Pre-Heaven and Post-Heaven Bagua — The Mystery of the Eight Trigrams

💡 Reading time: ~8 minutes ｜ Series: Hetu Luoshu Numerology Series (Article 12/20)

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The Bagua (Eight Trigrams) is the foundation of the I Ching. They come in two forms: Pre-Heaven Bagua (drawn by Fuxi) and Post-Heaven Bagua (developed by King Wen).

【Pre-Heaven Bagua — Fuxi’s Trigrams】

Positions of mutual opposition, expressing yin-yang pairs:

• Qian ☰ South vs Kun ☷ North

• Li ☲ East vs Kan ☵ West

• Zhen ☳ Northeast vs Xun ☴ Southwest

• Dui ☱ Southeast vs Gen ☶ Northwest

【Post-Heaven Bagua — King Wen’s Trigrams】

Applied order, expressing five-element circulation:

• Kan ☵ (Water) North, Li ☲ (Fire) South

• Zhen ☳ (Wood) East, Dui ☱ (Metal) West

• Xun ☴ (Wood) Southeast, Qian ☰ (Metal) Northwest

• Gen ☶ (Earth) Northeast, Kun ☷ (Earth) Southwest

Trigram	Element	Family	Body
Qian ☰	Metal	Father	Head, lungs
Kun ☷	Earth	Mother	Belly, spleen
Zhen ☳	Wood	Eldest son	Feet, liver
Xun ☴	Wood	Eldest daughter	Thighs, gallbladder
Kan ☵	Water	Middle son	Ears, kidneys
Li ☲	Fire	Middle daughter	Eyes, heart
Gen ☶	Earth	Youngest son	Hands, stomach
Dui ☱	Metal	Youngest daughter	Mouth, lungs