The Heluo Writing and Yin-Yang and the Eight Trigrams

The Heluo Writing and Yin-Yang and the Eight Trigrams
"The River brings forth the Chart; the Luo produces the Writing"
It is recorded in "The Book of Changes - The Great Treatise" that "The River brings forth the Chart; the Luo produces the Writing, and the sage follows them." Legend has it that during the reign of Emperor Shun of the Yu Dynasty, Shun practiced the rituals of Emperor Yao and sank a jade tablet in the Luo River. Suddenly, a red light emerged from the water, and a turtle emerged carrying a book.

Then a yellow dragon with scales unrolled the book in the clouds and bestowed the red script and seal characters upon Shun. This is the legendary "Yellow Dragon Carrying the Book." Legend has it that because of his meritorious deeds in controlling the floods and his virtue in the world, Yu the Great was praised by all the people, and Heaven bestowed auspiciousness. A divine turtle emerged from the Luo River. The turtle was 1.2 feet long and had 65 red script and seal characters on its back.
The River Chart and the Luo Writing express a mathematical thought, and the mathematical relationship of "sum" or "difference" is its basic connotation. It has certain connections with the abacus and the "swastika". It is said that Yin-Yang and the Eight Trigrams were deduced from it.
·The River Chart
The River Chart is composed of 55 black and white dots, representing the numbers of heaven and earth. Among them, the white dots are odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, representing Yang, representing heaven, and are called "heavenly numbers", and the sum of the heavenly numbers is 25; the black dots are even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, representing Yin, representing earth, and are called "earthly numbers", and the sum of the earthly numbers is 30. In the River Chart, 1 to 5 are called "generating numbers"; 6 to 10 are called "completed numbers". The generating numbers represent the growth trend of all things, and the completed numbers represent the mature trend of all things. The generating numbers and the completed numbers have a mutually generating and completing relationship. The sum of the odd and even numbers is 55, representing the "numbers of heaven and earth", from which the numbers of all things can be derived.
These ten numbers are arranged in a square. In the north, one white dot and six black dots represent Xuanwu and belong to water; in the east, three white dots and eight black dots represent Qinglong and belong to wood; in the south, two black dots and seven white dots represent Zhuque and belong to fire; in the west, four black dots and nine white dots represent Baihu and belong to metal; in the center, five white dots and ten black dots represent the singularity of time and space and belong to earth.

The peculiarity of the River Chart lies in that it uses simple elements such as black and white, numbers, and patterns to explain the universe. The celestial phenomena in the sky correspond to the positions on the ground, and each position is composed of Yin and Yang to form all things, and the attributes of these five positions form the generating and restricting effects of circulation. This is the way all things in the universe operate and also the origin of the universe. Therefore, the River Chart is also regarded as the congenital ontological universe chart.
The Luo Writing
The Luo Writing has a total of nine numbers from 1 to 9, among which the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 are Yang, symbolizing the way of heaven; the even numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8 are Yin, symbolizing the way of earth.
The Luo Writing represents the operation of the way of heaven in this way: Yang Qi starts from the north, rotates clockwise to the left, gradually increases via the east, reaches its peak in the south, and then gradually weakens towards the west.
The Luo Writing represents the operation of the way of earth in this way: 1 is in the north, representing "the initial birth of one Yang"; 3 is in the east, representing "the opening of three Yang"; 9 is in the south, representing "the extreme prosperity of nine Yang"; 7 is in the west, representing "the gradual decline of the setting sun". Yin Qi originates from the southwest corner and is represented by the even number 2, rotates counterclockwise towards the southeast corner, where it is represented by the even number 4, and Yin Qi gradually increases here; in the northeast corner, it is represented by the even number 8, and Yin Qi reaches its peak here; in the northwest corner, it is represented by the earthly number 6, and Yin Qi gradually disappears here; the number 5 is in the center, symbolizing the sum of three heavenly numbers and two earthly numbers.
The Luo Writing uses the nine numbers of Yin and Yang to express all things.

Yin-Yang
The concept of "Yin-Yang" originated very early and was originally only used to represent the attributes of things. Facing the light is Yang, and facing away from the light is Yin. Later, it was continuously extended. In the book "Lianshan" of the Xia Dynasty, there were hexagram images: Yin lines and Yang lines. After the Zhou Dynasty, Yin-Yang developed into a theory.

The theory of Yin-Yang divides all things in the universe into Yin and Yang categories, and believes that all activities of things lie in the movement of Yin and Yang qi. Yin and Yang are mutually rooted, opposed to each other, transformed into each other, interdependent, and mutually useful. "Yin is inside, and Yang guards it; Yang is outside, and Yin enables it." For example: Heaven has the sun and the moon, earth is divided into north and south, people are divided into men and women, mountains have sunny and shady sides, magnets have positive and negative poles...

The goal of feng shui is to seek a residential area that achieves a balance of Yin and Yang. The ancients believed that in the interactive process of Yin and Yang, there were two trends: harmony and complexity. In feng shui, harmony of Yin and Yang is auspicious, and complexity is ominous. When Yin and Yang are in harmony, the sun and the moon are bright, the four seasons are in order, sounds are harmonious, the weather is favorable, things grow according to the time, plants thrive, and spirits are vigorous. When Yin and Yang are complex and contrary, all things are abnormal, the sun and the moon are not clear, the four seasons are disordered, cold and heat are mixed, and disasters such as drought, flood, fire, earthquake, and pestilence occur. As a result, the natural ecology loses balance and is destroyed, naturally causing natural and man-made disasters.

·The River Chart deduces the Taiji Diagram and the Eight Trigrams
The numbers in the River Chart have a rotational pattern. The odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 rotate clockwise, and the even numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 also rotate clockwise. And the attributes represented by each position rotate clockwise to generate, and rotate counterclockwise to restrict. The River Chart seems to be revealing the law of the operation of the universe, and following it leads to life, while going against it leads to death.

The Taiji Diagram is a comprehensive expression diagram of the cycle of Yin and Yang, movement within stillness, and the presence of each other within.
Therefore, Fuxi called the chaotic and undifferentiated universe Taiji. The moving part is Yang, and the still part is Yin. Once Yin and Yang are separated, two forms are produced. Thus, Fuxi drew the Taiji Diagram, with the circle representing the universe, and the Taiji fish representing Yin and Yang rotating clockwise.

Fuxi believed that the River Chart mainly showed the mutual generation and restriction of Yin and Yang and the origin of the universe that jointly nurtures all things. Therefore, when Fuxi used the Taiji Diagram to represent the origin of the universe, he also used the Eight Trigrams to show the attributes of all things: " " is used to represent Yang, and "X " represents Yin. These are the "Two Forms"; if an Yin or a Yang is added to each of the Two Forms, four symbols will appear, and these are the "Four Images"; if an Yin or a Yang is added to each of the Four Images, eight symbols will appear, and these are the "Eight Trigrams"

The symbol with three " " added together is pure Yang and represents heaven, so it is placed in the south; the symbol with three "X" added together is pure Yin and represents earth, so it is placed in the north; the other symbols represent wind, thunder, mountain, marsh, water, and fire respectively. Because they all have opposite attributes, they are also placed in the corresponding directions. All things in the world are derived from these eight material elements.