River Horse Diagram, Pre-Heavenly Bagua
Probably before 3083 B.C., before the Yellow King reigned in 2697 B.C., there was a wise person named Fu Xi who saw a wild horse with a weird diagram on its back that jumped out from the River. The diagram implied 5 and 10 in the center, 3 and 8 on the left, 4 and 9 on the right; 2 and 7 on the top, and 1 and 6 on the bottom.
The wild horse was called Dragon Horse. The diagram on the horseback was called River Diagram.
| South Fire |
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| East Wood |
Center Earth |
West Metal |
| North Water |
The legendary Fu Xi found the numbers in the diagram have a connection with the stars in the evening. Every year,
- Mercury appeared in the northern sky in the 11th and 6th months
- Mar appeared in the southern sky in the 2nd and 7th months
- Venus appeared in the western sky in the 4th and 9th months
- Jupiter appeared in the eastern sky in the 3rd and 8th months
- Saturn appeared in the center sky in the 5th and 10th months
Because the Four directions have a relationship with the Five Elements, Chinese named Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mar, and Saturn as the stars of Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth
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1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 are Yang (odd) numbers. 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 are called Yin (even) numbers. 5 is the center number.
1, 2, 3, and 4 are in the inner circle. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the outer numbers. The inner numbers plus center number 5 are equal to the outer numbers. Therefore 1, 2, 3, and 4 are called Heavenly Original Numbers; 6, 7, 8, and 9 are called Earthly Developed Numbers.
The sum from 1 to 10 is 55, which is called Heavenly Number. 5 is the center number of 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 yang numbers. Also, 5 connects with many arithmetic calculations, 5 becomes the secret index of Heaven from the hint of the River Diagram. That's why the day system in the Chinese calendar used a cycle of 5 before.
After applying the Five Elements on the River Diagram, we find the Five Elements Producing Relationship shows in a clockwise direction. That's why the Number Relationships are applied to the Chinese Five Elements astrology by Five Element scholars later.
I Ching Bagua Map (Eight Trigrams)
The
River Diagram derived the Pre-Heaven Bagua.
Fu Xi thought that 
is one, stands for the sky; 
is two, stands for the earth. One pluses two is 
three, which can be the symbol of sky and earth. We call this symbol Trigram. is three Yang, stands for Heaven on the top of the sky. 
is three Yin, six bars, stands for earth on the ground bottom.
6 stands for most Yin. Also, 6 is the center number of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 Yin numbers. Therefore 6 becomes an index of Earth.
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Base on the knowledge of astronomy and the River Diagram, Fu Xi created a diagram of Eight Trigrams, which is called the Pre-Heaven Bagua Map.
Old Yang and Old Yin
The Yang and
Yin combination makes four phenomena. The strongest Yang is 9, Old Yang. The weakest Yin is 6, Old Yin.
| Four Phenomenon | Index Number | Completion Number - Make to 10 | Yin/Yang Name |
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1 | 9 | Old Yang |
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2 | 8 | Young Yin |
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3 | 7 | Young Yang |
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4 | 6 | Old Yin |
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By Master Allen Tsai on December 2, 2021