Jingfang Yizhuan Lower Volume

The Changes is image; the lines are imitation. It is the means by which the sages looked up to observe and looked down to examine, imaging heaven and earth, sun and moon, stars and constellations, plants and the ten thousand things. Follow it and there is harmony; oppose it and there is disorder. The subtle cannot be exhausted; the deep cannot be fathomed. Therefore milfoil stalks are sorted and lines are laid out for use in the world below. Divination divides into sixty-four hexagrams, matched to three hundred and eighty-four lines, arranged in eleven thousand five hundred and twenty counting rods, fixing the conditions of heaven, earth, and all things.

The images of heaven and earth, Qian and Kun, are augmented with the stems jia, yi, ren, and gui. The images of Zhen and Xun are matched with geng and xin. The images of Kan and Li are matched with wu and ji. The images of Gen and Dui are matched with bing and ding. The eight trigrams distribute yin and yang across six positions and the five phases. Brightness penetrates in four directions; transformation establishes the seasonal nodes. If heaven and earth did not transform, vital breath could not circulate.

Start of Spring, the first month's node, is at yin -- Kan hexagram, six in the first position; Start of Autumn shares the same assignment. Rain Water, the first month's mid-point, is at chou -- Xun hexagram, six in the first position; End of Heat shares the same. Waking of Insects, the second month's node, is at zi -- Zhen hexagram, nine in the first position; White Dew shares the same. Spring Equinox, the second month's mid-point, is at hai -- Dui hexagram, nine in the fourth position; both equinoxes share the same. Clear and Bright, the third month's node, is at xu -- Gen hexagram, six in the fourth position; Cold Dew shares the same. Grain Rain, the third month's mid-point, is at you -- Li hexagram, nine in the fourth position; Frost Descent shares the same.

Confucius said: 'The Changes has four levels of transformation. The first and second world-positions are Earth Transformation. The third and fourth world-positions are Human Transformation. The fifth and sixth world-positions are Heaven Transformation. The Wandering Soul and Returning Soul are Ghost Transformation.' In the eight trigrams: the Ghost line is the Binding line. The Wealth line is the Controlling line. The Heaven-and-Earth line is the Duty line. The Fortune-and-Virtue line is the Treasure line. The Same-Breath line is the Dedicated line.