The Chinese cosmological tradition — the interlocking systems of *tian*/*tao* (Heaven/the
Way), yin–yang, the *wuxing* (five phases), and the *Yijing*'s trigrams and hexagrams —
which built a highly numerical model of a self-ordering cosmos. Its "sacred mathematics" runs
from the binary combinatorics of the bagua to the number-9 imperial ritual of the Temple of
Heaven and the round-Heaven / square-Earth cosmology.
Way), yin–yang, the *wuxing* (five phases), and the *Yijing*'s trigrams and hexagrams —
which built a highly numerical model of a self-ordering cosmos. Its "sacred mathematics" runs
from the binary combinatorics of the bagua to the number-9 imperial ritual of the Temple of
Heaven and the round-Heaven / square-Earth cosmology.
Several numerical systems structure Chinese cosmology: the polarity of yin and yang (2); the
five phases wood-fire-earth-metal-water (5); the eight trigrams and sixty-four hexagrams of
the *Yijing* (2³ and 2⁶); and the yang-number nine, supreme in imperial ritual. The cosmos is
self-regulating (the Way), and human ritual — above all the emperor's solstice sacrifice —
maintains the harmony of Heaven and Earth (round and square).
Era (prose)
Shang/Zhou origins (Yijing) through imperial China (Ming/Qing ritual)
Region (prose)
China
Evidence
Label
Binary combinatorics of the Yijing (2³ trigrams, 2⁶ hexagrams)
Body
Yin and yang lines combine three at a time into 8 trigrams and six at a time into 64
hexagrams — a genuine binary/combinatorial system at the heart of the cosmology.
Citation
the *Yijing* and the *Ten Wings*; see symbol: Bagua, number: 8, number: 64.
Source tier
Curation status
Label
Nine as supreme yang; round Heaven / square Earth
Body
Nine (the largest single-digit odd/yang number) governs imperial ritual architecture (the
Temple of Heaven's rings of 9–81), and the cosmology pairs round Heaven with square Earth.
Citation
see site: Temple of Heaven (UNESCO), number: 9.
Source tier
Label
Wuxing: the five phases
Body
The five phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) with their generative and conquest cycles
structure Chinese medicine, calendar and cosmology.
Citation
classical Chinese *wuxing* theory — see number: 5.
Source tier
Import key
a48320b6df5479b0bd57a191141558f8cb81bbe8
Import hash
cbe5bd2ba68c52f6ab7e1abfdb2645a7e8a2e579