Glossary of Chinese Metaphysical Terms

Key Concepts Across the Traditions

Chinese metaphysical traditions use a precise vocabulary developed over thousands of years. Many of these terms have no exact English equivalent. This glossary provides definitions grounded in the traditions themselves rather than in modern simplifications. Terms are listed alphabetically by their English name or pinyin romanisation. Chinese characters are provided alongside each entry.

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Bagua

八卦

The eight trigrams. Eight three-line symbols composed of solid (yang) and broken (yin) lines representing the fundamental forces of nature: Heaven (Qian), Earth (Kun), Thunder (Zhen), Wind (Xun), Water (Kan), Fire (Li), Mountain (Gen) and Lake (Dui). Attributed to the legendary Fu Xi. The foundation of the I Ching hexagram system and a core element of feng shui compass analysis.

BaZi

八字

Literally "eight characters." A system of Chinese fate calculation based on the year, month, day and hour of birth, each expressed as a pair of heavenly stem and earthly branch. Also known as the Four Pillars of Destiny (四柱命理). The classical texts that codify BaZi interpretation span over a thousand years.

Clash

冲

A conflict relationship between earthly branches that sit opposite each other in the twelve-branch cycle. There are six clash pairs: Zi-Wu, Chou-Wei, Yin-Shen, Mao-You, Chen-Xu, Si-Hai. Clashes indicate tension, disruption or forced change in the areas governed by the affected pillars.

Combination

合

A bonding relationship between heavenly stems or earthly branches. Stem combinations (天干合) pair the ten stems into five pairs that transform into one of the five elements. Branch combinations include six harmonies (六合), three harmonies (三合) and directional combinations (三会). Combinations can strengthen, weaken or transform the elements involved.

Dao

道

Literally "the way" or "the path." In Daoist philosophy, the Dao is the fundamental, nameless source from which all things arise and to which all things return. It is not a god or a force but the underlying pattern of reality itself. The Dao De Jing opens with the statement that the Dao that can be spoken is not the true Dao.

Day Master

日主 / 日干

The heavenly stem of the day pillar in a BaZi birth chart. It represents the self and is the reference point from which all other elements in the chart are interpreted. There are ten possible Day Masters, one for each heavenly stem, each with its own elemental nature and characteristics.

Di Zhi (Earthly Branches)

地支

The twelve cyclical characters that combine with the ten heavenly stems to form the sixty Jiazi cycle. Each branch is associated with an animal sign, a two-hour period of the day, a compass direction and one or more of the five elements. The twelve branches are: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai.

Feng Shui

风水

Literally "wind-water." The Chinese system of reading and managing the flow of qi through the natural and built environment. Classical feng shui is divided into the form school (reading landscape shapes and terrain) and the compass school (using mathematical formulas and directional measurements). The practice is rooted in the observation that the positioning of mountains, water and structures affects the quality of qi in a given location. See Dragon Veins and Feng Shui.

Five Elements

五行 (Wu Xing)

Wood (木), Fire (火), Earth (土), Metal (金) and Water (水). Not elements in the Western chemical sense but five phases or modes of transformation through which qi moves. They interact through productive, weakening and controlling cycles. The five elements underpin BaZi, feng shui, traditional Chinese medicine and virtually every branch of Chinese metaphysics.

Gan Ying

感应

Stimulus-response or resonance. The Chinese metaphysical principle that things of the same kind attract and respond to each other. Energies of the same frequency vibrate together. This is the mechanism traditionally understood to underlie I Ching divination: the sincere intention of the questioner resonates with the field of reality and the coins or stalks organise themselves to reflect that resonance.

Gua

卦

A trigram (three lines) or hexagram (six lines) in the I Ching system. The term can refer to either depending on context. The eight trigrams are called bagua (八卦). The sixty-four hexagrams are the full set of six-line figures that form the core of the I Ching.

Hexagram

卦 (六爻卦)

A six-line figure composed of two trigrams stacked vertically. The lower trigram (lines 1-3) represents the internal situation. The upper trigram (lines 4-6) represents the external environment. There are sixty-four possible hexagrams, representing every possible combination of yin and yang across six positions. Each hexagram in the I Ching has a judgment text and six individual line texts.

Hundun

混沌

Primordial chaos. In the Shan Hai Jing and Zhuangzi, Hundun is a faceless being of undifferentiated wholeness. When his well-meaning friends drilled seven holes in him (for eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth) he died. The story is a foundational myth about the cost of imposing distinctions on undivided reality.

Jiazi Cycle

六十甲子

The sixty-year cycle formed by pairing the ten heavenly stems with the twelve earthly branches. Since the stems cycle every 10 and the branches every 12, the lowest common multiple is 60, producing sixty unique stem-branch pairs before the sequence repeats. This cycle structures the Chinese calendar and is the foundation of BaZi birth chart calculation.

Kunlun

昆仑

The mythological axis mundi of Chinese cosmology. Described in the Shan Hai Jing as a mountain so vast it serves as the pillar connecting heaven and earth. It is the dwelling place of Xi Wangmu (Queen Mother of the West) and the source of the Yellow River. In feng shui tradition, all dragon veins (longmai) are said to originate from Kunlun.

Longmai (Dragon Veins)

龙脉

The channels through which qi flows across the landscape, following mountain ridges and waterways. In feng shui, identifying and reading dragon veins is fundamental to assessing the quality of qi in any location. The Shan Hai Jing contains some of the earliest descriptions of these energy pathways.

Na Yin

纳音

The sixty resonance tones. A system that assigns one of thirty elemental descriptions (such as "Heavenly Fire," "Ocean Water" or "Gold in the Sand") to each pair of Jiazi stem-branch combinations. Na Yin adds a layer of nuance to BaZi interpretation, describing the quality or character of an element rather than just its category. Referenced in the classical texts of fate calculation.

气

The vital breath, energy or animating force that permeates all things. Qi is not "energy" in the Western physics sense. It is the medium through which yin and yang interact, the substance that the five elements describe the movement of and the force that feng shui seeks to read and manage. In traditional Chinese medicine, health is understood as the smooth flow of qi through the body. In metaphysics, everything from landscape forms to numerical patterns to celestial movements is understood as an expression of qi.

Shan Hai Jing

山海经

The Classic of Mountains and Seas. An ancient Chinese text compiled between the fourth and first centuries BCE, cataloguing over 550 mountains, 300 waterways and 277 creatures across eighteen books. It records gods, strange peoples, ritual instructions and geographical data that blends real topography with descriptions of beings and places that appear on no modern map. See Origins.

Shen Sha

神煞

Spirit markers. A system of symbolic indicators in BaZi that flag specific qualities, tendencies or life patterns based on the relationships between the pillars in a birth chart. Over thirty markers exist, including auspicious ones such as Tian Yi Gui Ren (天乙贵人, the Heavenly Noble) and challenging ones such as Yang Ren (羊刃, the Blade). See Shen Sha: The Spirit Markers of Chinese Destiny.

Tai Ji

太极

The Supreme Ultimate. The undivided wholeness from which yin and yang emerge. In the cosmological framework described in the I Ching's Great Commentary (Da Zhuan), the Tai Ji generates the two modes (yin and yang), which generate the four images, which generate the eight trigrams, which generate the sixty-four hexagrams. It is the source before differentiation.

Tian Gan (Heavenly Stems)

天干

The ten cyclical characters that combine with the twelve earthly branches to form the sixty Jiazi cycle. Each stem carries a yin or yang polarity and one of the five elements. The ten stems are: Jia (甲, yang wood), Yi (乙, yin wood), Bing (丙, yang fire), Ding (丁, yin fire), Wu (戊, yang earth), Ji (己, yin earth), Geng (庚, yang metal), Xin (辛, yin metal), Ren (壬, yang water) and Gui (癸, yin water).

Trigram

卦 (三爻卦)

A three-line symbol composed of solid (yang) and broken (yin) lines. There are eight possible trigrams, representing every combination of yin and yang across three positions. Two trigrams stacked together form a hexagram. See Bagua.

巫

The shamanic spirit mediums of ancient China. The earliest evidence indicates the wu were predominantly female. Oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang dynasty name specific female wu who performed divination rituals and rain-making ceremonies. The wu tradition represents the oldest layer of Chinese spiritual practice, predating the formalised systems of the I Ching, feng shui and organised Daoism.

Wu Xing

五行

See Five Elements.

Xi Wangmu

西王母

The Queen Mother of the West. One of the most ancient deities in Chinese mythology, described in the Shan Hai Jing as a fierce, leopard-tailed being who commands plagues and celestial punishments. Over centuries she was gradually transformed into a serene, regal goddess of immortality. She dwells on Kunlun and guards the peaches of immortality.

Yao

爻

An individual line in a trigram or hexagram. Each yao is either yin (broken line, value 6 or 8) or yang (solid line, value 7 or 9). In divination, values 6 and 9 indicate changing lines (old yin and old yang) that transform into their opposites, creating a second hexagram that shows the direction of change.

Yi Jing (I Ching)

易经

The Book of Changes. One of the Five Classics of Confucianism and the foundational text of Chinese metaphysics. The core text (Zhou Yi) consists of sixty-four hexagrams with judgments attributed to King Wen and line texts attributed to the Duke of Zhou. The Ten Wings commentaries were added during the Warring States period. The I Ching functions simultaneously as a divination system, a cosmological model, a binary mathematical framework and a guide to navigating change. See The I Ching Connection.

Yin and Yang

阴阳

The two complementary and interdependent forces that together generate all phenomena. Yin is the receptive, dark, cool, contracting, structuring principle. Yang is the active, bright, warm, expanding, energising principle. They are not opposites in conflict but partners in a cycle: each contains the seed of the other, each transforms into the other at its extreme. The interaction of yin and yang is the engine of all change in Chinese metaphysics and the binary foundation of the I Ching.

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This glossary grows as new content is published. Terms are added as the site expands into deeper coverage of each tradition.

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