Chinese Writing (Pa Kua) Emma and Allie English I-Louise S. McGehee School 2005 The Pakua symbol (Guthrie).

Fu-Hsi: The First of 3 Sovereigns  The ancient symbols of Pakua were created by one of the three sovereigns, named Fu-Hsi.  These three noble emperors were called the San-Huang.  According to legend, Fu-Hsi was held in his mother’s womb for 12 years.  He was known as the “Oxtamer” for his ability to teach men how to tame wild animals. (Hales) Fu-Hsi (Nanian).

The Pakua  Pakua is eight trigrams, or figures, that make up the foundation for the Chinese writing.  It is also known as bagua, ‘ba’ meaning ‘eight,’ and ‘gua’ meaning ‘figures’ or ‘images.’  The figures show fundamental ways that energy moves.

The Pakua  The Pakua trigrams are put together in an octagonal shape to form the Chinese compass.  South is placed at the top and north is placed at the bottom while all of the sub- directions are placed accordingly around the octagon.  Li, the symbol of the sun, wind, and wood, is placed towards the south.  K’an, the symbol of the water, is placed towards the north.  Tui and Chen, symbols of the lake and thunder, are placed at west and east, respectively.

The Eight Trigrams  Chien: Heaven  Sun: sun, wind, or wood  K’an: water  Ken: mountain  K’un: earth  Chen: thunder  Li: fire  Tui: lake The eight Pakua trigrams (“I Ching”).

Chinese Calligraphy  To make Chinese calligraphy, one puts the symbols of the Pakua together to make hexagrams or larger figures that mean other things.  This figure means ‘Opposition,’ and it is Pakua symbols Li (fire) and Tui (lake) together. Li is on top of Tui (“I Ching”).  This figure means ‘Radical Change.’ It is also Li and Tui together, but now Tui is on top of Li (“I Ching”).

Ancient Use of the Pakua  The Pakua is a main reference in the making of Chinese myths.  The Pakua symbol is “one of the most important symbols of protection against poison arrows or other harmful structures” (“I Ching”).  The symbol of Early Heaven is also credited with the power to ward off evil spirits. The Early Heaven symbol (“Light Easy”).

Feng Shui and Pakua  In Feng Shui, the Pakua symbols determined where objects were to be placed in order to create better living for the owner and family of the home.  The octagonal points of the Pakua are used to interpret good and bad Feng Shui. ^Chinese symbol for Feng Shui (“Mondoalternativo”).

Links to the Modern World  The Pakua is still the basis of the Chinese written language today.  The hexagrams that the Pakua makes have all been grouped together to form a group of characters called I Ching.  The Pakua symbols are still a large part of the Feng Shui method today. (“I Ching”).

I Ching  The I Ching is a book of 64 hexagrams that are used to determine someone’s fate.  A person must roll three coins, heads counting for 3 and tails counting for 2.  Whatever the number comes out, this is the type of line that starts out your hexagram.  Roll the coins 5 more times to complete the hexagram.

Works Cited “Casting a Hexagram.” I Ching Resources. 11 January “Casting a Hexagram.” I Ching Resources. 11 January “Feng Shui.” Light Easy January “Feng Shui.” Mondoalternativo January < Guthrie, William B. “Pakua.” MMV Encyclopedia Mythica. 26 March January Hales, Stephen. “Rex in the Classroom 2005.” Handout “I Ching.” Asia Rooms January Nanian, Richard A. “Advanced Composition for the Humanities.” George Mason University. 5 January “The Trigrams.” I Ching Resources. 4 January