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Eight three-line trigrams arranged around a centre, in one of two standard orders.
Also known as: Eight trigrams, Pa kua, Feng shui octagon
The bagua is a set of eight trigrams — each three stacked lines, either unbroken or broken — arranged around a centre. It comes in two standard arrangements: the Earlier Heaven order, symmetrical and used on protective mirrors and in some geomantic work, and the Later Heaven order, used in most feng shui practice. A reader who does not know there are two arrangements will read positions off the wrong diagram, which is the commonest error made with it.
Is built from eight trigrams, each three stacked lines that are either unbroken or broken in the middle, giving all eight possible combinations. Each trigram has a name and a set of associations, and the lines are read from the bottom up.
Contexts: History
Exists in two standard arrangements that are not interchangeable: the Earlier Heaven order, symmetrical and used on protective mirrors, and the Later Heaven order, which most feng shui practice uses. Reading positions from the wrong one is the commonest mistake made with the diagram.
Contexts: History
Is met in the West chiefly on octagonal mirrors hung above doorways and in feng shui floor plans, and appears on the flag of South Korea in a reduced set of four trigrams.
Contexts: History
Eight groups of three short horizontal bars arranged evenly round a centre, each bar either a single unbroken stroke or a pair of shorter strokes with a gap between them.
The taijitu is commonly set at the centre of the bagua.