The lines of Yi Jing(I ching)易经(易經) theory

Remember when I said yin yang was a one dimension, a vectorial level of something? The lines are simply if we add a second dimension (like the coordinates of a map or a weiqi board). If we put this in a Cartesian chart, a plane with a point representing two coordinates, the x line would be the yin yang level and the y line the levels of the Yi Jing lines. In the Yi Jing lines dimension going up generally represents increasing, more time, going to the future(future is yin), to exterior, going, upward in the hierarchy, Different from the line representing yin and yang, where increasing ( going to the right) represent yang, in the Yi Jing lines line decreasing (going down) represent generally yang (the initiative and creative force that act first)(see for example down is yang and up is yin in one of my texts)
In the yin yang阴(陰)yin and 阳(陽)yang we find what parts represent them just by making an average and seen what is more or less, The lines of Yi jing are more complicated, we can’t simply divide in 6 exact parts and expect that each of them represents a line; the lines of Yi jing are maybe better represented by a pyramid (the base been the first line, larger, and the last line the tip,small).
A 3d Yi Jing? Is possible, but we still have problems understanding the 2d Yi Jing, It’s not time to do such thing, such thing should be made only by someone with complete understanding of the Yi Jing and not using the rudimentary methods we have seen been used to understand the Yi Jing.
Of course this sound too complicated because it’s the theory, if you see my theory of yin and yang you will think is a too complicated thing, but if someone say that is day and night, strong and weak, hot and cold(that is, examples), everyone will get the idea. This is just the theories of lines, an example of the usage that will make you think “oh, this is, the lines of the Yi jing are so simple” I will give soon.

Sun Tzu孙子 and the sovereign

There seems to be a great tension with the War imagined by Sun Tzu and the civilian authorities. There’s a famous story that he beheaded one of the preferred concubines of a Sovereign just to prove his leadership. He demonstrate what seems a discordance with the Sovereign Orders, as if they are not desirable: “Will conquer who is not interfered by the Sovereign”, ”certain orders must not be obeyed”.
In fact this is misleading; I would say even that he liked when the Sovereign intervened, as a State have other priorities but war, what he said is that the General that is not impeded by these other priorities will be likely to conquer. Like the famous phrase, criticized by Confucianists: “War is based on deception”; Sun Tzu don’t said you should lie, he just said that who deceives is more likely to win. In various parts of the Art of War 孙子宾法he points that the State and the General’s orders must be in harmony “The general receives the orders from the Sovereign …“ and at the same time points the exceptions, there’s different circumstances, you should adapt “orders of the sovereign that must not be obeyed”.

An yin yang theory

When ever asked about what is yin and yang you are presented with examples: day and night, strong and weak, active and passive, etc. But these are only examples, what is really the theory behind yin and yang, how can we establish what is and what is not yin-yang, how they are created?
When we have a characteristic that can change, where is possible use the book of changes 易经 (易經) Yi Jing (I Ching), certainly it can change in various degrees, although a state of simple change on and off, 0 and 1, is possible; it is not as interesting when you have a myriad of possibilities. If we measure this by degrees, we have a vectorial, linear, infinitely divisible, number of points. Imagine this as a thermometer, hot is generally yang and cold yin.
It is said that the struggle between two forces generate the changes, but then a force could have the same chance of going either way, and we know that when a thing is too much yin or yang, it reverses its path. I prefer seen as one force trying to stabilize and the other forcing changes; both are elastic; the more you go farther that force, the stronger it is.

Abstraction of 围棋(圍棋) Weiqi (go), the differences between Chess and Go

Weiqi, Go, is part of the abstract games. But chess in not so abstract, its fun; There’s the horse, towers, is a battle. Go is terribly abstract (for people who don’t know its true essence, almost anyone), you put that pieces of two different colors in the board and wonder what it is about: is about war. There’s other explanations; it’s about yin and yang, balance… but war is about yin yang and equilibrium
The secret to see the difference of chess, Chinese chess, Shogi, etc, and go is the proverb(Chess is a battle, Go is a war(larger scope). In Chess and Chinese Chess each square represent maybe 10 meters, in go each point represent strategic points or cities miles away of distance.

You can see this in the different approaches of Chess and Go in representing a conflict:
Different pieces: Chess and Chinese Chess, in a small scale, you have specialized types (the types of Chinese chess is almost perfect, the general in the rear, protected by its royal guards, the chariots in the flank (you see the use of chariots in the Sun Tzu Art of War 孙子兵法, the use of elephants that started in east, the soldiers in the front, of chess seems more complicated, queen more powerful than the king, bishops and towers fighting, it is probably a mix of the diplomatic power and the battlefield). In large scope war, in go,you simply have forces,(wouldn’t make sense send all archers to a city, all cavalry to another with walls; in second world war send snipers to north of France, mans with granades to another front, all Infantary to another, all anti-tank to Russia).

Block: in Chess and Chinese Chess, a small scale battle, if you need to defend a mount, a bridge, city, etc. you simply put forces in their way , you see that in chess and Chinese chess where pieces blocks the way of others; but in larger scale war and in go how you defend the space of miles between two cities or strategic points and impede of reaching a third? That’s why you can put a stone even in a surrounded area,(in modern motorized I don’t know if there’s too much dependence of roads and probably easier to block, but the routes should be so much… in ancient time was easy to pass trough forest, defiles, etc, read the art of war for more examples).

Capture : Chess and Chinese Chess captures who moves first, probably showing the importance of attack and initiative; in Go you surround completely the enemy, meaning attacking it supply lines and incapacity of reinforcements or a siege.

End of battle: chess and Chinese chess shows a short term goal, surrender the opposite general, generally battles in small scale were fast and ended with an army victorious and another captured or fleeing, in Go represents a more complex war with long term goals, war were longer, you conquered a part of the territory and after that it was reconquered, you gain control of something but loss of another, in rare cases there was a total annihilation of the opposite force, although possible in go and war, you have to calculate the losses and gains and see who were the victorious.

The 五行 wu xing five elements (phases) and the cyclic movement of yin yang阴阳(陰陽)

As I already said for me the five elements theory simply don’t match the yin yang and their others derivatives ( 4 images 四象si xiang, eight trigrams, 八卦 ba gua, the hexagrams 卦 gua of the Yi Jing (I Ching) 易经 (易經)). If we cannot classify the five elements in yin and yang, we can compare a cycle using the two.
There’s divisions of cyclic movements, as the day and the year or directions, generally giving 土tǔ earth a complete different meaning (like the center in the directions), or putting earth between the other 4 elements, and other strategies, But for me is clear, the circle of creation should be followed; and there’s no water generates earth, generates wood, generates earth, etc. or giving a completely different attribute different from the others with a supposed average.
Then we have clearly a cycle: 水木火土金, in a clockwise movement, and then the cycle repeats. For me too there is no preponderance of an element over another, so the five elements have the same “size”: 1/5. Water and fire are probably full yin and full yang; I would like to give full yang the value of 1 and yin 0 or 2 (the cycle continues 3 yang, 4 yin, etc.), based on the numerology used in giving the lines numeric values for the Yi Jing lines.
Now we only need to arrange the proper values of the five elements. If water is full yin and fire full yang, we know that the range of the values go from 1 to 0.6 fire, 0.6 to 0.2 wood, 0.2 to 1.8 water; or go from 1.2 to 0.8 fire, 0.8 to 0.4 wood, 0.4 to 2 or 0 water. We are tempted to give the arrangement so earth will be 1.3 to 1.7, the equilibrium of earth but I will explain why this could be not used. The most probable arrangement is to give yang and yin getting most of the upper and lower part respectively but with equal quantity; then we would find the values 1.9 or -0.9 to 0.3 water, 0.3 to 0.7 wood, 0.7 to 1.1 fire, 1.1 to 1.5 earth, 1.5 to 1.9 metal, and then continue 1.9 to 2.3 water, etc. Then earth is a little more “yang”, in the upper part, but to compensate de direction is going to yin, the so called “balance”.