Original Meaning of the Zhouyi: Prefatory Volume

[Description: The River Diagram, arranged in black and white dots representing the numbers of Heaven and Earth.] The Great Commentary says: 'The River produced the Diagram, the Luo produced the Writing, and the sages modeled upon them.' It also says: 'Heaven is one, Earth is two; Heaven is three, Earth is four; Heaven is five, Earth is six; Heaven is seven, Earth is eight; Heaven is nine, Earth is ten. The heavenly numbers are five, the earthly numbers are five. The five positions correspond to each other and each has its complement. The total of the heavenly numbers is twenty-five; the total of the earthly numbers is thirty. The grand total of heavenly and earthly numbers is fifty-five. This is what accomplishes transformation and puts the spirits into motion.' These are the numbers of the River Diagram.

[Description: The Luo Writing. Dots arranged in a 3x3 grid: nine above, one below, three left, seven right, two and four as shoulders, six and eight as feet, five in the center.] 'Three on the left, seven on the right; two and four are the shoulders; six and eight are the feet.' Cai Yuanding said: 'From the Han dynasty, Kong Anguo and Liu Xin elucidated these images. In the Song, Master Shao Yong revealed them as such. It was Liu Mu who first transposed the two names, and subsequent scholars followed him. We now restore the original designations.'

[Description: Diagram showing the generation of the eight trigrams from the Supreme Ultimate through progressive binary division: Supreme Ultimate generates Two Modes, Two Modes generate Four Images, Four Images generate Eight Trigrams.] The Great Commentary says: 'The Changes has the Supreme Ultimate, which generates the Two Modes. The Two Modes generate the Four Images. The Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams. The Eight Trigrams determine fortune and misfortune.' Shao Yong said: 'One divides into two, two into four, four into eight.' The Commentary on the Trigrams says: 'Qian is one, Dui is two, Li is three, Zhen is four, Xun is five, Kan is six, Gen is seven, Kun is eight.'

[Description: The Prior Heaven (Fuxi) arrangement of the eight trigrams: Qian (south), Kun (north), Li (east), Kan (west), Dui (southeast), Xun (southwest), Zhen (northeast), Gen (northwest).] The Commentary on the Trigrams says: 'Heaven and Earth fix their positions. Mountain and Marsh exchange their breaths. Thunder and Wind press upon each other. Water and Fire do not oppose each other. The eight trigrams intermingle. Counting what has passed is going forward; knowing what is to come is going backward.' Shao Yong said: 'Qian is south, Kun is north, Li is east, Kan is west, Dui is southeast, Xun is southwest, Zhen is northeast, Gen is northwest. From Zhen to Qian is the forward direction; from Xun to Kun is the reverse.'

[Description: Two diagrams. (1) The sequence of the sixty-four hexagrams, showing how the eight trigrams are doubled through progressive binary division from the Supreme Ultimate, producing all sixty-four hexagrams. (2) The circular arrangement of the sixty-four hexagrams (the Prior Heaven circular diagram), with Qian at the top (south) and Kun at the bottom (north), and a square arrangement in the center.] What the preceding Eight Trigram sequence diagram displays is precisely what the Great Commentary means by 'the eight trigrams are arrayed in a sequence, and by doubling them...' The eight trigrams referred to are the upper three lines, identical to the previous diagram's eight trigrams. These are doubled with lower trigrams, each according to its own sequence, to produce sixty-four.

[Description: Two diagrams. (1) King Wen's sequence: Qian as father, Kun as mother; the three sons (Zhen eldest, Kan middle, Gen youngest) each take one yang line from Qian; the three daughters (Xun eldest, Li middle, Dui youngest) each take one yin line from Kun. (2) King Wen's arrangement (Later Heaven): Li south, Kan north, Zhen east, Dui west, Xun southeast, Qian northwest, Kun southwest, Gen northeast.] Qian is the father. Kun is the mother. Zhen is the eldest son. Kan is the middle son. Gen is the youngest son. Xun is the eldest daughter. Li is the middle daughter. Dui is the youngest daughter. [Each obtains their respective line from Qian or Kun.] As noted in the Commentary on the Trigrams, Shao Yong said: 'This is King Wen's arrangement of the eight trigrams -- the positions for practical application, the learning of the Later Heaven.'

[Description: The Hexagram Change Diagram, showing how all sixty-four hexagrams derive from simpler hexagrams through line changes.] The Image Commentary sometimes explains things in terms of hexagram change. This diagram is made to clarify that. The meaning within the Changes does not originate solely from the doubling of trigrams. All hexagrams with one yin and one yang line -- six each -- derive from Fu (Return) and Gou (Encounter). All hexagrams with two yin and two yang lines -- fifteen each -- derive from Lin (Approach) and Dun (Retreat). All hexagrams with three yin and three yang lines -- twenty each -- derive from Tai (Peace) and Pi (Standstill).

[Note: The Yarrow Stalk Divination Procedure (筮儀) section in the Prefatory Volume describes Zhu Xi's standardized method for performing Yijing divination using fifty yarrow stalks. The procedure involves four rounds of division and counting to determine each line, repeated six times to build a complete hexagram from bottom to top. This is the method Zhu Xi considered the original and correct form of Yijing divination, as opposed to the coin-tossing method that had become common in his time.]