Before the Big Bang there was an undifferentiated soup that had no identity.
As it coalesced into differentiation, the clear and the unclear separated from each other to become the yang and yin of heaven and earth.
- ⚊ Yang
- ⚋ Yin
Expanding and contracting, rising and falling past each other, four forces developed:
- ⚎ Minor Yang (Wood) A light and buoyant force.
- ⚌ Major Yang (Fire) A strong force.
- ⚍ Minor Yin (Metal) A heavy force.
- ⚏ Major Yin (Water) An abiding force.
As yang and yin developed each other via expansion and contraction, centrality was born within them and thus there were three.
Within this centrality there was space carved out in the macrocosm for the microcosm. As without, so within. Within the tapestry of change, there developed 8 elemental forces that danced around this centrality.
It is in their holding space for centrality that they become unique of purpose.
The Shuogua Zhuan tells us of how first
- ☰ Qian and ☷ Kun determine the positions.
- ☱ Marshlands and ☶ Mountains circulate qi.
- ☳ Thunder and ☴ Wind mutually entangle.
- ☵ Water and ☲ Fire discharge in mutual opposition.
In this can be seen the operation of energetic development that enables the emergence of centrality's discharging.
Every trigram, with its three lines, contains two of the four forces. This reveals how within change, the third developed within them.
Continuing on, as these 8 elemental forces continue to develop each other, they relate. Two trigrams in relationship creates a hexagram of six lines.