Body-Function Theory & Divination Categories

All affairs under heaven involve fortune and misfortune; we entrust divination to illuminate their mechanisms. The principles of the world leave no visible traces; we borrow images to reveal their meaning. Thus Qian possesses the principle of strength, which we observe in the category of horses. So divination embeds the principles of fortune and misfortune within hexagram images. Yet if hexagram images were fixed and unchanging principles without a path of flexible adaptation, that would be unacceptable. The Yi means change and transformation, nothing more. For example, if today one observes plum blossoms and obtains the omen of Hexagram 49 (Revolution), and a girl plucks a flower—must a girl always pluck flowers on another day with the same hexagram? If today one calculates for peonies and obtains Hexagram 44 (Encountering), and they are trampled by a horse—must they always be trampled by horses? Moreover, what belongs to Dui is not limited to young women, and what belongs to Qian is not limited to horses. To say that another person plucking flowers or causing damage can all be truly verified—there must be specific correspondences. Alas! The way of divination requires flexible adaptation. Those who attain the way of flexible adaptation find it in the subtlety of heart-mind Yi!

In general, the method of divination is as follows: after forming the hexagram, first examine the line texts of the Zhouyi to determine fortune and misfortune. For instance, Qian's initial nine, "The dragon lies hidden; do not act," indicates that all matters should wait, and one should remain concealed. The nine in the second place, "The dragon appears in the field; it is advantageous to see the great person," indicates that one should seek audience with a noble person. All other cases follow this pattern. Next, examine the body and function of the hexagram to discuss the five-phase generation and control. Body and function are the theory of stillness and movement. The body is the subject; the function is the matter. When the function generates the body or they are in harmony, it is auspicious. When the body generates the function or the function controls the body, it is inauspicious. Then examine the sympathetic responses. If one hears auspicious words and sees auspicious signs, it is fortunate. If one hears ominous words and sees ominous signs, it is unfortunate. Seeing round objects means affairs are easily completed; seeing broken objects means affairs will ultimately fail. Finally, verify one's own state of movement and stillness. If sitting, the matter's response will be slow; if walking, the response will be fast; if running, even faster; if lying down, even slower. When all these factors are prepared, one can fully exhaust the way of divination. The Yi hexagram must be primary, with sympathetic responses secondary. If both are auspicious, great fortune; if both are inauspicious, great misfortune. If there is a mixture, then carefully examine the hexagram texts and the body-function-response relationships to determine fortune and misfortune. The key is flexible discernment; one must not be rigid.

When the numerical method is correct, one must still reason by principle before the interpretation is complete. If one discusses numbers without discussing principle, one becomes confined to a single view and the divination will not prove accurate. For example, if in divining about food one obtains Zhen, then Zhen corresponds to the dragon. But reasoning by principle, a dragon cannot actually be obtained—one should substitute carp or similar fish. Again, if in divining weather one obtains Zhen, there should be thunder. But if one divines Zhen in a winter month, reasoning by principle, how could there be thunder in winter? It should indicate wind shaking and trembling instead. Once you understand the above principles and further illuminate the reasoning, then the way of divination holds no remaining secrets.

Pre-heaven hexagrams determine fortune and misfortune based solely on the hexagram itself, without much use of the Zhouyi line texts. Post-heaven methods use both the line texts and hexagram texts. Why? Because in the pre-heaven method, one obtains the number before obtaining the hexagram—this is the Yi principle that existed before the Yi text, the Yi before its words. Therefore, one need not use the textual words but judges solely by the hexagram. The post-heaven method obtains the hexagram first and must use hexagram drawings—the Yi after its words. Therefore it uses the line texts together with the hexagram texts to make judgments. Moreover, post-heaven hexagram formation differs from pre-heaven, and the numbers are not the same. Modern practitioners mostly use: Kan 1, Kun 2, Zhen 3, Xun 4, Center 5, Qian 6, Dui 7, Gen 8, Li 9. But when the sages created the Yi and drew hexagrams, beginning with the Supreme Ultimate, Two Modes, Four Images, and Eight Trigrams, each doubling, the numbers naturally formed as: Qian 1, Dui 2, Li 3, Zhen 4, Xun 5, Kan 6, Gen 7, Kun 8. Therefore, hexagram formation in divination should properly use these numbers. Also, modern practitioners forming post-heaven hexagrams mostly do not add the hour. With only one hexagram and only one moving line, there is no path for flexible adaptation. Therefore, in post-heaven hexagram formation, one must add the hour to determine the moving line. For pre-heaven hexagrams, determining the timing of events is based on the hexagram's qi. For example, Qian and Dui respond on Geng, Xin, and metal-branch days; Kun on Xu and Hai day-hours; Dui on You day-hours. Zhen and Xun should respond on Jia, Yi, and wood-branch days; Zhen takes Mao, Xun takes Chen, and so forth. Post-heaven adds the hexagram number to the hour number, then differentiates the speed of response by whether one is walking, lying, sitting, or standing. When hexagram and hour numbers respond to the near term but cannot determine distant matters, one must combine pre-heaven and post-heaven hexagram numbers to reach a decision. In all hexagram judgments, the principles are clearly seen through the body-function generation-control relationships of the complete hexagram, supplemented by the Yi texts. Modern attempts to use the sixty Jiazi cycle's opposing positions—destructions, defeats, extinctions, and traces—to assist judgment are based on calendar selection methods that have nothing to do with the Zhouyi and should not be used.

In all divination judgments, body and function are naturally primary, yet there are cases that do not adhere to body-function rules. For example, in the case of the Xilin Temple plaque yielding Hexagram 23 (Mountain over Earth, Splitting Apart), the body, function, mutual, and changing hexagrams are all in harmony, which should be auspicious—yet it was not. Why? Because a temple is a place where purely yang people dwell, yet the hexagram shows purely yin lines, clearly manifesting the meaning of yin stripping away yang. This principle is very clear; one need not adhere rigidly to body-function analysis. Again, if someone asks "How are things today?" and obtains Hexagram 46 (Earth over Wind, Ascending) with the first line moving, the function controls the body hexagram, suggesting no food or drink. Yet someone still extended an invitation—though the meal was not lavish, an invitation did come. Why? The person at that time must have had a corresponding omen for that day, and the words "how are things" (如何) both contain mouth-radical characters, carrying the meaning of doubled Dui. There are also cases where the function does not generate the body, but the mutual and changing hexagrams do generate it, yielding good fortune—as when a young man with a joyful expression divined and obtained Hexagram 22 (Mountain over Fire, Adornment). And there are cases where the function does not generate the body and the mutual and changing hexagrams all control it, yielding misfortune—as when a mournfully lowing ox divined and obtained Hexagram 7 (Earth over Water, The Army). For the joyful young man, one could already sense good fortune; the Yi text also contains the auspicious phrase "rolls of silk come in abundance." Both indicators point to good fortune, and the mutual and changing hexagrams all generate—making it all the more auspicious. Though the function not generating the body is inauspicious, it does no harm. For the mournful ox, one could already sense misfortune; the Yi line text contains the ominous "the carriage bears a corpse." The mutual and changing hexagrams all control—making it all the more ominous. Though the function line does not control, it cannot conceal the misfortune. In using the Yi to judge hexagrams, one should verify by whichever principle prevails; one must not cling rigidly to a single method.

Many have obtained the numbers of the heart-mind Yi, but few possess the formula of body and function. In my youth I read the Yi texts, and as I grew I studied numerology, first obtaining the heart-mind hexagram numbers. Initially seeing the casting examples, I could determine fortune and misfortune—but it was like measuring the ocean with a gourd, vast and boundless. Later, a wise person taught me the body-function formula of the heart-mind Yi, and thereafter the art of divination began to find certainty. When tested, it proved accurate—like Youji shooting at a target, hitting the mark a hundred times out of a hundred. The key lies in distinguishing the body and function hexagrams, examining the principles of five-phase generation, control, and harmony, and thereby illuminating the mechanism of fortune, misfortune, regret, and distress. Thus the subtlety of Yi numerology first becomes visible, and the hexagram meaning of the Way of Yi is complete. Such truth exists in the world, but people rarely encounter it. Those who obtain this—how fortunate! Guard it as a secret!

What we call body and function is this: just as the Yi hexagram possesses the way of divination, the Yi hexagram serves as the body, and divination is its function. The terms 'body' and 'function' are borrowed to represent the static and dynamic hexagrams, to distinguish the omens of host and guest, and to serve as the standard for divination. In general, the body hexagram represents the subject, the function hexagram represents the matter, the mutual hexagram represents the middle stage of the matter, and the changing hexagram represents the matter's conclusion. The qi of the hexagram corresponding to the body should be flourishing, not declining. Flourishing means: Zhen and Xun in spring, Qian and Dui in autumn, Li in summer, Kan in winter, and Kun and Gen in the four seasonal transition months. Declining means: Kun and Gen in spring, Zhen and Xun in autumn, Qian and Dui in summer, Li in winter, and Kan in the four seasonal months. The body should receive generation from other hexagrams and should not receive control from them. 'Other hexagrams' refers to the function, mutual, and changing hexagrams. Generation means: if the body is Qian or Dui (metal), Kun or Gen (earth) generates it; if the body is Kun or Gen (earth), Li (fire) generates it; if the body is Li (fire), Zhen or Xun (wood) generates it. All others follow this pattern. Control means: metal body is controlled by fire, fire body is controlled by water, and so forth. The theory of body and function concerns the mechanism of stillness and movement, with the eight trigrams as host and guest. Through five-phase generation and control, the body represents the omen for oneself, while the function represents the inception of the matter. The body should receive generation from the function hexagram; the function should be controlled by the body hexagram. When the body is strong, fortune follows; when the body is weak, misfortune follows. It is unfavorable for the function to control the body, and it is also not beneficial for the body to generate the function. When the body's allies are many, the body's influence is strong; when the function's allies are many, the body's influence wanes. If the body hexagram is metal and the mutual and changing hexagrams are all metal, the body has many allies. If the function hexagram is metal and the mutual and changing hexagrams are all metal, the function has many allies. When the body generates the function, qi is drained—like summer fire encountering earth, qi is also drained. Between body and function, harmony means good fortune. The mutual hexagram represents the middle-stage response; the changing hexagram represents the final period. Therefore, if the function is auspicious but the changing hexagram is inauspicious, it means first good then bad; if the function is inauspicious but the changing hexagram is auspicious, first bad then good. When the body controls the function, all matters are auspicious; when the function controls the body, all matters are inauspicious. When the body generates the function, there is risk of loss and depletion; when the function generates the body, there is joy of gain and increase. When body and function are in harmony, all affairs proceed smoothly. Furthermore, if any hexagram in the reading generates the body, examine which hexagram it is.

When Qian generates the body: there is joyful benefit from official circles, or good fortune in fame and rank, or wealth through office, or winning a lawsuit, or profit from gold and treasures, or an elder bringing wealth, or a superior sending gifts, or joy from an official or noble. When Kun generates the body: there is joy from land and fields, or wealth gained through land, or benefit from village people, or advantage from a yin person (woman), or profit from grain and fruit, or joy from cloth and silk. When Zhen generates the body: there is benefit from forests and mountains, or wealth gained through woodlands, or income from the east, or joy arising from movement, or profit from timber trade, or satisfaction through a person whose surname relates to grass or wood. When Xun generates the body: there is likewise benefit from forests and mountains, or wealth from woodlands, or income from the southeast, or profit through a person with a plant-related surname, or gain from tea and fruit, or joy from tea, fruit, and vegetables. When Kan generates the body: there is joy from the north, or wealth received from the north, or profit from a person near water, or satisfaction from a person with the water radical in their name, or profit from trade in fish, salt, wine, goods, or documents, or gifts of fish, salt, or wine. When Li generates the body: there is wealth from the south, or joy from documents and writings, or profit from a forge or smelting yard, or wealth gained through a person with a fire-related surname. When Gen generates the body: there is wealth from the northeast, or joy from mountain fields, or wealth obtained through mountain forests and farmland, or wealth from a person of the Gong tone or with an earth-related character. Matters are stable, and affairs have proper beginning and end. When Dui generates the body: there is wealth from the west, or joyful events, or a source of profit in food, gold, jade, and goods, or a person of the Shang tone, or a joyful encounter with a person whose name contains the mouth radical, or the pleasure of host and guest, or matters of friends studying together.

Next examine which hexagram in the reading controls the body. When Qian controls the body: there is worry from official affairs, or anxiety about one's household, or loss of wealth and treasure, or damage in grain and gold, or anger from an elder, or offense given to a noble. When Kun controls the body: there is worry about land, or loss in land matters, or encroachment by a yin person (woman), or harm from petty people, or loss of cloth and silk wealth, or forfeiture of grain profits. When Zhen controls the body: there are false alarms and frequent fears, or inability to keep body and mind at peace, or supernatural calamity in the household, or encroachment by a person with a plant-related surname, or losses in mountain forests. When Xun controls the body: there is likewise harm from plant-surnamed people, or worry arising from mountain forests. In planning affairs, the person comes from the southeast; in household matters, beware of calamity from yin persons and young children. When Kan controls the body: there are matters of danger and entrapment, or worry about bandits and thieves, or disappointment from a person near water, or disaster arising from drinking, or harm from a water-radical-named person, or calamity from a northerner. When Li controls the body: there is worry from documents, or alarm from fire, or trouble from the south, or harm from a fire-related person. When Gen controls the body: affairs mostly go contrary and all plans meet obstruction. There may be loss of mountain forests or farmland, or encroachment by an earth-related person. Guard against disaster from the northeast, or worry that a gravesite is improperly situated. When Dui controls the body: the west is unfavorable, and there are disputes and arguments. A mouth-radical-named person may encroach, there may be damage and breakage, or worry arising from food and drink. When neither generation nor control is encountered, judge solely by the original hexagram.