King Wen sequence

The King Wen sequence (Chinese: 文王卦序) is an arrangement of the sixty-four divination figures in the I Ching (often translated as the Book of Changes). They are called hexagrams in English because each figure is composed of six 爻 yáo—broken or unbroken lines, that represent yin or yang respectively.

The King Wen sequence is also known as the "received" or "classical" sequence because it is the oldest surviving arrangement of the hexagrams. Its true age and authorship are unknown. Traditionally, it is said that King Wen of Zhou arranged the hexagrams in this sequence while imprisoned by King Zhou of Shang in the 12th century BC. A different arrangement, the "binary sequence" named in honor of the mythic culture hero Fu Xi, originated in the Song Dynasty. It is believed to be the work of scholar Shao Yong (1011–1077 AD). As mirrored by the 先天 Earlier Heaven and 後天 Later Heaven arrangements of the eight trigrams, or ba gua, it was customary to attribute authorship to these legendary figures. Of the two hexagram arrangements, the King Wen sequence is, however, of much greater antiquity than the Fu Xi sequence.^[1]