ShānXiàYǒuFēng Gǔ ZūnZǐ Yǐ ZhènMínYùDé
山下有風 蠱 君子以振民育德
Wind is blowing at the foot of mountain, which is the natural phenomenon of hexagram Gǔ 蠱. Learning from this, the enlightened being encourages others to cultivate their virtues.
— DaXiang 大象
Video 1: Natural phenomenon of hexagram Gǔ 蠱. In late April of 2026, teaching trip in southern France, I recognized the perfect moment to represent Gǔ.
Same as with the previous hexagram, Yí 頤, this is a typical DaXiang sentence starts with the first four words describing the symbolic structure of hexagram. In fact, as the first three words are exactly the same, I will simply cite the relevant passage from my previous article here, for you to review:
The first word Shān means mountain, which is the symbolic name of the top trigram Gěn ☶. Please remember that in Yijing symbolism, there are countless objects, events, or phenomenon that can be used to represent a trigram. For instance, as the key meaning of the trigram Gěn is stability or steady, therefore, anything that holds the quality of stability can stand for the trigram. The trigram Gěn has been commonly interpreted as back, hand, or, when it refers to the body, the upper jaw (To learn more about the symbolism of the trigrams, please read my book Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change, London: Singing Dragon. 2009). The next word, Xià, means low, below, under, decreasing, descend, or downward. The third word, Yǒu, means have, has, hold, contain, or carry.
The fourth word, Fēng, means wind. I would also like to share a little paragraph about Fēng from my book, Chinese Shamanic Tiger Qigong (Singing Dragon: London, 2018):
In Chinese, Fēng 風 is actually a complicated word which means much more than “wind.” It can be used to signify harmony or harm, grace or scandal, gentle or harsh. The pictograph in oracle bone style looks a bird riding on clouds and Qi, which we can imagine as the representation of the wind currents that support birds in flight.
Figure 1. Fēng Calligraphy in Oracle Bone Script by Master Zhongxian Wu
Fēng is the symbolic name of the bottom trigram Xùn 巽 ☴, which stands for penetrating, empty power, older daughter, thigh, and more.
