guas
The term ‘gua’ occupies a foundational structural position within the I Ching corpus as treated by depth-psychology-adjacent scholars of Chinese cosmology and symbolic systems. Alfred Huang’s exhaustive translational scholarship establishes ‘gua’ as the primary unit of the I Ching’s symbolic language — a six-line figure composed of two trigrams, traditionally rendered as ‘hexagram’ in Western translations, yet carrying the original Chinese sense of ‘a symbol hung up for people to see.’ Huang insists on the term’s etymological rootedness: each gua is not merely a diagram but a living symbolic configuration encoding temporal, relational, and ethical intelligence. Wang Bi’s classical commentary tradition, as translated by Lynn, engages gua through a lens of structural correspondence — the relationship of hard and soft lines within a gua determines its prescriptive and interpretive yield. Crucially, the corpus distinguishes primary gua (three-line trigrams), six-line gua (hexagrams), and derived forms such as the mutual gua and the tidal gua, each serving distinct hermeneutic functions. The tension between gua as divinatory instrument and gua as philosophical text runs throughout the material, making it a site where symbolic logic, cosmological order, and psychological counsel converge. For depth psychology, the gua functions analogously to an archetypal image: a compressed field of meaning that unfolds interpretively through its structural dynamics.
Gua is generally translated as ‘hexagram.’ originally, ‘gua’ meant a symbol hung up for people to see… Each gua is composed of six horizontal lines, arranged one over the other.
Huang establishes the etymological and structural definition of ‘gua,’ distinguishing its original pictographic meaning from its conventional Western translation as ‘hexagram’ and explaining its composition from yin and yang yao.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998thesis
Fu Xi, who originated the eight primary (three-line) gua, King Wen of the Zhou dynasty arranged the sixty-four gua and wrote the Decisions on the Gua.
Huang traces the historical construction of the full gua system through successive sages — Fu Xi, King Wen, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius — establishing the layered authorship that gives the gua their interpretive depth.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998thesis
A mutual gua is formed by two trigrams. The second, third, and fourth lines of the original gua form the lower, or inner, mutual gua… The hidden meaning of any gua lies in its mutual gua; it should not be ignored.
Huang introduces the concept of the mutual gua as a hermeneutic device revealing the hidden structural meaning embedded within any six-line gua.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998thesis
Each six-yao gua also has a host which represents the central theme of the gua. Being the host of a gua, the yao should be virtuous and appropriate at the right time and the right position.
Huang articulates the principle of the ‘host’ yao within a gua, identifying the dominant line that carries the gua’s central ethical and cosmological theme.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998thesis
Tidal gua: One of twelve gua that represent the waxing and waning of yin and yang energy over the course of a year. Each is associated with a month.
Huang’s glossary entry identifies a specialized category of gua — the tidal gua — linking the hexagram system to cosmological cycles of yin-yang transformation across the lunar calendar.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
Great Strength is one of the twelve tidal gua. It represents the second month of the Chinese lunar calendar… This gua is a union of motion with strength, resulting in Great Strength.
Huang demonstrates how a specific gua’s meaning arises from the dynamic union of its constituent trigram attributes and its position within the tidal cycle.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
The structure presents a vivid picture of a tremendous power of energy, represented by thunder, lying at the base of clouds… This gua holds the potential to create.
Huang illustrates how the structural arrangement of trigrams within a gua generates a symbolic image that carries prescriptive and cosmological meaning for the interpreter.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
King Wen placed this gua, Li, together with the previous gua, Kan, as the last two chapters of the Upper Canon… These four gua have special significance in the I Ching.
Huang explains King Wen’s canonical arrangement of gua as itself meaningful, with the pairing of Kan and Li embodying the yin-within-yang principle that structures the Upper Canon.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
Draw each of the eight primary gua on each set of cards… Turn the two cards over to obtain a six-line gua. Throw the die to obtain the moving line.
Huang describes a practical divination method using the eight primary gua as building blocks to generate the sixty-four six-line gua, underscoring the procedural as well as symbolic role of gua in practice.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
It is clear that in King Wen’s Decision Xiao Guo denotes little exceeding. It is a warning against overdoing it… Obviously, this gua is full of warnings.
Huang shows how the name of a gua condenses its ethical counsel, with the gua’s text operating as a structured series of warnings calibrated to the symbolic meaning encoded in its title.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
Da Xü is the inverse of the preceding gua, Without Falsehood. Great Accumulation refers to one’s virtue.
Huang demonstrates the structural-ethical principle of inversion between successive gua, illustrating how the sequential logic of the sixty-four gua encodes a developmental moral philosophy.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
The hexagram Gu [Ills to Be Cured] signifies a time when there are problems… with its ending, one starts all over again: such is the way Heaven operates.
Wang Bi’s commentary interprets the gua as a temporal diagnostic — a sign of the moment’s problematic condition — and locates its resolution within the cyclical operation of Heaven’s Way.
, The Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi, 1994supporting
The second, third, and fourth lines of the original gua form the lower, or inner, mutual gua… The third line is special. It is the only yin element responding and corresponding to the yang element.
Huang illustrates how the positional dynamics of individual lines within a gua, analyzed in relation to the mutual gua structure, determine the specific ethical and situational counsel offered.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998supporting
Sequence of the Gua: Zhun denotes what has just been born. What has just been born is in its childhood. Thus, after Beginning, Childhood follows.
Huang cites the ‘Sequence of the Gua’ commentary as evidence that the ordering of the sixty-four gua carries its own narrative and developmental logic beyond the individual hexagram.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998aside
These four gua carry the yin quality (a mother and three daughters). On the other hand, east is the position of Mountain and Thunder… These gua carry the yang quality (a father and three sons).
Huang invokes the directional and familial symbolism assigned to the eight primary gua within Fu Xi’s arrangement, demonstrating how gua encode cosmological and social categories simultaneously.
, The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation, 1998aside