Page 7 - Robert W. Smith - Pa kua_ Chinese boxing for fitness & self-defense-North Atlantic Books (2003)

grams (or lines of three ) evolved and, later, the eight hexa-
grams (or lines of six ). The Chinese word for both types of
signs is kua (diagram). This, then, is the origin of the word pa-kua,
or "eight diagrams."
The eight symbols that form the basis of the Book of Changes
are as follows:
Name Attribute Image
Ch'ien, the Creative Strong Heaven
K'un, the Receptive Devoted, Yielding Earth
Chen, the Arousing Inciting Movement Thunder
K'an, the Abysmal Dangerous Water
Ken, Keeping Still Resting Mountain
Sun, the Gentle Penetrating Wind, Wood
Li, the Clinging Light-giving Fire
Tui, the Joyous Joyful Lake
In turn these trigrams are formed into a diagram representing
the Primal Arrangement (Sequence of Earlier Heaven) inside and
the Inner-World Arrangement (Sequence of Later Heaven) out- Fig. 1 Pa-kua diagram
side. The seasons as well as cardinal directions (note that the
Chinese place south at the top) are embraced by these phenomena B. ORIGIN AND GREAT MASTERS
(see Fig. 1). No one knows the origin of Pa-kua. It is only known that Tung
You need not comprehend the Book of Changes to practice the Hai-ch'uan ( ) of Wenan Hsien in Hopeh Province during the
boxing, but the basics presented above are helpful in understand- Ch'ing Dynasty (A.D. 1798-1879) learned this art from an anony-
ing the evolution and origin of the boxing system. In a word, Pa- mous Taoist in the mountain fastnesses of Kiangsu Province. Tung,
kua boxing* is concerned with change; all is flux, nothing stands a young man then barely into his twenties, is said to have been
still. Technically, this rationale of change is its strength and its nearly dead of starvation when the hermit chanced upon him. The
totality. Taoist ministered to him and Tung stayed several years with him
and from him learned a "divine" boxing.
After becoming famous in Peking, Tung was challenged by Kuo
Yun-shen ( ) ("Divine Crushing Hand") of the Hsing-i school.
Through two days of the duel, Kuo (who had killed men with his
* Hereafter the word Pa-kua refers to the boxing method rather than the philos- famous crushing hand) could not gain any advantage. On the third
ophy.

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