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Cosmic Fusion
Formula One: Forming the Pakuas
Pre-Heaven
Post-Heaven
Yang Pakua
Yin Pakua
Fig. 5.5 Pakua - Tai Chi Symbol -
Three Outside Lines - Eight Connecting Lines
There are two arrangements of the pakuas: the Pre-Heaven and
the Post-Heaven. It is said that the Pre-Heaven pakua was discovered
by Fu Hsi, a legendary figure of early Taoist history, as the
Ho-Tu, inscribed, some say on a horse, others say on a dragon
that rose from the river Ho to reveal itself to Fu Hsi. The Post-
Heaven pakua was revealed to another legendary king, Yü, the
Great, as the Lo-shu. This time it was written on the shell (back) of
a tortoise that emerged from the river Lo. The Pre-Heaven pakua
shows the unchanging cycle movement of these energies, the natural
order of the universe and is the foundation of Fu Hsi’s divinational
trigrams/hexagrams, of the I Ching. The Post-Heaven pakua shows
the opposing interaction and movement of these energies, which
are responsible for the changes and creation of all the things in the
universe, in nature and in our own lives.
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