Are BaZi and I-Ching the same?

I-Ching (易經) or sometimes known as the ‘Book of Changes’ is an ancient Chinese piece of manual/ scripture that believes to contain answers to all the questions asked.

I-Ching was created by Fu Xi (伏羲) and he was the originator of the Eight Trigrams,  Bagua (八卦). The symbols of the Eight Trigrams at the very fundamental stage represent the natural phenomena, structures of the universe, environment conditions and etc. that he had observed, e.g. thunder, wind, mountain, rain, etc. Some scholars said that Fu Xi developed the 64 Hexagrams (六十四卦) too which formed the entire context of the I-Ching but others argued that I-Ching was actually developed by King Wen of Zhou (周文王) with in-depth explanations to the 64 Hexagrams. So it is up to the individual to believe which version of the history. But most scholars all agreed that Confucius (孔子) played an important role by inputting his philosophy thoughts and teachings into the I-Ching.

So, to be exact 3 people contributed to the I-Ching that we are using today.

So what is the difference between BaZi and I-Ching?

I-Ching for most people in today’s context is a divination tool. It is very simple to use, one just has to follow certain steps in obtaining the 64 hexagram either by tossing coins, picking up of yarrow sticks or using the random number method. After that, the answer will be reflected in the I-Ching. But interpreting the content of I-Ching would be extremely difficult as it was written in Chinese poems or phrases that are not commonly used today. There are English translations of the I-Ching to fill up this gap of course. Sometimes, a direct answer such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’ could be obtained using the I-Ching which BaZi couldn’t.

Is I-Ching superstitious? It is up to the individual actually as it was treated as a sacred book.

BaZi (the authentic one), on the other hand, requires more steps before one could really analyze the outcomes. One has to ensure the date and time of birth provided are correct, especially the time of birth must be in solar time before the chart is being plotted out. One must determine the Day Owner’s strength in order to determine one's favorable or unfavourable gods, and etc. And analysis of the chart requires much more knowledge from the BaZi system. But the information if obtained correctly from the BaZi is much more detailed, from my personal point of view.

So BaZi and I-Ching could actually complement one another if there is a deficiency in an answer.

#bazi #iching