What is Bagua 八卦？

The Bagua is a set of symbolic figures from ancient China. The '—' represents yang, and the '-' represents yin. Using three such symbols in various combinations forms eight patterns, known as the Bagua.

Each pattern symbolizes certain things:

Qian (乾) represents heaven, Kun (坤) represents earth, Kan (坎) represents water, Li (离) represents fire, Zhen (震) represents thunder, Gen (艮) represents mountain, Xun (巽) represents wind, and Dui (兑) represents marsh. By pairing these eight patterns together, they yield sixty-four hexagrams that are used to symbolize various natural phenomena and human events.

These sixty-four hexagrams are discussed in detail in the I Ching (Book of Changes). It is said that the Bagua was created by Fuxi and later used for divination.