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Design for a collective and interactive I Ching knowledge experience

JEAN PIERRE CHARALAMBOS1 and HILARY BARRETT2

Abstract:

The online I Ching system can be understood in terms of sections and relationships. 'Sections' can be both sections of text, and also components of the I Ching, which is logically subdivisible into hexagrams, trigrams and lines. 'Relationships' are mappings from one hexagram or line to another. The system will provide an I Ching book, online I Ching consultation with a choice of translations and interpretations, and (only for registered users) the option of storing experiences of I Ching divination online and sharing them with other users. It is suggested that translators adopt a GPL-type press licence, or they might opt to allow access for registered users only.

Introduction

Behind the scenes, the new site will be structured by simple 'I Ching entities' and the relationships between them. The current design already incorporates a wide range of relationships, but it is also designed for flexibility: new sections or relationships suggested (or contributed) by users could be added from time to time. In this way the shape of the site as well as its contents could evolve to reflect the character of the underlying community.

Visitors to the site will be able to consult the I Ching - eventually with a choice of translations. However, the unique contribution of this project is to allow users to share their I Ching experiences and interpretations, thus building up an invaluable communal resource over time. This is in the historic tradition of I Ching commentary that began with the Wings.

We will also eventually provide a consultation program to interface directly with the online database, without the need to be online while consulting. The protocol for this interface will be made public, giving programmers the opportunity to make this resource available through their own I Ching programs (subject, of course, to the users registering at the site).

General Terms and Definitions

The following general concepts will be used through out this article.

1 to n relationship
That 1 to n items of class a could be in relationship with a given item of class b, means that a relationship between an item of class a and the given item b could be added or discarded from time to time.
Description
A description refers to the purpose of a given field, not to its specific content.
Initial content
Default textual content of a given field. This content may or may not be present.
Content
Initial content should be overwritten by I Ching interpreters. When it is, the field is simply referred to as ``content''. See section [*] for a discussion of user roles.
Commentary
This is an optional text field that could be associated with a given ``content'' field to clarify its meaning.
Initial Resource
A resource is an object that could be added to a given item to symbolize its meaning: for example, an image, a video, a music track, or a visual theme.
Resource
As with initial contents, initial resources of a given type should be overwritten by I Ching interpreters.
Other specific I Ching system definitions will be introduced in other sections as necessary.

The I Ching System Structure

The I Ching system is built up from sections and I Ching entities. Any section has the following properties:

  1. A section represents both the usual textual sections of a book, e.g., an introduction or a prologue, and some specific I Ching sections, see section [*] for more details.
  2. There may be 1 to n sections on the system.
  3. A single section comprises all of the following:

I Ching entities are only lines, trigrams and hexagrams, see section [*]. Properties of I Ching entities are:

The general structure of the I Ching system is depicted in figure [*].

Figure: I Ching structure
\includegraphics[% width=0.85\columnwidth, keepaspectratio]{fig/struct.eps}


I Ching Entities

The I Ching can be seen as a set of ideas associated with some structural entities called hexagrams. A hexagram can be broken down into two entities called trigrams, which in turn can be broken down into three single entities called lines. Each entity may comprise 1 to n attributes and 1 to n relationships.

Attributes

An attribute is a single aspect that characterises the entity.

Relationships

A relationship is a mapping from a given entity to another one (or some others).

A given attribute or relationship comprises all of the following:

Important hexagram attributes and relationships are introduced in section [*].

Lines

The line is the atomic I Ching entity - that is, it is the only entity that cannot be broken down further. A single line represents duality, a yin or a yang, and can be in one of two states: stable or changing. That is, a line can take one of four different forms:

  1. A yang, represented as: \includegraphics[% width=0.6cm, height=0.2cm]{fig/yang.eps} (a black line).
  2. A yin, represented as: \includegraphics[% width=0.6cm, height=0.2cm]{fig/yin.eps} (a black divided line).
  3. A changing yang, represented as: \includegraphics[% width=0.6cm, height=0.2cm]{fig/yang_m.eps} (a red line).
  4. A changing ying, represented as: \includegraphics[% width=0.6cm, height=0.2cm]{fig/yin_m.eps} (a red divided line).

Trigrams

A trigram is an entity that represents a quality of elemental energy. It consistes of three lines. There are two different systems that represent the set of all the trigrams: the Before Heaven system, attributed to Fu Hsi and the Later Heaven system, attributed to King Wen, see figure [*]. Of the two, the latter is almost the only one referred in today's I Ching literature.

Figure: Main systems for trigram representation.
\includegraphics[% width=1.0\columnwidth, keepaspectratio]{fig/system.eps}

Some important trigram attributes are: image, quality and family. See table [*]


Table: Trigram known attributes.
Trigram Name Image Quality Family
1. Ch'ien/ Qian Heaven Creative Father
2. K'un / Kun Earth Receptive Mother
3. Chen / Zhen Thunder Initiating Eldest son
4. Sun / Sun Wind or Wood Penetrating Eldest daughter
5. Li / Li Fire Clinging Middle daughter
6. K'an / Kan Water Dangerous Middle son
7. Tui / Dui Lake Joyous Youngest daughter
8. Ken / Gen Mountain Still Youngest son


Hexagrams

The hexagram is the main I Ching entity. It is made up of two trigrams, referred to as "lower" and "upper". Hence, six lines comprise a single hexagram. Hexagram lines are ordered from bottom to top: the bottom line of the hexagram is referred to as the first line. The structure of the 64 hexagrams is shown in table [*].


Table: Hexagram composition.
Hex. L. T. U. T.
1 1 1
2 2 2
3 3 6
4 6 8
5 1 6
6 6 1
7 6 2
8 2 6
9 1 4
10 7 1
11 1 2
12 2 1
13 5 1
14 1 5
15 8 2
16 2 3
17 3 7
18 4 8
19 7 2
20 2 4
21 3 5
22 5 8
23 2 8
24 3 2
25 3 1
26 1 8
27 3 8
28 4 7
29 6 6
30 5 5
31 8 7
32 4 3
Hex. L. T. U. T.
33 8 1
34 1 3
35 2 5
36 5 2
37 5 4
38 7 5
39 8 6
40 6 3
41 7 8
42 3 4
43 1 7
44 4 1
45 2 7
46 4 2
47 6 7
48 4 6
49 5 7
50 4 5
51 3 3
52 8 8
53 8 4
54 7 3
55 5 3
56 8 5
57 4 4
58 7 7
59 6 4
60 7 6
61 7 4
62 8 3
63 5 6
64 6 5


Notation

I Ching names can be taken from Wade Giles or Pinyin.


Known I Ching Sections & Entity Attributes and Relationships

Among many known sections, attributes and relationships, the most important are:

Sections

Great Treatise: Ta Chuan / Dazhuan

Explanation of the hexagrams and trigrams: Shuo Kua/ Shuogua

Hexagram Attributes

The Chou I / The Zhouyi

The Wings

Hexagram Relationships

The following are the most common hexagram relationships:

Figure: Example
\includegraphics[% width=0.50\columnwidth, keepaspectratio]{fig/mutant.eps}


Table: Complementary Hexagrams, also known as ``opposite'' and ``shadow''.
Main Shadow
1 2
3 50
4 49
5 35
6 36
7 13
8 14
9 16
10 15
11 12
17 18
19 33
20 34
21 48
22 47
23 43
Main Shadow
24 44
25 46
26 45
27 28
29 30
31 41
32 42
37 40
38 39
51 57
52 58
53 54
55 59
56 60
61 62
63 64


.


Table: Nuclear Hexagrams.
Main Nuclear
1 1
2 2
3 23
4 24
5 38
6 37
7 24
8 23
9 38
10 37
11 54
12 53
13 44
14 43
15 40
16 39
17 53
18 54
19 24
20 23
21 39
22 40
23 2
24 2
25 53
26 54
27 2
28 1
29 27
30 28
31 44
32 43
Main Nuclear
33 44
34 43
35 39
36 40
37 64
38 63
39 64
40 63
41 24
42 23
43 1
44 1
45 53
46 54
47 37
48 38
49 44
50 43
51 39
52 40
53 64
54 63
55 28
56 28
57 38
58 37
59 27
60 27
61 27
62 28
63 64
64 63



User Functions

Two different scenarios for proper user interaction have been identified: the I Ching book and the experience.

The Book

The book scenario provides users with the means to perform the following actions:

  1. Editing I Ching sections and entity attributes and relationships.
  2. Resource management.

Experiences

The experience scenario provides users with the means to consult the I Ching about a particular matter. An experience is made up of the following (see Fig. [*]):

  1. A situation.
  2. A question.
  3. The hexagram of the consultation. From the hexagram the user could select as many interpretations (according to the interpreters available in the system) as she likes.
  4. Concluding thoughts.
  5. 1 to n Other users' experiences.
Figure: Composition of an I Ching experience.
\includegraphics[% width=0.50\columnwidth, keepaspectratio]{fig/experience.eps}

It is worth noting that given a user experience it may be shared in two ways:

  1. By associating another users' similar experiences with it.
  2. By sharing it with other users.

User Roles

According to the previous identified scenarios it is possible to define all the different system user roles: administrator, interpreter and (simply put) user. According to system accessibility, i. e. translators' press licenses, users could be subdivided in registered and unregistered. Table [*] shows the minimum conditions that a specific user role needs to satisfy.


Table: Default user minimum permissions to system functions.
  The Book Experiences
  Writing Reading Writing Reading
translator $\surd$ $\surd$    
reg-user   $\surd$ $\surd$ $\surd$
unreg-user   $\frac{1}{2}$    


Observe that a specific user may have one or more roles, e. g., a registered user may want to have write permissions to The Book or a translator may want to get a registered account to share specific reading experiences.

Notes on Roles

  1. Administrators are responsible for database management, including the definition of sections, attributes and relationships.
  2. It is an interpreter or translator's responsibility to define her press license. The system provides only two possibilities: 1. GPL like. This is the one suggested. 2. A more restrictive alternative stating "only registered users have access to whatever I translate."
  3. A translator may decide to change from the 2nd alternative to the GPL'ed t any time. But the reverse is not possible, as the second alternative is the more restrictive.
  4. Registered users must have access to all system translations and have a system account, through which they can create, edit and discard their own experiences.
  5. Unregistered users only have access to all system GPL-ed translations and do not have a system account.

About this document ...

Design for a collective and interactive I Ching knowledge experience

This document was generated using the LaTeX2HTML translator Version 2002-2-1 (1.70)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, Nikos Drakos, Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds.
Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, Ross Moore, Mathematics Department, Macquarie University, Sydney.

The command line arguments were:
latex2html -split 0 design.tex

The translation was initiated by Jean Pierre Charalambos on 2004-06-01

Footnotes

...HARALAMBOS1
National University of Colombia jpchara@ing.unal.edu.co
...ARRETT2
hilary@onlineClarity.co.uk
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Jean Pierre Charalambos 2004-06-01