One of the most distinctive and intriguing aspects of the Plum Blossom (Mei Hua Yi) method is its ability to derive I Ching hexagrams from objective events or phenomena occurring in the diviner's environment at a specific moment. This approach, central to Shao Yong's "Plum Flowering Mind," moves away from reliance on randomizing tools and instead engages the diviner's keen perception and ability to find meaning in the unfolding world.
The core idea behind the external event method is that the universe is constantly communicating. Events, no matter how seemingly mundane or coincidental, can be interpreted as significant omens or reflections of the underlying energetic patterns of that particular time and space. The diviner's task is to learn how to "read" these environmental cues and translate them into the symbolic language of the I Ching.
This method relies on:
- Heightened Awareness: The diviner cultivates a state of mindful presence, paying close attention to their surroundings.
- The Significance of the Moment: The specific time an event is noticed or a question arises in response to an event is crucial. This temporal anchor links the observation to the prevailing cosmic energies.
- Symbolic Correspondence: Observed phenomena are translated into numbers, and then into trigrams, based on established correspondences (often related to the Ba Gua, Wu Xing, and numerological principles discussed in previous articles).
While specific applications can vary widely depending on the nature of the observed event and the particular tradition or interpretation being followed, the general process often involves these stages:
- Observation of a Triggering Event: Something catches the diviner's attention – a sound, a sight, an animal's behavior, the way objects are arranged, a sudden thought prompted by an external stimulus. This event becomes the focal point for the divination.
- Example: One classic (though perhaps apocryphal) story attributed to Shao Yong involves him divining from the sight of two sparrows fighting in a plum tree, or from the sound of a rat gnawing.
- Noting the Precise Time: The exact time (year, month, day, and hour, using the lunisolar calendar as discussed in Article 3) the event is observed or the question forms is paramount. This temporal data will be converted into numbers.
- Deriving the Upper Trigram (Often from the Event/Observation):
The observed event or phenomenon is analyzed for its symbolic qualities or associated numbers. This can be quite intuitive or based on established systems:
- Counting: If the event involves a countable number of items (e.g., number of birds, number of sounds, number of people), this number can be used.
- Direction: The direction from which a sound comes or an event occurs can be associated with a trigram (based on the Ba Gua directions).
- Qualities: The nature of the event (e.g., sudden and shocking like thunder – Zhen ☳; bright and visible like fire – Li ☲; flowing like water – Kan ☵) can suggest a trigram.
- Animals/Objects: Specific animals or objects have traditional trigram associations.
This derived number (or a number corresponding to the symbolic trigram) is often used to determine the upper trigram of the hexagram. Typically, if a number is derived, it is divided by 8, and the remainder corresponds to the trigram number (using the Early Heaven Ba Gua sequence where Qian=1, Dui=2, ..., Kun=8. A remainder of 0 is usually treated as 8). - Deriving the Lower Trigram (Often from Temporal Data):
The numbers from the lunisolar date and time of the observation are used. A common method is to sum the numerical values assigned to the year (e.g., its Earthly Branch number), the lunar month number, and the day of the lunar month.
This sum is then divided by 8. The remainder gives the lower trigram. - Determining the Changing Line(s):
The sum of all the temporal numbers (year + month + day + hour – with the hour being its Earthly Branch number, e.g., Zi=1, Chou=2, etc.) is taken.
This total sum is then divided by 6 (for the six lines of a hexagram).
The remainder indicates the changing line (a remainder of 1 is the first line, 2 is the second, and so on, up to a remainder of 0 or 6 being the sixth line).
Some traditions might have more complex ways to determine multiple changing lines or to use the observed event itself to pinpoint a changing line.
This method requires more than just mechanical calculation. It calls for the "Plum Flowering Mind" – a state of intuitive receptivity and insightful perception. The diviner must be able to:
- Discern Significance: Recognize which events are truly "speaking" and are not just random noise.
- Apply Correspondences Fluidly: Understand and apply the symbolic language of numbers, trigrams, and Wu Xing to the specific observation.
- Integrate Intuition: While there are rules and systems, intuition often plays a role in selecting which aspects of an event are most salient or how to best derive the numbers.
Imagine you hear a bird sing 3 distinct notes at precisely 10:15 AM on a specific lunisolar date.
- Observation: 3 bird notes.
- Time: Lunisolar year X, month Y, day Z, hour H (e.g., Snake hour).
- Upper Trigram: The number 3 (from the notes) could directly correspond to Li ☲ (Fire) in the Early Heaven sequence.
- Lower Trigram: Convert X, Y, Z to their numerical values, sum them (e.g., X_val + Y_val + Z_val = Total_Date_Num). Divide Total_Date_Num by 8. The remainder gives the lower trigram.
- Changing Line: Convert H (Snake hour) to its number (e.g., 6). Add this to Total_Date_Num (Total_Date_Num + H_val = Grand_Total_Time_Num). Divide Grand_Total_Time_Num by 6. The remainder is the changing line.
This is a highly simplified illustration. Actual practice involves a deep understanding of the calendrical and numerological systems. The beauty of the external event method lies in its ability to find profound meaning in the immediate, everyday world, seeing the I Ching's patterns reflected all around us.
In the next article, we will explore a more direct numerical approach in "Article 6: The Numerical Calculation Method - A Direct Approach."