The Eight Trigrams (continued)
Finally, we have the Gen and Dui trigrams.
Gen and Dui
The final pair is that of Gen and Dui representing the Mountain and Lake or Marsh respectively. Mountains are formed through the process of Tectonics where new crust is formed at mid ocean ridges. This new crust tends to buckle in collision with continents and forms large accumulations of earth, or mountains, in the process.
Air cools at a rate of 1ºC per 100 meters of altitude and when air currents reach mountains, they rises, cool and condense as rain. The rain falls on the mountain and forms lakes or marshes at the foot or in hollows.
This process is known as weathering, where the constant freezing and thawing erodes rocks and carries away important nutrients to be collected in lakes and rivers, eventually finding their way to the seas and oceans. Our beaches are formed in this way and it is believed that the first life appeared on rocks around lakes and tidal basins.
The Ancient Trigrams
Together with the Tai Ji symbol in the middle, trigrams in the cardinal directions of North, South, East and West form an uncanny resemblance to the Carbon atom; the basic building block of all organic life.
The Protons and Neutrons are positively charged and remain in the middle, whilst the electrons are negatively charged and orbit the centre. Together they form a neutral charge, a model of perfect yin and yang.
Coincidentally, all atoms try to form a chemically complete or "Noble" state with eight electrons in their outer shell by either donating or accepting electrons from other atoms. This is the basis of all chemical reactions and appears to mirror the Trigram formation.
