說卦傳 第八章
乾為馬，坤為牛，震為龍，巽為雞，坎為豕，離為雉，艮為狗，兌為羊。
Shuo Gua Zhuan Chapter 8
Qian can refer to a horse; Kun, a cow; Zhen, a dragon; Xun, a chicken; Kan, a pig; Li, a pheasant; Gen, a dog; Dui, a sheep.
乾為馬，坤為牛，震為龍，巽為雞，坎為豕，離為雉，艮為狗，兌為羊。
Shuo Gua Zhuan Chapter 8
Qian can refer to a horse; Kun, a cow; Zhen, a dragon; Xun, a chicken; Kan, a pig; Li, a pheasant; Gen, a dog; Dui, a sheep.
4 comments:
Dear Joseph,
It has always been uneasy for me to see how to link some of these animals with their trigram. It is ok for Zhen and the dragon, or Kun and the cow, but for example Gen and the dog or Dui and the sheep are more mysterious for me... The reasoning seems to be not obvious, although I of course trust the Shuo Gua Zhan.
Michael
Dear Michael,
You may have to be familiar with the animals first. For example, the ancient Chinese view the dog as a watch dog. It stops intruders into his master's house. That is why Gen represents the dog. In France, you may not focus at this characteristic of the dog. The sheep is famous for it's blah blah and perhaps the sheep's eye and it is a tame and lovely animal. Dui should be quite appropriate. Try to understand the other animal representation.
Joseph
Dear Joseph,
Thank you for explaining. Ok, I will try to find the other animal representations.
I think the horse is linked to Qian because of its masculinity. The chicken run here and there like the wind, so are linked to Xun. The cow is heavy, still and quiet, so belongs to Kun. The pheasant has gorgeous fiery feathers, therefore belongs to Li. It is less obvious with the pig, but I see on the internet that there are black pigs in China, so they could be linked to Kan for this reason.
Michael
Considering their trigram line relations, I interpret the associations as the followings:
Horses are linked to Qian (full Yang trigram) due to their constant activity, strength and endurance, stamina. Cows are quite passive, unbiasedly serving, submissive as Kun (full Yin trigram). Dragons usually emerge to the surface in an energic, arousing way, and roaring is also typical of them (the bottom line is Yang). Sheeps or goats may seem tamed, gentle (upper line is Yin), but their core nature is quite fierce, they are active beings (middle and bottom lines are Yang), the trigram as a whole can also represent the animal with their compact body (two Yang lines) and forking horns (upper Yin line). Pigs on the outside may seem quite lazy, slow (1st and 3rd lines are Yin), but they are actually quite sturdy, "pigheaded" (middle line is Yang).
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