Zhen and Xun: Build the Two Wood Palace Families
Last updated 10/7/2026
Zhen and Xun both carry Wood in the received Eight Palaces classification used here. This lesson asks you to calculate the two families from their different heads and explain why identical operations do not create an identical story.
Prerequisite: complete the Qian/Dui comparison and keep line numbers bottom-up. Your output is a filled Zhen/Xun sequence sheet plus a short record of any calculation error you catch.
One Rule, Two Starting Figures
| Coordinate | Zhen family | Xun family |
|---|---|---|
| Palace head | 51 Zhen 震, ☳ over ☳ | 57 Xun 巽, ☴ over ☴ |
| Palace element | Wood | Wood |
| First operation | change line 1 | change line 1 |
| Returning operation | differ from the head at line 5 | differ from the head at line 5 |
The shared element is a classification coordinate. The family members are determined by applying the common position rule to each head.
Source boundary: the received Jing Shi Yi Zhuan catalogue records Zhen's run in juan shang, scan images 19–30, and Xun's in juan zhong, images 69–81; both head entries assign Wood. The complete construction sheet below provides the reader-facing membership and line-change check.
Complete the Construction Sheet
Cover the answer table below. Using only the head and changed-line set, fill the four blanks in this worksheet:
| Position | Changed lines from head | Zhen | Xun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palace head | none | 51 | 57 |
| 1st generation | 1 | ____ | ____ |
| 2nd generation | 1, 2 | 40 | 37 |
| 3rd generation | 1, 2, 3 | ____ | ____ |
For each row:
- draw the doubled-trigram head;
- change the listed lines and no others;
- identify the resulting hexagram;
- compare it with the answer record.
Answer record through third generation
| Position | Changed lines | Zhen family | Xun family |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palace head | none | 51 Zhen 震 | 57 Xun 巽 |
| 1st generation | 1 | 16 Yu 豫 | 9 Xiao Chu 小畜 |
| 2nd generation | 1, 2 | 40 Jie 解 | 37 Jia Ren 家人 |
| 3rd generation | 1, 2, 3 | 32 Heng 恆 | 42 Yi 益 |
If you obtained a different member, record whether you numbered from the top, reset an earlier changed line, or changed an extra line. The cumulative operation retains each earlier change through the fifth generation.
Verify the Complete Families
| Position | Changed lines from head | Zhen family | Xun family |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palace head | none | 51 Zhen 震 | 57 Xun 巽 |
| 1st generation | 1 | 16 Yu 豫 | 9 Xiao Chu 小畜 |
| 2nd generation | 1, 2 | 40 Jie 解 | 37 Jia Ren 家人 |
| 3rd generation | 1, 2, 3 | 32 Heng 恆 | 42 Yi 益 |
| 4th generation | 1, 2, 3, 4 | 46 Sheng 升 | 25 Wu Wang 無妄 |
| 5th generation | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | 48 Jing 井 | 21 Shi He 噬嗑 |
| Wandering Soul 遊魂 | 1, 2, 3, 5 | 28 Da Guo 大過 | 27 Yi 頤 |
| Returning Soul 歸魂 | 5 | 17 Sui 隨 | 18 Gu 蠱 |
The complete records are:
- Zhen:
51, 16, 40, 32, 46, 48, 28, 17. - Xun:
57, 9, 37, 42, 25, 21, 27, 18.
Compare Without Adding a Plot
The sequence position answers a narrow question: which changes from the head produce this family member?
For example:
- Hexagram 28 is Zhen’s Wandering Soul member because it differs from doubled Zhen at lines 1, 2, 3, and 5.
- Hexagram 27 is Xun’s Wandering Soul member because it differs from doubled Xun at the same four lines.
Those observations do not establish that either hexagram represents a required phase in someone’s affairs. Names and textual judgments still belong to the individual hexagrams; the palace table supplies family and position.
Contrast check
Mark each statement structure or added story:
- Zhen 28 and Xun 27 occupy the same structural position.
- Both family heads carry Wood in this classification.
- The two Wandering members must describe the same external event.
- Every Zhen member has one personal trait, while every Xun member has another.
Answer key: 1 and 2 are structural. Statements 3 and 4 add claims the sequence does not provide.
A Bounded Shuo Gua Orientation
The received Shuo Gua treats Zhen and Xun as distinct trigrams. Chapter 5 places Zhen in the east and Xun in the southeast. Chapter 7 associates Zhen with movement and Xun with entering.
These are attributed trigram images, not physical mechanisms or palace-wide profiles. Use them to recognize the heads, then return to the visible line operations.
Your Error Log
Preserve at least one of these outcomes:
no error: all four blanks matched after a first calculation;top-down error: line numbering was reversed, then corrected;reset error: an earlier change was lost, then restored;extra-line error: a line outside the declared set was changed, then removed.
An exercise that permits a mismatch is more useful than one that can only confirm a preferred meaning.
Next, apply the full construction to a family that is unpaired by shared Five-Phase element. Continue to the Kan family.