Editing King Wen sequence (section)

{{Short description|Traditional arrangement of I Ching hexagrams}}
{{Distinguish|Wenwanggua}}
'''The King Wen sequence''' ({{zh|c=文王卦序}}) is an arrangement of the sixty-four divination figures in the ''[[I Ching]]'' (often translated as the ''Book of Changes''). They are called ''[[Hexagram (I Ching)|hexagrams]]'' in English because each figure is composed of six 爻 yáo—broken or unbroken lines, that represent [[Yin and yang|yin or yang]] respectively.

The King Wen sequence is also known as the "received" or "classical" sequence because it is the oldest surviving arrangement of the hexagrams. Its true age and authorship are unknown. Traditionally, it is said that [[King Wen of Zhou]]  arranged the hexagrams in this sequence while imprisoned by [[King Zhou of Shang]] in the 12th century&nbsp;BC. A different arrangement, the "binary sequence" named in honor of the mythic [[culture hero]] [[Fu Xi]], originated in the [[Song dynasty]]. It is believed to be the work of scholar [[Shao Yong]] (1011–1077&nbsp;AD). As mirrored by the [[Bagua#Fu Xi's "Earlier Heaven"|先天 Earlier Heaven]] and [[Bagua#King Wen's "Later Heaven"|後天 Later Heaven]] arrangements of the eight trigrams, or [[bagua]], it was customary to attribute authorship to these legendary figures. Of the two hexagram arrangements, the King Wen sequence is, however, of much greater antiquity than the Fu Xi sequence.<ref name=biroco>Marshall, Steve [http://www.biroco.com/yijing/sequence.htm Yijing hexagram sequences]</ref>