Exploring the King Wen Sequence

A Sequence of Change

The 64 hexagrams of the Yi Jing can be arranged in various sequences. The main one we see throughout history is called the King Wen Sequence.

It is unclear if King Wen actually arranged the hexagrams like this, but at the least it seems likely that this arrangement manifested during this era and become attributed to him later on.

In this sequence there is an intertwining of pairs of hexagrams that are mostly mirrors of each other, with some exceptions. Aside from the pairings, the sequence seems to be highly intentional and yet remains more mysterious than clearly understood.

It starts with Qian and Kun. All yang. And all yin. Thus we might say there is a yang sequence paired with a yin sequence. The yang sequence ends with hexagram 63, with every line positioned to balance the other lines and merge back into neutrality. In its achievement of centrality it has become complete, and in becoming complete it begins again, eternal. The yin sequence ends with hexagram 64, with every line positioned such that it desires to act with change, changing and either burning up or learning how to revert and turn back to find centrality.

Two Waves of Change

This sequence can be said to have two waves. The first begins and ends with the four eternal hexagrams.

The four eternal hexagrams are Qian ䷀ and Kun ䷁, and Kan ䷜ and Li ䷝.

The Cantong Qi says (tl Fabrizio Pregadio, The Seal of the Unity of the Three):

Qian ䷀ and Kun ䷁ are the door and the gate of change,
the father and mother of all hexagrams.
Kan ䷜ and Li ䷝ are the inner and outer walls,
They spin the hub and align the axle.
Female and male, these four trigrams
function as a bellows and its nozzles.

Thus, Qian and Kun establish the first sequence as hexagrams 1 and 2, and change emerges through the gate.

By the time we reach Kan and Li at hexagrams 29 and 30, perhaps it can be said that the inner and outer walls have become defined even as their operation of spinning and aligning is now manifest:

In this can be seen how the first wave of change through the gate establishes the container, and the second wave of change responds to it like a bellows blowing change through the container.

And so the second wave manifests with hexagram 31 and 32 and comes into the completed states with hexagram 63 and 64. This coming into completion is the outcome of the manifestation of change circulating within the container that established it at the beginning of the cycle. Even though these hexagrams are opposites, one represents complete completion that may choose to stop or begin again, and the other represents incomplete completion that begins again. One navigates the polarity of being and non-being. The other navigates the polarity of living and dying.

And then it begins again.

This perspective on cyclical change may be applied to any cycle, similar to the cycle of five phases. Both reveal the ebb and flow of change. The Cantong Qi applies this sequence to a Lunar month, using a pair of hexagrams to follow the ebb and flow of yang and yin in a daily cycle. Qian and Kun, Kan and Li, represent eternal principles that are already established within this monthly container and thus are inherent. The sequence thus begins with hexagram 3 on the first day of the new moon.

In this perspective on the sequence, we are exploring dynamic cycling of change in a complete spectrum. We have a beginning and an ending. We establish a container much like an inhale fills will breath, and then press change through the container much as an exhale does. We give voice and expression with our exhale. We use it to contain internal pressure when exercising to attain greater power. That power is the manifestation of change circulating through the container that created capacity for it.

So this model becomes useful for exploring the natural lifecycle of things.

Digging Deeper into the Pattern

Understanding the workings of Qian and Kun, Kan and Li, we can continue the exploration further still.

• Qian and Kun, Kan and Li, are both pairs of identical trigrams. They mark the beginning and ending of the first wave of change.

• Jiji (63) and Weiji (64) both have a mix of Kan and Li, opposite trigrams, and mark the ending of of the second wave.

• And if we look at the beginning of the second wave we see that 31 and 32 also have a mix of opposite trigrams. 31 is Marsh over Mountain. And 32 is Wind under Thunder.

All hexagrams are a mix of two trigrams, but there seems to be a pattern here that is utilizing the hexagrams with identical trigrams and opposite trigrams.

The trigrams are introduced in the Shuogua Zhuan, the Commentary on the Trigrams. Introduced as pairs of opposites that intermingle together to accomplish specific things:

天地定位，
山澤通氣，
雷風相薄，
水火不相射，
八卦相錯。

Heaven and earth determine the positions,
Mountains and marshlands circulate qi,
Thunder and wind mutually entangle,
Water and fire discharge in mutual opposition,
The intermingling of the eight trigram images.

Therefore, when these opposite trigrams combine within change, these specific phenomena manifest.

Here we see that hexagram 31's role in the beginning of the second wave of change involves manifesting this circulation of qi between Mountain and Marsh. And how hexagram 32 finds its role of constancy established in the relationship between thunder and wind entangling.

With hexagram 31 and 32 we have manifestation of substances connecting and circulating within a container provided by the time and space of thunder and wind.

And then too we have fire and water's unique phenomena at the end of the second wave.

So thus far we have 4 of the 8 identical hexagrams beginning and ending the first wave, and 4 of the 8 opposite hexagrams beginning and ending the second wave.

But what about the remaining 8 identical and opposite hexagrams? Are they positioned prominently in this sequence as well?

We have represented so far:

Among the identical pairings of trigrams:

• Qian-Qian: ䷀
• Kun-Kun: ䷁
• Kan-Kan: ䷜
• Li-Li: ䷝

Among the pairing of trigrams with their opposites:

• Gen-Dui: ䷞
• Xun-Zhen: ䷟
• Li-Kan: ䷾
• Kan-Li: ䷿

This leave us with these remaining hexagrams:

• Zhen-Zhen: ䷲
• Gen-Gen: ䷳
• Xun-Xun: ䷸
• Dui-Dui: ䷹

These four identically paired hexagrams are all found within the second wave, while their counterparts established the borders of the first wave. The four in the first wave have balanced and centered lines. The four in the second wave are found within it acting as movement, stillness, organization and transformation.

And of the remaining trigrams paired with their opposites:

• Kun-Qian: ䷋
• Qian-Kun: ䷊

Two are found at the first third of the first wave. Perhaps between 1-2 and 11-12 we have these positions becoming determined.

• Gen-Dui: ䷞
• Xun-Zhen: ䷟

And two are found at the first third of the second wave. While hexagrams 31 and 32 establish the connection and the fabric of reality that contains it, hexagrams 41 and 42 regulate its respiration, decreasing and increasing, restraining and enabling.

Within this second set of eight trigrams we find an engine and its calibration.

The Gritter Grid

Putting it all together, we get the basis for the "Gritter Grid (opens in a new tab)":

Gritter came across these pairings slightly differently, but found that they could be arranged like so into distinct sections. Their order is the same here - space is simply created within the middle that is reserved for the pairs that operate centrally:

With the pattern laid out, it is revealed to have five full sections. Each wave has two parts, with the nozzles connecting them together.

Moreover, each section has a different amount of hexagram pairs.

The first wave has

SIX pairs:

and then EIGHT pairs:

The second wave has

NINE pairs:

and then SEVEN pairs:

Turning it on its side, we can see that the first wave has 6 and 8, while the second wave has 7 and 9. One side is even, one side is odd:

It becomes easier to see how one side can fit into the other side.

For the sake of principle we can keep the nozzles in the middle.

Like so:

A lot can be said to be interesting about this.

As we begin, so we end.

When one part moves, all parts move.

The end and the beginning are all connected together.

Here we can see how in the beginning of the first wave, the SIX section becomes established with hexagrams 1 and 2. Then at the end how hexagrams 11 and 12 "determine the positions". But once its counterparts in the NINE block settle into place, now hexagrams 41 and 42 are able to operate their decreasing and increasing to aid in this determining of positions.

Further more, the EIGHT section of the first wave is empty in the middle. But when the SEVEN block merges into it, it gains an engine and can do work.

Thus can be seen yet another example of how yang activates yin and yin creates capacity for completing yang.

Even as the magnetism between two lines creates a doorway of change that leads to alternation, it hinges upon this something that manifests within nothing. Just like one step invites the one that follows to alternate with it and become a stride, so does the ebb and flow of change cycle around the phenomena of circuitous alternation that has currents running through its center.

Space is created for this flow to unfold due to these four sections operating around a common center. All parts are connected, and this quantum layer to phenomena is part of how they operate in continuous connection to remain in balanced circulation.

Moreover, within this arrangement can be seen the mechanism by which yin and yang merge back together and return to dao.