At a glance
- Textual sequence
- Taiji, two modes, four images, eight trigrams
- Reading level
- Distinguish concept, diagram and martial art
Definition and terminology
The Xici presents a progression from taiji through two modes and four images to eight trigrams. Taiji names a unity within an explanatory account, not an observed star or weighable substance. Commentators have interpreted it differently, so an introductory definition should preserve its textual setting rather than impose one cosmology.
Structure and rules
A teaching construction starts with two line types, builds four two-line combinations, and adds a third line to obtain eight trigrams. This clarifies a binary progression without fixing every historical meaning of four images. Later philosophical discussions connect taiji with nature and ethics, extending beyond elementary combinatorics.
Worked reading
For example, selecting yang at the bottom, yin in the middle and yang at the top produces Li. The exercise shows a complex structure emerging from elementary distinctions. It is an explanatory model, not evidence that the physical world was created through three choices or that a diagram is a literal cross-section of reality.
Context and limits
Taiji diagrams have different histories, and diagrams associated with Zhou Dunyi should not be conflated without explanation with today’s familiar black-and-white motif. Taijiquan has its own martial history. Philosophical concepts, visual traditions and bodily practice require separate treatment. Modern cosmological analogies do not establish identical ancient scientific theories.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 《易传·系辞上》Primary / tradition source
Public-domain commentary; traditional accounts of polarity, taiji, images and stalk divination; traditional attribution is not settled authorship.