Yijing

The Yijing, or Book of Changes, is a Chinese classic organized around sixty-four six-line figures called hexagrams. Its text and later commentaries interpret these figures as patterns of change.

Yin and yang: A Chinese conceptual pairing of complementary, interdependent forces associated with contrasting qualities. Its changing lines use broken and solid forms to express complementary forces.
I Ching divination: The practice of consulting the Yijing by generating and interpreting a hexagram. It names the broader procedure through which the classic is used for guidance.
Western Zhou dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from about 1046 to 771 BCE and shaped early Zhou political culture. The received tradition associates the classic’s core with the early Zhou world.
Oracle bone script: The earliest known Chinese writing system, inscribed on bones and shells for divination during the Shang dynasty. It provides an earlier divinatory practice distinct from consulting the Yijing’s hexagrams.
Oracle bone divination: A Shang-era divination practice in which heat-induced cracks on bones or shells were interpreted as answers. It contrasts with the Yijing’s later system of generated line figures and textual judgments.
Trigram: A three-line figure made from broken and solid lines in the Yijing system. Two trigrams combine to form each of the classic’s sixty-four hexagrams.
Three coins method: A method of generating Yijing lines by tossing three coins for each line. It offers a quicker alternative to the yarrow-stalk procedure.
King Wen of Zhou: A Zhou ruler traditionally credited with ordering the hexagrams and composing their judgments. His name anchors the traditional account of the classic’s formation.
Wang Bi: A third-century Chinese philosopher and commentator known for influential readings of the Laozi and Yijing. His commentary made the classic a major resource for metaphysical and philosophical interpretation.
Taixuanjing: A Han dynasty classic by Yang Xiong that models change through eighty-one three-line figures. It adapts the Yijing’s pattern-based approach into a different numerical and textual system.

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