By Will Boyd, PhD
The Chinese tradition of the “Eight Trigrams” is not a superstition or a magical practice, but it is a mathematical system that imitates the changing phases observable in every part of nature, helping humankind to understand and anticipate the myriad of possibilities that face us in the constant motion of the real world! For this reason, the Ancient Sages of China used the language of the Trigram (broken and unbroken lines) to describe profound insights about the nature of the world, the cycles of the planets, human and animal reproduction, the planting of rice and millet, and the eventual rise and fall of dynasties and nations. These little hashmarks and their associated literature record a myriad of things that we humans deal with everyday and chronicle how changes occur throughout time, helping their philosophical descendants create mental maps and memories of predictions and probabilities over many generations, and forming a foundation for the relational art of “Guanxi” management that stands out as one of the greatest accomplishments of East Asian civilization! Truly, once one learns how to read these symbols in all of their nuance, it’s as if one learned to see the world in a whole new way!
Facing the East 