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

2. 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).

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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”).

6. 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”).

7. 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”).

8. 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”).

9. 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”).

10. 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.

11. Works Cited “Casting a Hexagram.” I Ching Resources. 11 January 2005. “Casting a Hexagram.” I Ching Resources. 11 January 2005. “Feng Shui.” Light Easy. 2004. 7 January 2005.. “Feng Shui.” Mondoalternativo. 2004. 6 January 2005. <http://www.mondoalternativo.com/shopsite_tx/store/html/feng_shui.htm>. Guthrie, William B. “Pakua.” MMV Encyclopedia Mythica. 26 March 1997. 4 January 2005.. Hales, Stephen. “Rex in the Classroom 2005.” Handout. 2005. “I Ching.” Asia Rooms. 1996. 5 January 2005.. Nanian, Richard A. “Advanced Composition for the Humanities.” George Mason University. 5 January 2005.. “The Trigrams.” I Ching Resources. 4 January 2005..