Question # 12 : The relation between the I Ching and Chinese astrology
Question — What is the relation between the I Ching and Chinese astrology? (Linda T., USA).
Answer — The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is generally considered as the Bible of Chinese thinking. Contrary to what many authors contend, this book is not the father, but a younger brother, of Chinese astrology. (One of the other younger brothers is Chinese geomancy.) It was written in its definite form around the year 1143 BC, that is, some fifteen centuries after the official codification of Chinese astrology by Emperor Huang-Ti. Although conceived as a quite different system of divination, I Ching also proceeded from the same Chinese cosmogony (concepts of Yin and Yang, of the Five Elements, of the Cyclic Pattern of Cosmic Evolution, etc.), and reduced the whole range of the infinite changes in the Universe to sixty-four basic patterns represented by sixty-four lineal figures called hexagrams. On its side, Chinese astrology represents a canvas of sixty main patterns of all cosmic changes; these patterns are represented by twelve astral signs, each of them coupled with every one of the Five Elements.
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