Possible Relation of the Received (King Wen) Sequence to Taotie Motif

[Southyist]

Please see attached file (guaranteed safe) on subject matter for everyone's review, comment. Diagrams only, sorry. Violent reactions welcome. Have a good day!

(It's a little messy, but I'm working out a more streamlined layout.)

Note: Certain sections, i.e. special pairs and the "Gritter Grid," are credited to Gert Gritter's 2014 paper.
(Edit: Corrected version is attached, there had been a mix-up of hexagrams in the earlier version)

 

[hilary]

Thanks for sharing this! I have two requests:

1. One diagram per page, so it's easier to see which hexagrams are which.
2. Some very simple, step-by-step explanatory text to help us to follow along! Which diagram to look at first, which derives from which, why the hexagrams are positioned as they are... etc...

 

[Southyist]

Hi hilary,

I apologize for the single-page picasso-mess . Will strive to draft an entire presentation in a full month, maybe, with accompanying texts and all, hope you could bear with me as I only have scraps of time to spare


Thanks for the feedback!

Southyist

 

[hilary]

I'll look forward to it! There are several sets of 10 hexagrams in the Sequence with taotie-like symmetry, so I'm full of curiosity.

 

[Southyist]

Hi hilary,

I put together a very rough draft of the procedures for the all-diagram file I posted earlier. Why am I posting drafts instead of polishing them first to a final paper? Because I don't think I have the requisite skill to write an acceptable paper, that's why And I'm also not sure if my findings have actual merits. But nonetheless, it's now here for everyone to critique

Thanks!

Southyist

[Note 06-Jan-20: Attachment is already deleted and superseded by attachment in Post#10]

 

[Freedda]

I don't get what you're doing here, but more importantly, i find myself wondering, what is the purpose or intent of this? Or is there one?

For example, I just did a reading where the Yi's response is 21.3.6 > 55. So I wonder, will what you are sharing here assist me at all in gaining more insight or a fuller or better understanding of my reading? And if so, how?

Or does it have some other purpose? Or perhaps no purpose other than how someone might try to solve a puzzle?

Best, D.

 

[Southyist]

Hi D.,

I apologize if the 2 attachments in my earlier posts have not been prefaced with any explanation as to what my intentions are in drafting them. Things were put together in a hurry as I have the tendency to fizzle out early, so I might as well put it out in the open hoping that somebody else would come along to take it from here, whether it has any actual historical value or not.

So my primary purpose in writing them is to contribute some observations that may help in solving an historical puzzle, namely, the King Wen Sequence.

It may or may not have any oracular value, but it may lend some info on how the judgments and names for some hexagrams were derived. For example: Notice that in Step 17, there are 2 "eyes" formed. The iris of the left eye contains hexagrams that directly refer to vision, such as Hex 19 (oracle bone script depicts eye looking down) and Hex 20 (the name of which is usually translated to 'seeing' or 'viewing.')

Thanks!

Southyist

 

[Freedda]

.... So my primary purpose ... is to contribute some observations that may help in solving an historical puzzle, namely, the King Wen Sequence. .... It may or may not have any oracular value,

Okay, that helps explain things. And I can now assume two things: one is that you have not in fact 'solved' the puzzle of the KWS, only that you've made some observations about it; and two, that what you're doing - or trying to do - is not related to actually using the Yi.

Unto itself, there's nothing wrong with that. People 'use' the Yi in all sorts of ways: the artist and composer John Cage used it to 'compose' music by means of 'chance operations', and one person told me that she uses the Yi in character development in her fiction writing.

But at least now I'm more clear about your intent and this then allows me to properly weigh how useful - or meaningful, or even just 'interesting' - I find what you're doing.

D.

 

[Southyist]

Hi hilary and D. and to anybody who might be interested,

I edited my earlier attachment on the Steps. I'm re-attaching it in this post (revised version.) There are now fewer steps per page, for ease in following. Happy reading!

Thanks,
Southyist

P.S. The editing of the draft is a work in progress. It is possible that it will be further tweaked in the coming days, depending on reader's feedback and my desire to make it a more comfortable read.

[Note 06-Jan-20: Attachment is already deleted and superseded by attachment in Post#10]

 

[Southyist]

Hi All,

I made aesthetic adjustments in the file I uploaded in the previous post (which I have already deleted to avoid confusion), and also re-phrased some of the texts for a lighter read. Please find the attached copy of re-revised document for everyone's reading pleasure.

Thanks!

Southyist