Basic Principles of Numerology in the I Ching

The Tao begot one. One begot two. Two begot three. And three begot the ten-thousand
things. The ten-thousand things carry yin and embrace yang. 1
-Lao Zu

Today, many people in the western hemisphere are vaguely aware of the I

Ching, or the Book of Changes, as a sort of Chinese divination toolfewer have

actually opened the book and, out of those that have, even fewer have been able to
wrest meaning from it and it is a rare person indeed who is able to make practical
use of it. Though there seem to be ten-thousand different ways to approach the I
Ching, this paper shall endeavor only to elucidate the basic underlying principles of
number that inhere in it.
Daoist Cosmology 101: Yin & Yang
According to ancient Chinese scriptures, such as the Dao De Jing, out of an
ineffable something, which for lack of a better word, is called Dao (often
translated as the way), existence arose in an undifferentiated state called one; this
one then differentiated into two complementary and opposing principles called yin
and yang. Yin has a passive quality and is substantial and dark; yang has an active
quality and is insubstantial and light.2 Everything that exists is made up of these
two fundamental energies but so long as they remain in perfect harmony nothing
1. Feng, Gia. Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage Books, 1972,
2. Feng, Gia, 1972.

p. 45

much appears to be happeningit is only when the third principle becomes

activated, called taiji, or the great differentiation, that the universe, or the tenthousand things, is manifested. This is what Lao Zu is referring to when he states,
...and three begot the ten-thousand things.3 All phenomena are ultimately
derived from yin and yang differentiating and interacting dynamically in different
combinations through taiji. In the scriptures, yin and yang are often referred to as
Heaven (or sky) & Earth, and the human being, which is associated with three,
or taiji, finds itself in the midst of the ten-thousand things which are arising in the
myriad interactions between them.
Change: Harmony & Disharmony
Within this system, every thing or event is understood to be in a process of
seeking harmony and any manifested thing, by definition, is in a state of some kind
of imbalance or disharmony4think of existence this way: yin is oil while yang is
water and they have been placed inside of a jar; left at rest, the water will rest on top
and the oil will rest on the bottom but someone has come along and shaken the jar
upthis is taijinow, for a time determined by the severity of the shaking, there
will be a lot of movement and different shapes, configurations, or constellations
dancing around in the jar; though it may seem chaotic, if all is left alone, everything
3. Ibid.
4. Huang, Alfred. The Numerology of the I Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols, Structures,

and Traditional Wisdom. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2000.

is ultimately moving back towards its original stasis or harmony. Understanding

existence like this, all phenomena are seen to be temporary configurations of the
two primordial energies that are inherently moving back towards a state of
simplicity or harmony.
These are the changes that the I Ching is talking about and according to
these principles, though the universe might be a bit more complicated than a jar of
water and oil, it is possible to understand the nature of any phenomenon and even
to predict the outcome of events. The purpose of the I Ching is to understand this
process of seeking harmony through a system of numbers that describes how these
changes occurhence, the book of changes.
Patterns of Change: the Ba Gua
The I Ching is a book of symbols that are made up from the eight primary

gua, or tri-grams. Each tri-gram is made up of a combination of three yao.5 There

are two yao, which are symbols of yin and yang, yang being represented by a single
line and yin by a broken line (see Fig. 1). Yang is one and yin is two, and all
numbers that come after that are considered to repeat this pattern, odd numbers
being a manifestation of yang and even numbers manifestations of yin.6
Confucius says, in his Great Treatise on the I Ching, Two primary
5. Huang, Alfred, 2000.
6. Huang, Alfred, 2000, loc. 107

energies generate four primary symbols. Four primary symbols generate eight
primary gua. Out of the two primary energies, or the two yao, there are four
possible combinations: two yin yao, two yang yao, yin yao on top of yang yao, and
yang yao on top of yin yaothese are the four primary symbols called greater and
lesser yang and greater and lesser yin. By adding one and then the other of the two
primary energies to each of the four primary symbols, eight primary gua (trigrams) are generated, called: earth, heaven, mountain, lake, water, fire, wind, and
thunder. These are called the ba gua, or eight gua. The ba gua combine with each
other in sixty-four different ways to create sixty-four symbols that are made of
smaller symbols of yin and yang. Because they are made up of the different possible
combinations of yin and yang, each symbol represents both a certain number and a
distinct process or phenomenon which can be understood by the nature of that
number and its relationship to the ultimate process of harmonization.7

Conclusion
Though a delineation of the sixty-four hexagrams, or even of the ba gua, is
beyond the scope of this paper, I hope that it has clearly explained the basis of I
Ching numerology and so it may serve as an introduction for those who might wish
to pursue the study of I Ching further. For those who are interested in pursuing a
7. Ibid.

deeper understanding of these principles, I recommend The Numerology of the I

Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols, Structures, and Traditional Wisdom by Alfred

Huang (and of course, a good translation of the I Ching itself, or better yet,
several ).

Fig. 1

Bibliography
Feng, Gia. Tao Te Ching. New York: Vintage Books, 1972.
Huang, Alfred. The Numerology of the I Ching: A Sourcebook of Symbols,
Structures, and Traditional Wisdom. Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 2000.