Chinese Writing (Pa Kua)

1
Chinese Writing (Pa Kua)
The Pakua symbol (Guthrie).

• Emma and Allie
• English I-Louise S. McGehee School
• 2005

2
Fu-Hsi The First of 3 Sovereigns

• The ancient symbols of Pakua were created by one
  of the three sovereigns, named Fu-Hsi.
• These three noble emperors were called the
  San-Huang.
• According to legend, Fu-Hsi was held in his
  mothers womb for 12 years.
• He was known as the Oxtamer for his ability to
  teach men how to tame wild animals. (Hales)

Fu-Hsi (Nanian).
3
The Pakua

• Pakua is eight trigrams, or figures, that make up
  the foundation for the Chinese writing.
• It is also known as bagua, ba meaning eight,
  and gua meaning figures or images.
• The figures show fundamental ways that energy
  moves.

4
The Pakua

• The Pakua trigrams are put together in an
  octagonal shape to form the Chinese compass.
• South is placed at the top and north is placed at
  the bottom while all of the sub-directions are
  placed accordingly around the octagon.

• Li, the symbol of the sun, wind, and wood, is
  placed towards the south.
• Kan, the symbol of the water, is placed towards
  the north.
• Tui and Chen, symbols of the lake and thunder,
  are placed at west and east, respectively.

5
The Eight Trigrams

• Chien Heaven
• Sun sun, wind, or wood
• Kan water
• Ken mountain
• Kun earth
• Chen thunder
• Li fire
• Tui lake

The eight Pakua trigrams (I Ching).
6
Chinese Calligraphy

• To make Chinese calligraphy, one puts the symbols
  of the Pakua together to make hexagrams or larger
  figures that mean other things.

?This figure means Opposition, and it is Pakua
symbols Li (fire) and Tui (lake) together. Li
is on top of Tui (I Ching).
?This figure means Radical Change. It is also
Li and Tui together, but now Tui is on top of Li
(I Ching).
7
Ancient Use of the Pakua

• The Pakua is a main reference in the making of
  Chinese myths.
• The Pakua symbol is one of the most important
  symbols of protection against poison arrows or
  other harmful structures (I Ching).
• The symbol of Early Heaven is also credited with
  the power to ward off evil spirits.

The Early Heaven symbol (Light Easy).
8
Feng Shui and Pakua

• In Feng Shui, the Pakua symbols determined where
  objects were to be placed in order to create
  better living for the owner and family of the
  home.
• The octagonal points of the Pakua are used to
  interpret good and bad Feng Shui.

Chinese symbol for Feng Shui (Mondoalternativo
).
9
Links to the Modern World

• The Pakua is still the basis of the Chinese
  written language today.
• The hexagrams that the Pakua makes have all been
  grouped together to form a group of characters
  called I Ching.
• The Pakua symbols are still a large part of the
  Feng Shui method today.

(I Ching).
10
I Ching

• The I Ching is a book of 64 hexagrams that are
  used to determine someones fate.
• A person must roll three coins, heads counting
  for 3 and tails counting for 2.
• Whatever the number comes out, this is the type
  of line that starts out your hexagram.
• Roll the coins 5 more times to complete the
  hexagram.

11
Works Cited

• Casting a Hexagram. I Ching Resources. 11
  January 2005. lthttp//www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_
  Ching_resources/hexagrams.htmlgt
• Feng Shui. Light Easy. 2004. 7 January 2005.
  lthttp//www.lightradio.com/my/03/leisure/fengshu
  i/Default.asp3Fwhichpage 3D6426pagesize3D1h1
  95w200sz12tbnidXJ2M9PVvLwoJtbn h96tbnw9
  8start11prev/images3Fq3Dearly2Bheaven26hl
  3D en26lr3D26safe3Doffgt.
• Feng Shui. Mondoalternativo. 2004. 6 January
  2005.
• lthttp//www.mondoalternativo.com/shopsite_tx/sto
  re/html/feng_shui.htmgt.
• Guthrie, William B. Pakua. MMV Encyclopedia
  Mythica. 26 March 1997. 4 January 2005.
  lthttp//www.pantheon.org/articles/p/pakua.htmlgt.
• Hales, Stephen. Rex in the Classroom 2005.
  Handout. 2005.
• I Ching. Asia Rooms. 1996. 5 January 2005.
  lthttp//www.asiarooms.com/china- travel-guide/cul
  ture/Myths/paqua.htmlgt.
• Nanian, Richard A. Advanced Composition for the
  Humanities. George Mason University. 5
  January 2005. lthttp//www.classweb.gmu.edu/rnan
  ian/302main.htmlgt.
• The Trigrams. I Ching Resources. 4 January
  2005. lthttp//www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_re
  sources/trigrams.htmlgt.