How is divination performed?#
A few days ago, I watched a video titled "How is the Book of Changes used for divination?" and found the process of divination quite interesting (ah, the bloodline of my philosophy major suddenly started to stir again). I took some notes after studying it.
In ancient times, divination was called "bu shi" (卜筮). "Bu" referred to divination using the cracks on tortoise shells, but the specific method of divination is no longer known due to its ancient origins. "Shi" referred to divination using yarrow stalks. The specific process is described in the "Xici Shangzhuan" section of the Book of Changes:
The number of the Great Changes is fifty, and its use is forty-nine. It is divided into two to represent duality, with one hanging to represent trinity. It is divided into four to represent the four seasons, and the odd numbers are returned to the bottom to represent intercalation. There are two intercalary months every five years, so two returns to the bottom are required before hanging. Heaven is one, Earth is two; Heaven is three, Earth is four; Heaven is five, Earth is six; Heaven is seven, Earth is eight; Heaven is nine, Earth is ten. Heaven has a number of five, Earth has a number of five; the five positions are harmonious. Heaven has a number of twenty-five, Earth has a number of thirty, making a total of fifty-five for Heaven and Earth. This is how changes are made and how spirits and ghosts are guided.
Preparation stage: "The number of the Great Changes is fifty, and its use is forty-nine."
- "The number of the Great Changes is fifty": Take 50 yarrow stalks to represent the number of the Great Changes, which symbolizes the infinite possibilities of the universe.
- "Its use is forty-nine": Randomly take out one stalk, leaving 49 stalks. The one that is taken out represents the "loss" in the later stage. The Taiji of yin and yang must be calculated within an odd number that is not in balance.
Divination stage: "It is divided into two to represent duality, with one hanging to represent trinity. It is divided into four to represent the four seasons, and the odd numbers are returned to the bottom to represent intercalation."
"Divided into two," "one hanging," "divided into four," and "returned to the bottom" represent the "four camps," which means that there are four steps in the divination process:
- Divided into two: Randomly divide the 49 stalks into two groups, symbolizing "Heaven" and "Earth" respectively. This is what "divided into two to represent duality" means.
- One hanging: Randomly take one stalk from either the "Heaven" or "Earth" group. This is called "one hanging," and the stalk that is taken out represents "man." At this point, there are only 48 stalks left.
- Divided into four: Count the stalks in the "Heaven" group in groups of four, excluding any extras that are less than four; do the same for the "Earth" group. At this point, there are a total of 50 - (1 + 1 + (remainder of "Heaven" divided by 4) + (remainder of "Earth" divided by 4)) stalks left. The number four here represents the four seasons.
- Returned to the bottom: Arrange the remaining stalks and start the "four camps" cycle again. This cycle must be repeated three times, which is called the "four camps, three changes."
After three cycles, count the number of remaining stalks. After going through these steps, there are only four possibilities for the remaining stalks: 36, 32, 28, and 24 (with probabilities of 3/16, 7/16, 5/16, and 1/16, respectively). If you divide them by 4, you will get four possibilities: 9, 8, 7, and 6. Therefore, 9, 8, 7, and 6 are the results of the divination, representing the four symbols.
According to the principle of "odd is yang, even is yin":
- 9: Taiyang, the greatest yang
- 7: Shaoyang, a lesser yang
- 8: Shaoyin, a lesser yin
- 6: Taiyin, the greatest yin
We can then convert these results into hexagrams:
- Yang line: —, 9, 7 can be converted into a yang line
- Yin line: - -, 6, 8 can be converted into a yin line
It can be observed that the probability of obtaining a yin line ((1+7)/16) and a yang line ((3+5)/16) is both 1/2.
Every combination of three yin and yang lines can form a basic gua (hexagram). Therefore, the divination process mentioned above needs to be repeated two more times to obtain the remaining two lines and form a basic gua.
Assuming the results of the three rounds are "7, 8, 7," the hexagram is "yang yin yang," the "Li Gua" (hexagram of fire). However, 6 and 9 are special cases, known as "extremes that reverse." For example, the sun line of 666, which belongs to the "Kun Gua" (hexagram of earth), will be reversed and become the yin lines of 999, forming the "Qian Gua" (hexagram of heaven) (of course, there is another saying that "yang reaches its extreme and turns into lesser yin, yin reaches its extreme and turns into lesser yang," but this needs further verification); 7 and 8, on the other hand, will not change, which matches the current situation.
After obtaining the hexagram, the next step is to calculate the "quan gua" (total hexagram). The quan gua is the combination of two hexagrams, resulting in a total of 64 possibilities (8x8). This requires a total of 6 lines, so the divination process needs to be repeated 6 times.
Assuming the result is 978976, the resulting hexagram is "Xun Gua" (hexagram of wind) with "Xun Gua" (hexagram of wind) as the upper gua and "Jie Gua" (hexagram of thunder) as the lower gua. Therefore, the result is "Ben Gua Xun, Bian Gua Jie" (hexagram of wind as the original gua, hexagram of thunder as the changed gua). After that, you can refer to the Book of Changes for interpretation.
Weekly Recommendations#
Hook: Linking any two files#
Hook – Links beat searching is a paid app for MacOS that allows you to link any two files. It works by associating open schemes with corresponding file types, which is the meaning of "Hook."
My main use cases are as follows:
- Linking: Requirement notes + Requirement document + Design drafts + Technical solutions
- Linking: Code + Code notes + Technical solutions
When I open any of these files, I can press "Ctrl+H" to view the linked files/links.
Of course, this software also has a significant use case of linking GTD (Getting Things Done) tasks with related files (unfortunately, the task management app I'm currently using, TickTick, does not support schemes):
Emojimix#
emojimix is a web application that allows you to combine two emojis to create a new one. It's really interesting.
Here are two examples:
This Week's Records#
Recent Viewings#
- Watching: Anime | "Pokemon Journey"
- Finished reading: Novel | "Silent Parade" | ★★★☆☆
- Watched: Competition | IEM - Navi vs AST | ★★★★★
- Watched: Anime | "Spy Family" | ★★★★★
- Watched: Movie | "Groundhog Day" | ★★★★★
- Watched: Movie | "The Best Offer" | ★★★★★
- Watched: Movie | "The Devotion of Suspect X" | ★★★★★
- Watched: Movie | "My Love" (second viewing) | ★★★★★
- "Pokemon Journey": The 100% win rate Thunderbolt being used in the quarterfinals, I boldly predict that the final will be Danpei vs. Mega Lucario, and Ash won't be able to win the championship this year.
- "Silent Parade": The setting is good, but the plot twists don't flow naturally and feel a bit forced for the sake of reversal.
- The Navi match last night was exciting, and the atmosphere at the venue was very lively. Navi: "3 points to tie, 4 points to win."
- "Spy Family": It has ended. The second season is said to be coming in October, but unfortunately, Bond hasn't appeared in the first season yet.
- "Groundhog Day": I only watched it now, and I thought it was a horror movie, but it turned out to be a comedy with a happy ending. Life is indeed a repetition of ordinary days, breaking free from spatial constraints like Truman did, and breaking free from daily routines like Phil did. Change a little bit every day, make yourself a little better, and love and live.
- "The Best Offer": After watching it, I was greatly shocked. It truly deserves to be an Italian suspense film. Highly recommended.
Recent Code#
TypeScript 28 hrs 49 mins ██████████████████▏░░ 86.6%
JSON 1 hr 41 mins █░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 5.1%
JavaScript 58 mins ▌░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 2.9%
HTML 43 mins ▍░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 2.2%
YAML 26 mins ▎░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 1.3%
PS. I don't know if WakaTime has a bug this week, but it didn't count TypeScript React...