Hetu Luoshu — The Source of All Chinese Numerology

💡 Reading time: ~8 minutes ｜ Series: Hetu Luoshu Numerology Series (Article 11/20)

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Hetu and Luoshu are the source of Chinese culture and the foundation of every metaphysical system. Legend has it that during the time of Fuxi, a dragon horse emerged from the Yellow River carrying the Hetu (River Diagram), and during the time of Yu the Great, a divine turtle emerged from the Luo River carrying the Luoshu (Luo River Writing).

【Hetu】— the Prenatal Body

Heaven gives birth to 1, Earth completes with 6 (North: 1, 6)

Earth gives birth to 2, Heaven completes with 7 (South: 2, 7)

Heaven gives birth to 3, Earth completes with 8 (East: 3, 8)

Earth gives birth to 4, Heaven completes with 9 (West: 4, 9)

Heaven gives birth to 5, Earth completes with 10 (Center: 5, 10)

【Luoshu】— the Postnatal Function

Nine on top, One at the bottom

Three on the left, Seven on the right

Two and Four on the shoulders, Six and Eight at the feet

Five in the center

(Nine Palaces numbers: 492 / 357 / 816)

Every row, column, and diagonal sums to 15

The deeper meaning of Hetu and Luoshu

The Hetu teaches “five-element generation” — the principle of how all things come into being in the universe. The Luoshu teaches “five-element overcoming” — the rule of how all things operate in the universe. The Hetu is the body; the Luoshu is the function. The Hetu is prenatal; the Luoshu is postnatal. Every metaphysical system — Bazi, Zi Wei, Feng Shui, Qi Men, Liu Yao — traces back to these two diagrams.

The Luoshu’s Nine Palace numbers are also the directions of the post-heaven Bagua: Kan 1, Kun 2, Zhen 3, Xun 4, Center 5, Qian 6, Dui 7, Gen 8, Li 9. This is also the basis of the Feng Shui compass.