The Difference between Sixty-four Guas of Wang Wen and Qian Gua of Yijing

Sixty-four hexagrams and Qian hexagrams in the Book of Changes are both interpretations and applications of the Book of Changes, and their sources and specific contents are different.

1. Source: Sixty-four hexagrams of Wen Wang is a part of Zhouyi, and its origin can be traced back to Hetu and Luoshu. According to legend, in ancient times, there were dragons and horses with figures on their backs in the Yellow River and turtles with figures on their backs in Luoshui, and saints made gossip accordingly. At the end of Shang Dynasty, Zhou Wenwang wrote 64 hexagrams and completed the Book of Changes. Money divination in the Book of Changes is a random divination method, which divides copper coins or coins into positive and negative sides, throws them repeatedly, and interprets divination images. It originated late and was mainly used for folk divination.

2. Content: The sixty-four hexagrams in Wang Wen contain sixty-four different hexagrams, and each hexagram has a corresponding hexagram, which is used to explain the meaning of hexagrams and guide actions. The Qian hexagrams in the Book of Changes combine the front and back of copper coins or coins into six stubborn hexagrams. According to these divination images combined with specific interpretation rules, we can infer good fortune and bad fortune.

Generally speaking, Wang Wen's sixty-four hexagrams are the sixty-four hexagrams in Zhouyi, which systematically expound the law of the change of the universe and are the core content of Zhouyi. Qian Gua in the Book of Changes is a way for people to use copper coins or coins for divination, and its interpretation rules are different from the sixty-four hexagrams of King Wen.