ай бұрын

    Apologies, the editing and audio are a bit choppy. The timing of the slides and voiceover narration are off in a few places. Timestamps provided in the video description box. There’s also a write-up on my blog with supplemental written materials and reference downloads: benebellwen.com/2023/08/22/ba-gua-the-eight-trigrams/

  • @TamuNgina

    @TamuNgina

    11 ай бұрын

    Yeah, but the quality contents SUPERB!!!🎉❤ I will share this video with my Qigong Master. This makes me wanna order TWO copies of the book!!!! Thank you!!

  • @perfidious333
    @perfidious33311 ай бұрын

    Always a good day when Benebell shares with us! 🙏

  • @karennielsen9248
    @karennielsen924811 ай бұрын

    Fascinating. I’ll have to watch it a dozen more times and study your book before it doesn’t all go directly over my head, but fascinating.

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    While there are 2x2x2, or eight, trigrams. 2 to the exponential power of 3. Then there are 2x2x2x2x2x2 , or 64, hexagrams. 2 to the exponential power of 6. Watching Luo Square and the He tu square helps me understand quite a bit more about this topic than I already knew. I think this should be the second video to watch about this topic. understanding Luo shus number 15 is 1+5 = 6 to understand why there are 6 lines in a hexagram, then understanding 8 trigrams that form the 8 by 8 grid of 64 hexagrams is the way it all works. 2 to the exponential powers are interesting to me because the basis of this is all binary, a 0 and 1 or an x and o, a positive and negative...a slow or busy day. polarity. positives and negatives.

  • @rexnemo

    @rexnemo

    4 ай бұрын

    @@InternetSumerian-le6rp What I find intriguing is how the barcodes were allegedly inspired by the Hexagrams of the I Ching !

  • @NigelJackson
    @NigelJackson11 ай бұрын

    Thank you for this illuminating exposition on the Trigrams. The Former Heaven and Later Heaven arrangements of the Trigrams fascinate and puzzle me...the placement of certain Trigrams in both arrays is still mysterious to me. The Fu Hsi array of Former Heaven being based (according to Ong Hean Tatt) on the 'mutual production relationship' of the 5 Elements harmoniously giving rise to each other in circular arrangement reminds me of the paradaisical 'Golden Age' when primordial humanity and the world lived in accord with the Tao - whereas the Later Heaven array of King Wen, based on the 'mutual destructive relations' of the 5 Elements, where the Trigrams are arranged to overcome or conquer each other reflects conflict and defence... (The writer Ong Hean Tatt attributes the Generation cycle of Wuxing with Earlier Heaven Bagua, the Destruction cycle with Later Heaven array - but the 'Qimeng fulun' of I Ching and other Chinese texts actually state the reverse, correlating the Wuxing Destruction cycle to Early Heaven and Generation Cycle to Later Heaven array....which is right? I don't know...)

  • @SnakeAndTurtleQigong
    @SnakeAndTurtleQigong4 ай бұрын

    Thanks so much! I've been having fun making a podcast with my wife about our studies of the Yijing while living in a Daoist monastery.

  • @WiteDahlia
    @WiteDahlia11 ай бұрын

    This is a good one for the binder notebook! Very clearly explained, thank you ❤

  • @513coltrane
    @513coltrane11 ай бұрын

    wonderful presentation, Ken editor of Red Pine Bill Porter

  • @LouValcourt
    @LouValcourt11 ай бұрын

    This is so fascinating! I love patterns and numbers in symbolism. To me it’s evidence that the Universe is not random but filled with order and meaning.

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    While there are 2x2x2, or eight, trigrams. 2 to the exponential power of 3. Then there are 2x2x2x2x2x2 , or 64, hexagrams. 2 to the exponential power of 6

  • @rexnemo
    @rexnemo4 ай бұрын

    I find the explanations about magical squares absolutely fascinating . You have clearly done a lot of reading on the subjects that you discuss in these videos . Thank you for these interesting videos about a subject which is not easy to find out about .

  • @Jumong-appa
    @Jumong-appa11 ай бұрын

    Really impressive stuff....heard that FuXi was the ancient Priest-King archetype like Melchizedek or Gilgamesh, who after the Great Flood had knowledge of the secrets of the Universe

  • @ieatlolz
    @ieatlolz11 ай бұрын

    These videos are so important! Its so difficult to find comprehensive and reliable material on taoist theory and praxis. I am extremely grateful that you continue to provide such rich resources for free!! If possible I think a better microphone would really improve your content, the audio quality is very tinny which makes it difficult to watch multiple videos. Thank you again!

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    Yes she is a professional at this. I think few notice the symbol of the Tao is serpentine two snake heads intertwined much like what are known as "gogok" artifacts found in the east orient..japan/korea

  • @dog_biter
    @dog_biter11 ай бұрын

    You are very generous to share so much, thank you!

  • @dth92301
    @dth9230111 ай бұрын

    Great video and book is pre-ordered. Awaiting delivery ❤

  • @johnniefernandez407
    @johnniefernandez4079 ай бұрын

    I love your work. Thank you for giving this collection of knowledge to the world and me.

  • @elly6136
    @elly61367 ай бұрын

    Wow ❤ just wow 😵 it all connects. Amazing!

  • @wenna_l
    @wenna_l10 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much Benebell for all the precious informations you give! And the time you spend editing your videos. I pre-ordered your book 😊 Really looking forward to read it 😍

  • @ngonfinda9606
    @ngonfinda960611 ай бұрын

    Great video hope to see more in this series soon

  • @hamiltonsarain9608
    @hamiltonsarain960811 ай бұрын

    I really enjoy your presentations and I'm looking forward to acquiring the tome. 😁 I'll step up the training in the meantime. I've been kinda lazy lately. Tieguai Li is my Chinese "patron saint." I'm a western beggar come to learn some of those good Chinese medicine ways.

  • @facelessnameless
    @facelessnameless11 ай бұрын

    Best video on the topic

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    I am very impressed at how she explained how the Luo Shu square is the basis for the number 6 as 15 = 1+5=6. This should be basis introductory knowledge to understanding I ching but never learned of it or seen anything on other online pages until I saw this channel. Very excellent work

  • @the36thchamber89
    @the36thchamber8910 ай бұрын

    Excellent video, more like this, please!

  • @GuiaShopaholic
    @GuiaShopaholic7 ай бұрын

    @Benebell. I am so grateful for your efucayional videos ❤❤❤

  • @macinvictus
    @macinvictusАй бұрын

    Super helpful...definitely integrating this

  • @thomasbeauvais1727
    @thomasbeauvais172711 ай бұрын

    I can't wait for this book. Less than a month to go 🎉

  • @NetherworldBibliotek
    @NetherworldBibliotek11 ай бұрын

    I watched your video 'why isn't the I Ching trending': if I don't have a strong understanding of Chinese culture, how accurately/insightfully can I read the I Ching?

  • @PianoChuck
    @PianoChuck5 ай бұрын

    This is awesome!!! So much new information. Thank you for expanding these ideas. Also I just ordered your book. Technically I will have the three now. I need to do a better job at reading since I’ve been all over the place in my studying.

  • @kozymoon664
    @kozymoon66411 ай бұрын

    Wow! Break it down sister!🎉

  • @DA130885
    @DA1308855 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much for this information 🦋🌈

  • @DaraDione
    @DaraDione11 ай бұрын

    Wow. Mind blown but will soon settle after I receive your I Ching book and begin studying. :) Thankfully, the Immortal Order my SKT is associated with is supporting me through my “healing year” as I immerse myself in the SKT via Book of Reading and I look forward to learning more. Thank you! Blessings!

  • @brokeheartwolf3733
    @brokeheartwolf373311 ай бұрын

    🙏☯️🌀Thank You Much.😊

  • @darkydarksoul93
    @darkydarksoul933 ай бұрын

    Super cool

  • @kwanelesigcau3218
    @kwanelesigcau32186 ай бұрын

    Interesting video, definitely over my head. I think I am battling to wrap my head around how north written below south on cardinal diagram. Silly struggle but I would like query this with respect to your research and expertise.

  • @tewtravelers9586
    @tewtravelers95863 ай бұрын

    It seems the trigrams would be perfectly paired corresponding to their shared bigrams. Using the five elements kind of throws me off…like turtles all the way down logic. Still, I absolutely love the Yi and its design. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

  • @PlutoPlanetPower
    @PlutoPlanetPower11 ай бұрын

    Thank you for another great educational video! I've always wondered and I'm curious if you've come across anything that discusses this - do you know where the hanzi come from for each of the trigrams? None of them actually have the meaning of their associated natural element. For example, 離 literally means to leave or be separated, but how did that come to represent Fire? Or 乾 literally means dry but represents Heaven in the Ba Gua. The characters for the 10 heavenly stems and 12 earthly branches also seem to have nothing to do with what they represent.

  • @GuiaShopaholic
    @GuiaShopaholic7 ай бұрын

    Educational

  • @Virtus231
    @Virtus2312 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @BenebellWen

    @BenebellWen

    2 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much!

  • @joelster23
    @joelster2311 ай бұрын

    Hey Benebell, I really appreciate your work! I pre-ordered the new book as soon as I saw this. Re-edit: ok I have a totally different question: Why are Heaven and Lake considered Yin in polarity when they are Yang trigrams? Both on page 28 and in Appendix E of The Tao of Craft, they are listed as Yin and this is very confusing? Please help! 🙏

  • @expressionamidstcacophony390
    @expressionamidstcacophony3909 ай бұрын

    I've run into 「八極陣」, which is translated as "eight trigrams" by a couple different translators, but which doesn't seem to return anything useful when searched on dictionary or wiki sites. Any idea what these translators know that I don't?

  • @danielmenendez8249
    @danielmenendez824922 күн бұрын

    Hi Benebell, I think the “sunset” in image at 2:04 should be near the middle by autumn equinox. Could you please clarify this for me?

  • @littlelightowl1821
    @littlelightowl18215 ай бұрын

    Thanks

  • @BenebellWen

    @BenebellWen

    5 ай бұрын

    Thank you! 💖

  • @tangentreverent4821
    @tangentreverent482111 ай бұрын

    Have you heard of anyone using the former and latter heaven at the same time to examine the relationship of the environment and practitioner?

  • @IVNVKNG
    @IVNVKNG3 ай бұрын

    I love you

  • @defiantclass
    @defiantclass10 ай бұрын

    Do the hexagrams have correspondences to compass directions?

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    I remember reading that neolithic chinese geomancy involved people putting metal lodestones (strongly magnetic natural iron) on pieces of wood floating in water to have them face northward. This is how compasses were discovered

  • @mauricejones5962
    @mauricejones59626 ай бұрын

    I have purchased both Tao of Craft and your I Ching and there's just one thing I'm confused about: Surrounding the seal of the Lady of the Ninth Heaven in one diagram and the Early and Later Ba Gua in another are 36 hexagrams. I've gone page by page with other readers and we can't find any reference to these 36 hexagrams!! Can you please tell us the significance of these hexagrams?!

  • @juann268
    @juann2682 ай бұрын

    In the introductory classes to a TCM course we were told fire is arising and wood is expanding. Were they mistaken or are there dissenting views on this? Later on we saw in acupuncture there is a bit of disagreement between schools.

  • @BenebellWen

    @BenebellWen

    2 ай бұрын

    That would be the first time I have ever heard wood as expanding and fire as rising. Sure there are many subtle differing approaches to correspondences, but as a universal base, we do tend to see wood as associated with rising, germinating energy, and fire as spreading, expansive energy.

  • @juann268

    @juann268

    2 ай бұрын

    @@BenebellWen Thank you. After three years we began to notice it's not a very good school. Lots of things like this, so I'm not surprised.

  • @nemesisurvivorleon
    @nemesisurvivorleon3 ай бұрын

    Taoist mysticism : mountainous piles of tables and charts

  • @JackChanek
    @JackChanek11 ай бұрын

    This was so interesting and informative; I'm perpetually in awe of the amount and quality of educational content you put out. I cannot wait for your book!

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    I like helping people understand the i ching. I think the Three Truths and Cao Dai traditions are definitely relevant. Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian teachings all in one synthesis. While there are 2x2x2, or eight, trigrams. 2 to the exponential power of 3. Then there are 2x2x2x2x2x2 , or 64, hexagrams. 2 to the exponential power of 6. Hope I can help you learn something new, there are many mathematical properties of the book of changes

  • @dakotapeters5654
    @dakotapeters56543 ай бұрын

    Lol mysterious lady of the 9th Heaven that's hilarious I just happened to notice that the angel picture tarot card has a male face in the back

  • @ISGSAGE
    @ISGSAGE3 ай бұрын

    8 Trigrams 64 Palms!!!✋🏾

  • @dakotapeters5654
    @dakotapeters56543 ай бұрын

    5:27 Do them in a zigzag pattern lol Sky, Moon, Time, Earth / East, Mountain, West, Winds. Seems like it fits pretty well not to mention sky is opposite symbol of earth wind is opposite of east cause wind always hits western side means it comes from east direction. That and moon and time are 2 different forms of reflection aparently but idk 😆

  • @dakotapeters5654

    @dakotapeters5654

    3 ай бұрын

    All of the symbols diagonal from eachother and equally far apart are opposite of eachother

  • @IVNVKNG
    @IVNVKNG3 ай бұрын

    I like you so much

  • @dakotapeters5654
    @dakotapeters56543 ай бұрын

    Asians are so good at m ...making things fit together perfectly, creating and solving puzzles, etc... wonder how good they are at matchmaking a man and woman together... just curious cause I'm not very good at it and my fellow Americans americant find or make a good match for me... is it just me?😅

  • @kevincaspersen4334
    @kevincaspersen433411 ай бұрын

    How does one become an I ching practioner?

  • @513coltrane

    @513coltrane

    11 ай бұрын

    I Ching can be used in many ways. And it has many levels to reveal. I found it useful to "adopt" a trigram as a signature symbol. For me it is mountain. How did I choose mountain? It really came to me through using the book, and feeling that this image was somehow important to me. Another way to get into it is to do readings for someone on a regular basis. This gets you into the healing and mystical aspects. The publishing of this version by Benebell is a wonderful moment in and of itself in which we can learn more. It is a time to celebrate this opportunity and to dedicate time to this work. Thank you Benebell for this wonderful blossoming in the history of I Ching.

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    Imagine it as the inner way of seeing your own being illustrated as an archetype on which all change is based. that is why it is called the book of changes. also, the solid and broken lines are what binary was actually based off of, not the other way around. so you could picture each broken like as a 0 or 1, or an x and o for example. imagine each line as a busy and lazy day. an aggressive man and submissive female. look at the black and white Tao symbol as two intertwining snake, one good and one evil or negative and positive for example.

  • @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    @InternetSumerian-le6rp

    7 ай бұрын

    @@513coltrane I think the most important thing to understand is her videos of Luo Shu square. very fundamental. interesting articles about it and He Tu you can find elsewhere too

  • @shinobu19
    @shinobu195 ай бұрын

    Anetch Hrak

  • @yzfwing7439
    @yzfwing7439Ай бұрын

    韩国🇰🇷的灵感来源

  • @amberwang7639
    @amberwang763911 ай бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @BenebellWen

    @BenebellWen

    11 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much!