Our Lucky Stars
No one better illustrates the fuzzy line between ancient Chinese astronomy and astrology than Professor Lu Yang, the retired chairman of the Nanjing University Astronomy Department. Lu worked as an astronomer and historian during his 40 years at the university, but in his later years has channeled his knowledge of the stars into the study of Chinese astrology and the I-Ching. Lu, now the vice chairman of Dongfang International I-Ching Research Institute, insisted that he only gives readings for a select few. Luckily, Yanming was able to persuade Lu to spend a few hours with Candide to give us a glimpse of our fate.
The Book
I-Ching, or The Book of Changes, is an ancient Chinese method of divination developed by scholars of West Zhou dynasty in the tenth century B.C. The guiding principle in the I-Ching is that all phenomena result from the interaction between positive, creative, masculine yang forces and negative, passive, feminine yin forces. The I-Ching (pronounced Yee Jing) identifies 64 types of problems, and offers advice or inspiration on how they might be solved based on reading of hexagrams.
The Method - 64 Hexagrams of the I-Ching
Life patterns or problems are illustrated in the I-Ching by hexagram symbols consisting of straight and broken lines. Unbroken lines represent yang forces and broken ones indicate yin. Put three lines together and you get a trigram.
Each hexagram is made of two of these 8 basic trigrams.
Trigrams have a name, symbol, direction, sequence, and representation. For example, the trigram named Xun is symbolized by two straight lines and one broken, it corresponds to a southeast direction, falls in the sequence of the eldest daughter and represents wind.
Hexagrams are constructed by combining two trigrams. For example, Negation is represented by putting the Father trigram, three straight yang lines, over the Mother trigram, three broken lines. Because the yang lines represent an upward movement toward the sky and the yin indicate a downward earthbound motion, the two forces move in opposite directions and never meet. In contrast, Harmony or Union can be represented in a hexagram where the three yin lines are placed above the three yang. In this case, the forces move toward each other and are united.
The Divination
I-Ching readings can be done in several different ways -- dividing yarrow sticks, casting coins, translating words or numbers into symbols and by natal calculations. Generally the first four are used to answer specific questions about the present or near future. For a broader life reading, the date and time of birth are used. Professor Lu demonstrated several of these divination techniques for Candide.
Three Coin Cast
Drew: Will Candide take another trip after China?
Reading: Drew tossed three yuan coins six times, with heads being yin and tails yang. After each toss, Professor Lu recorded the result with straight or broken lines.
Forecast: Good things will come out of your present efforts. It is likely that Candide will take another trip based on the work from this journey. However, next time, you Drew must try harder. Your narrow earlobes indicate that you are not focused and tend to flit from one thing to the next.
Number Association
Christina: Have I made the right career choice?
Reading: Christina gave the Professor two numbers, 58 and 97, the number of her telephone extension at her job. Lu divided 58 and 97 by 8, the number of trigrams, and came up with remainders of 2 and 1 respectively. Two is the Dui Gua (trigram) and one is the Qian. Placing the Qian over the Dui, the Professor drew a hexagram that showed any change in career might not prove auspicious.
Forecast: You should remain a writer as you would not do as well in other professions such as business.
Word Association
Professor Lu: What two words do you think of when I say "love?"
Chris: (Thinking: Fighting) Out loud: Warmth and, uh, hands.
Reading: Lu wrote down "warmth" and "hands" in Chinese characters, counting the number of strokes it took to complete the pictographs: 20 for warmth and 4 for hands. The professor divided these numbers by eight, the number of trigrams. He then used the remainders to determine the hexagram and looked up the symbol in a book he had compiled from his observations and from ancient I-Ching texts.
Forecast:
Chinese Love Poem
ren yi lou, xu duo chou
danran jinbu, shishi wuyou
xu zhuoli, mo you ao
chang gan diao xiang chan chu ku
zhi yu yun zhong de ju ao
In English
You lean against a house and have a lot of sentimental feelings of sadness.
Don't be too serious about what happened in the past, move on. If you do so, things will get better. You should not worry about the future.
You should try harder, don't wander around doing nothing.
Don't wait for things to happen to you.
Throw out your fishing line to catch the animal in the moon.
It seems impossible, but you must take the initiative.
You can get through the cloud and get an even bigger animal, even better than you expected.
Natal Calculation
Chris: I think I was born around five or six in the morning on September 22, 1968 in San Francisco.
Reading: The Professor calculated the time difference between Beijing and San Francisco time and then used the year, month, and day to determine Chris' fate.
Forecast: The hexagram shows you will be famous after age 50. You will always have a rock-solid job and will have no financial problems. Someone will give you a large sum of money. The only thing you have to keep an eye on is your future husband. You will marry sometime before age 35, 2001 is an auspicious year, but you may not be satisfied with your spouse. He may cheat on you. This is only a possibility, but you must be careful to make a wise selection. You will not live past age 80 and you could die around 72 or 73, depending on how many moral points you've accumulated.
