An Approach to the 'I-CHING'

by Frank C. Fung - 1st published in December, 2004.

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Section 4 - Consultation with the Lords Above

Topic I - Introduction for this Section :

{ Consultation with the Lords Above } ( ) in the 'I-CHING' , is, to some extent, similar to :

• the reading of { TAROT CARDS } in Western culture,
• gazing into a { CRYSTAL BALL } to tell the future, in Gypsy & other traditions,
• consultations in Astrology,
• and so-on-and-so-forth.

The author's view is that these follow from two (2) tracks of thoughts / believes :

• tapping into the { Sub-conscious } ,

• predicting the { Unkonwn } from the { Known } .

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Topic II - Tapping into the { Sub-conscious } :

The analogy here is this :

Suppose you went into the elevator this morning and there was a man at the back :

• wearing a { BLACK SHIRT }, a { WHITE TIE }, and an { ORANGE SUIT } .

10 Seconds after you got out of the elevator, we ask you { what color TIE is the man at the back wearing ? }

You probably will come up with the correct answer.

But how about if we ask you the same question :

• one day later, or
• six (6) months thereafter ;

  will you be able to answer correctly.

The question here is, of course, whether information collected at the sub-conscious level fade-away ?

The proposal here is that thru { Concentration / Meditation / Zen - }, we can tap into the { Sub-conscious } for fuller information.

But then again, are { sub-conscious analysis } better, and/or more accurate ?

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Topic III - Predicting the { Unknown } from the { Known } :

The analogy here is this :

Suppose we went to a Baseball Game and the Pitcher threw a pitch, sending the baseball flying towards the { Man-At-Bat } .

The { Man-At-Bat } swung his bat, hit the baseball, sending it flying in the opposite direction.

The question is :

• Did the { Man-At-Bat } swung his bat at random and hit the baseball ?

• Or was the { Man-At-Bat } able to predict the flight-path of the baseball,
  • based on his own past experience, or

  • based on his knowledge of the laws of Physics,

  and swung his bat accordingly.

If so, can we not then, by the same token, predict also :

• the paths of Galaxies within the Universe,

• the course of Human History, with Humanity making decisions both in a collective sense and in an individual sense,

• the course of our own everyday lives ?

{ Consultation with the Lords Above } is then an exercise in { predicting the Unknown }, based on { what is already Known } , thru a [ medium / procedure ] that may seem [ mythical / not totally understood ] at the present time.

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Topic IV - Ceremonies for the { Consultation with the Lords above } :

There are usually three (3) kinds of ceremonies used in the { Consultation with the Lords Above } :

• The { Ceremony with the 50 Sticks } , which is the traditional & formal ceremony,

• The { Ceremony using 3 copper-coins in an empty Turtle Shell }, which is believed to have derived from ( guiguzi ) of the ( Chun Qiu ) era, ( circa 770 B.C. - 476 B.C. ) .

• { Flipping a Coin } 6-times, which is the 'rather-convenient' way.

We then bring you this version of the { Ceremony with the 50 sticks } from the book, the { Original Meaning of the I-CHING } , ( yijingbenyi ) ,

• written by ZHU XI , ( zhuxi ) , 1130-1200 A.D. from the [ SUNG Dynasty ] .

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Topic V - The Translation of the Text :

For the { Ceremony for the Consultation with the Lords Above } ( shiyi ) , our translation shall skip-over the sections on { proper dress } , { burning incense } , { facing North } , { asking the questions } , etc. and instead concentrate on the [ combinatorial counting procedure ] .

For the translation, we now [ identify / define ] the following [ named-spaces ] for better ease-of-translation purposes :

• the space between the { Little Finger } and the { 4th Finger } on the Left Hand shall be known as [ Space-A ] ,

• the space between the { 4th Finger } and the { Middle Finger } on the Left Hand shall be known as [ Space-B ] ,

• the space between the { Middle Finger } and the { Index Finger } on the Left Hand shall be known as [ Space-C ] .

We then have the following translation :

• Take 50 Sticks and put one (1) Stick aside on-the-side.

• Split the remaining 49 Sticks into two ( 2 ) piles, one pile on-the-left and one pile on-the-right.

• Take One (1) Stick from the [ pile-on-the-left ] and put it into [ Space-A ] ,

• Take [ 4 Sticks at-a-time ] from the remaining [ pile-on-the-left ] , until either :
  • 1 Stick remains, or
  • 2 Sticks remain, or
  • 3 Sticks remain, or
  • 4 Sticks remain.

• Put the [ remaining / remainder ] { 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 Stick/s } into [ Space-B ] ,

• take [ 4 Sticks at-a-time ] from the [ pile-on-the-right ] , until either :
  • 1 Stick remains, or
  • 2 Sticks remain, or
  • 3 Sticks remain, or
  • 4 Sticks remain.

• Put the [ remaining / remainder ] { 1 , 2 , 3 , or 4 Stick/s } into [ Space-C ] ,

• Collect the Sticks from [ Space-A ] , [ Space-B ] & [ Space-C ] and put these into the [ 1st Hole ] in the Box.

• Collect the remaining Sticks left-over from the [ take-4-Sticks-at-a-time ] procedures and recombine these back into one-single pile.

• Split this pile of Sticks into two (2) piles, one pile on-the-left & one pile on-the-right.

• Repeat the procedure above to get Stick/s into [ Space-A ] , [ Space-B ] & [ Space-C ] .

• Collect the Sticks from [ Space-A ] , [ Space-B ] & [ Space-C ] and put these into the [ 2nd Hole ] in the Box.

• Collect the remaining Sticks left-over from the [ take-4-Sticks-at-a-time ] procedures and recombine these back into one-single pile.

• Split this pile of Sticks into two (2) piles, one pile on-the-left & one pile on-the-right.

• Repeat the procedure above to get Stick/s into [ Space-A ] , [ Space-B ] & [ Space-C ] .

• Collect the Sticks from [ Space-A ] , [ Space-B ] & [ Space-C ] and put these into the [ 3rd Hole ] in the Box.

• Look at the [ number of Sticks ] in each of the [ 1st Hole ] , [ 2nd Hole ] & [ 3rd Hole ] and draw the [ 1st Line ] of the Hexagram accordingly.

• Repeat the same procedure ( starting with 49 Sticks each time ) to get the [ 2nd Lines ] , [ 3rd Line ] , [ 4th Line ] , [ 5th Line ] , & [ 6th Line ] of the Hexagram, so that there are a total of eighteen (18) [ Splits ] altogether.

• Take the one (1) Stick originally put-aside and recombine it with the 49 Sticks, and put the 50 Sticks away for storage to end the ceremony.

In the next topic below, we shall find out how to convert the [ number of Sticks ] in the [ 1st Hole ] , [ 2nd Hole ] & [ 3rd Hole ] into a [ 'Yin Line' ] or a [ 'Yang Line' ] .

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Topic VI - The Concept of [ QI ] vs. [ OU ] :

We simply state the possible results of the [ Combinatorial Counting Procedure ] above :

• The number of sticks in the [ 1st Hole ] is either [ 5 ] or [ 9 ] ,

• The number of sticks in the [ 2nd Hole ] is either [ 4 ] or [ 8 ] ,

• The number of sticks in the [ 3rd Hole ] is either [ 4 ] or [ 8 ] .

We shall have a full [ explanation / examination ] of this when we move onto { Combinatorial Mathematics of the 'I-CHING' } in Section 6 .

Let us now introduce the concept of { vs. } , or { [ QI ] vs. [ OU ] } .

• This is a concept used extensively in Chinese Mathematics Literature, but is often confusing, because its definition can be quite 'loose' at times.

In our context here, it is defined as follows :

• a { [ 5 ] in the [ 1st Hole ] } is [ QI ] , and a { [ 9 ] in the [ 1st Hole ] } is [ OU ] ;

• a { [ 4 ] in the [ 2nd Hole ] } is [ QI ] , and a { [ 8 ] in the [ 2nd Hole ] } is [ OU ] ;

• a { [ 4 ] in the [ 3rd Hole ] } is [ QI ] , and a { [ 8 ] in the [ 3rd Hole ] } is [ OU ] .

We then have the following table and the corresponding { 'Yin or Yang Line' } :

• a [ 'OLD YANG' Line ] ( ) is then a { 'Yang Line' } that is 'ripe-for-change' ,
  • and it is characterized by 3 [ QI ]'s .

• a [ 'YOUNG YIN' Line ] ( ) is then a { 'Yin Line' } that is 'fresh' and does not change ,
  • and it is characterized by 2 [ QI ]'s & 1 [ OU ] .

• a [ 'YOUNG YANG' Line ] ( ) is then a { 'Yang Line' } that is 'fresh' and does not change ,
  • and it is characterized by 2 [ OU ]'s & 1 [ QI ] .

• a [ 'OLD YING' Line ] ( ) is then a { 'Yin Line' } that is 'ripe-for-change' ,
  • and it is characterized by 3 [ OU ]'s .

Thus, the { Ceremony with the 50 Sticks } :

• not only gives you the Hexagram itself,

• but also gives an indication as to which of the 6 Lines, if any, are most likely to change.

We note here, on-the-side, that :

• a [ 'OLD YANG' Line ] is often designated as a { moving [ 9 ] } ,
• a [ 'YOUNG YIN' Line ] is often designated as a { stationary [ 8 ] } ,
• a [ 'YOUNG YANG' Line ] is often designated as a { stationary [ 7 ] } ,
• a [ 'OLD YIN' Line ] is often designated as a { moving [ 6 ] } .

And these could possibly have arisen from the { Number of Sticks remaining } after the [ 3rd Split ] , i.e. :

• 36 = 4 x [ 9 ] ,
• 32 = 4 x [ 8 ] ,
• 28 = 4 x [ 7 ] ,
• 24 = 4 x [ 6 ] ,

  respectively. ( as per the right-most column in the table above ) .

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Topic VII - [ I-CHING's ] roots in Combinatorial Mathematics :

The { Ceremony with the 50 Sticks } above generates the Hexagram, and understanding the combinatorics involved thereof, therefore, precedes the interpretation of Hexagram itself.

Thus, the 'I-CHING' is deeply rooted in { Combinatorial Mathematics } , which is covered in Section 6 .

And the { Parity of '4' } , of paramount importance in the 'I-CHING' , is covered in Section 7 ,

• and this section also covers { Non-parity } arising from the { Reverse } process, a rather interesting subject.

But let us now go onto Section 5 - The { ICG Hexagram Placement Scheme } , a concept basic & central to the { ICG Approach } .

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go to the next Section : Section 5 - The { ICG Hexagram Placement Scheme }

go to the last Section : Section 3 - Hexagrams as Life Situations

return to the ICG HomePage

original dated 2004-12-18