The I Ching is one of the oldest Chinese classics and a foundational influence on later East Asian systems including feng shui and traditional astrology. The character "Yi" means "change", its core idea is that everything in the universe is in constant, patterned motion.
The whole system rests on Yin (soft, still, dark, feminine) and Yang (firm, active, bright, masculine), which are not fixed opposites but constantly transform into one another, the idea behind the familiar Taiji (yin-yang) symbol.
Stacking three Yin/Yang lines produces eight combinations, the Eight Trigrams (Bagua): Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Lake, each a natural symbol widely used in feng shui, for example to determine house or altar orientation.
Stacking two trigrams (six lines total) produces 8×8 = 64 hexagrams, each with its own name and interpretive text, traditionally consulted by casting coins or yarrow stalks to address a specific question.
Beyond divination, the I Ching remains a deep philosophical influence on East Asian dialectical thinking and everyday ideas about balance and change.
