Wen Wang Gua Terminology
Last updated 5/21/2026
This is the course’s terminology contract.
The working interface is English. Pinyin and Chinese characters are precision labels for cross-checking sources, not the thing a reader has to decode first. When a module introduces a technical term, use this order:
English working label → pinyin if useful → source notation → plain-English job.
Example: World line (Shi, 世) = the querent’s position in the cast.
Core Chart Terms
| English working label | Pinyin | Source notation | Plain-English job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wen Wang Gua | Wen Wang Gua | 文王卦 | The calendar-line six-line method taught in this course. |
| Six Lines | Liu Yao | 六爻 | Another common name for Wen Wang Gua. |
| Cast | gua | 卦 | The full chart produced from a question, a date, and a hexagram. |
| Primary chart | ben gua | 本卦 | The chart before moving lines transform. |
| Changed chart | bian gua | 变卦 | The chart after moving lines transform. |
| Moving line | dong yao | 動爻 | A line that is active and flips into the changed chart. |
| Static line | jing yao | 靜爻 | A line that does not move. |
| Transformed line | bian yao | 变爻 | What a moving line becomes in the changed chart. |
| Palace | gong | 宮 | One of Jing Fang’s eight hexagram families. It supplies the reference element. |
| Palace element | - | - | The Five Phase element used to assign each line’s role. |
| Calendar-line assignment | na jia | 納甲 | The fixed stem-and-branch identity assigned to each hexagram line. |
Position Markers
| English working label | Pinyin | Source notation | Plain-English job |
|---|---|---|---|
| World line | Shi | 世 | The querent’s position in the cast. |
| Response line | Ying | 應 | The answering position, counterpart, or external mirror. |
| Target line | Yong Shen | 用神 | The line that represents the question being asked. |
| Support line | Yuan Shen | 原神 | The line that generates or supports the target line. |
| Opposing line | Ji Shen | 忌神 | The line that controls or obstructs the target line. |
| Drain line | Chou Shen | 仇神 | The line that drains the support line or indirectly weakens the target. |
Use World line, Response line, Target line, Support line, Opposing line, and Drain line in body prose. Use pinyin only when naming the source term or when a later module needs the exact classical label.
The Five Line Roles
These are traditionally called the Six Relatives even though the working set contains five visible relationship labels. Use the English role first.
| English working label | Pinyin | Source notation | Plain-English job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent line | Fu Mu | 父母 | Parents, documents, shelter, protection, support structures. |
| Officer line | Guan Gui | 官鬼 | Illness, pressure, authority, official matters, danger, employment. |
| Sibling line | Xiong Di | 兄弟 | Siblings, peers, rivals, competitors, equals, resource drain. |
| Wealth line | Qi Cai | 妻財 | Money, assets, spouse in traditional male-centered case categories, tangible goods. |
| Child line | Zi Sun | 子孫 | Children, medicine, relief, output, creativity, release from pressure. |
The source term Six Relatives (六親) can appear in headings and tables, but explanatory prose should say line roles or five line roles unless the source label itself matters.
Calendar Terms
| English working label | Pinyin | Source notation | Plain-English job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavenly Stem | tian gan | 天干 | One of the ten stem markers used in the calendar. Example: Wu. |
| Earthly Branch | di zhi | 地支 | One of the twelve branch markers used for dates and line identities. Examples from Case 1: Chen, Shen, and Chou. |
| Stem-branch pair | ganzhi | 干支 | A combined stem and branch calendar label; see the Ganzhi reference. |
| Month branch | yue jian | 月建 | The Earthly Branch assigned to the month; it gives major seasonal strength or breakage. |
| Day branch | ri chen | 日辰 | The Earthly Branch assigned to the day; it activates, clashes, supports, or breaks lines. |
| Ten-day cycle | xun | 旬 | The ten-day cycle used to identify void branches. |
| Void | xun kong | 旬空 | An Earthly Branch that is temporarily unavailable in the current ten-day cycle. |
| Five Phases | wu xing | 五行 | Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water as relationship categories. |
Interaction Terms
| English working label | Pinyin | Source notation | Plain-English job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generate | sheng | 生 | A Five Phase supports or produces another. |
| Control | ke | 克 | A Five Phase restrains or attacks another. |
| Combination | he | 合 | Two Earthly Branches bind together. |
| Clash | chong | 冲 | Two Earthly Branches strike or open each other. |
| Harm | hai | 害 | A low-priority branch relation retained as vocabulary, rarely decisive. |
| Punishment | 刑 | A low-priority branch relation retained as vocabulary, rarely decisive. | |
| Six-Clash hexagram | liu chong | 六冲 | A hexagram type associated with instability, movement, or separation. |
| Six-Harmony hexagram | liu he | 六合 | A hexagram type associated with binding, stability, or delay. |
| Combination lock | he zhu | 合住 | A combination that stops a line from acting until released. |
| Clash release | chong kai | 冲开 | A clash that opens a combination lock. |
Six Spirits
The Six Spirits are traditional line tags. In this course they are secondary indicators, not the main interpretive engine.
| English working label | Pinyin | Source notation |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Dragon | Qing Long | 青龍 |
| Vermilion Bird | Zhu Que | 朱雀 |
| Hooking Array | Gou Chen | 勾陳 |
| Soaring Serpent | Teng She | 螣蛇 |
| White Tiger | Bai Hu | 白虎 |
| Black Tortoise | Xuan Wu | 玄武 |
Core Reference Links
Use this table as the bridge between course vocabulary and the site’s shared reference system.
| Reference area | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Reference Library | The full reference hub for shared vocabulary outside the course. |
| Hexagrams | Primary hexagrams, changed hexagrams, and individual hexagram pages such as Hexagram 1 and Hexagram 9. |
| Palaces | Jing Fang’s eight palace families, including Qian palace and Xun palace. |
| Trigrams | Trigram names such as Heaven, Wind, and their direction, season, and element correspondences. |
| I Ching Correspondences | Family roles, body areas, and symbolic correspondences used by trigram and hexagram pages. |
| Ganzhi | Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and stem-branch pairs such as Wu-Shen. |
| Heavenly Stems | Individual stem pages when a date names a stem, such as Wu. |
| Earthly Branches | Individual branch pages when a date, line, void marker, clash, or combination names a branch. |
| Zodiac Animals | Branch-to-animal labels, useful when sources say Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, etc. instead of Yin, Mao, Chen. |
| Five Phases | The element system behind generation, control, line roles, and palace elements. |
| Wood / Fire / Earth / Metal / Water | Individual element pages for checking a line’s phase and relationship pattern. |
| Directions | Direction correspondences attached to trigrams and some reference entities. |
| Seasons | Seasonal correspondences attached to trigrams, branches, and element strength language. |
Style Rules For Course Pages
- Use the English label in headings and first explanations.
- Add pinyin and source notation on first mention when they help the reader cross-check source material.
- Do not rely on Chinese characters alone to carry meaning.
- Do not stack several Chinese terms without an English paraphrase.
- Treat source notation as a precision layer, not as decoration.