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Ho Tu to Lo Shu

These maths from the work of Paul Martyn-Smith where posted by Ken Taylor 2005/6



Numbers are traditionally thought to have characteristics depending on whether they are
odd or even. Odd numbers are traditionally regarded as yang, and even numbers are yin;
for example seven is yang, whereas eight is yin.!



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In the Ho Tu odd and even numbers are paired: one and six, two and seven, three and
eight, four and nine, and - in the central position - five and ten. In the Original Trigrams, the
characteristic of yang are represented as an unbroken line, while yin is represented as a
broken line, So Ch’ien or Heaven has all unbroken, and K’un all broken lines. !

 

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The Trigrams of Fu Xi (Hsi) are composed of 3 tiers of lines (which may be either unbroken
or broken). Lets now give each tier a numerical value where the middle tier is always equal
to twice the base or lowest tier, and the uppermost tier is three times the base. We may
create as many of these columns as we wish, but for now we are only interested in
columns produced by numbers from one to ten (The Ten Cyclic Signs).!



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The base tier gives the column its character (remember odd numbers are yang and even
are yin). Now we may begin to process the numbers of the Ho Tu, and the first step is to
relate each of the eight Trigrams - one at a time - to a pair of columns corresponding to
one of the Ho Tu's pairs of numbers. Let us start with the Ho Tu pair one and six.!

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The bottom line, being yang, relates to column one (the bottom line = 1); the middle line,
also yang, also relates to column one (the middle line = 2); and the upper line, also yang,
also relates to column one (upper line = 3). The total score, then, of this Trigram is a
simple addition sum: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. Of course, most Trigram are a mixture of yang and yin,
for example, Chen.!

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The bottom line, being yang, relates to column one (the bottom line = 1); the middle line is
yin and therefore relates to column six (the middle line = 12); and the upper line, also yin,
also relates to column six (upper line = 18). The total score, then, of this gua is 1 + 12 + 18
= 31. Each of the eight Trigrams needs to be calculated.!



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It is important to be familiar with this part of the method because we shall return to it before
we are finished. Just as each of the I Ching figures are composed from the combination of
two Trigrams, we can use our eight values to create a square table of eight rows and eight
columns = 8 x 8.!



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Each number in the table is simply the sum of the score for its row and column. Now we
need to return to the First Step to calculate the values for the Ho Tu pair of two and seven;
and their values are used to create a second table. We also need to calculate the values
and create tables for the pairs three and eight, and four and nine. (Note:- we do not create
a table from the pair five and ten, as 5 has no pairing until 10 is manufactured in the 4
Outer Directions or Elements to give the 5th Direction or Element.)!

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Then we have four tables, and from these we shall construct a fifth, central 8 x 8 table.
There are two ways to construct this final table, and both ways give the same result. We
can either work with the tables created from the pairs one and six, and four and nine; or
the tables created from the pairs two and seven, and three and eight. The colour coded
examples below highlight the source of the figures produced in the central table.



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The method is simply addition. The number in the first row and first column of table two
and seven, is added to the number in the first row and first column of table three and eight.
And so on. It is as if table two and seven is laid straight on top of table three and eight, and
the numbers in all the superimposed positions are combined. 



Now we have five tables, and the fifth will be used in the Third Step. But, before we move
forward, we must move back to the First Step. However, we are riding on a helix rather
than trudging around a circle, so our return to the First Step brings us a stage further on
our journey.!
In Step One the numbers in the Ho Tu to produce columns of three tiers each, which we
used to calculate a score for each of the Original Trigrams of Heaven and Earth.!



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We now need to produce a further set of columns using the same formula (i.e. the middle
tier is equal to twice the base or lowest tier, and the uppermost tier is three times the base)
for all bases up to 90.!

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Of course, the bases still alternate in character between yang and yin, and we use the
same idea of pairing that we used in Step One (e.g. where we paired one and six, we now
pair eleven and sixteen, twenty-one and twenty-six, thirty-one and thirty-six, etc, etc). To
use the example of Chen again.!



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The score, now, of this Trigram is 31 + 72 + 108 = 211. Each of the eight Trigrams needs
to be calculated for each Ho Tu pair in each row of columns. (Again, though, we do not
use the Ho Tu pair corresponding to five and ten - e.g. fifteen and twenty, twenty-five and
thirty, etc, etc.) For simplicity's sake these scores are not presented on this page but on
the next, which is our penultimate stop, and which displays the full set of four tables (plus
the central 5th square derived from them) for each of the nine rows of columns. Here are
the nine complete sets of five tables.!



 

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Now we are ready to take the final step in this Integer to Binary Mathematics.!

The central table in each of the nine sets is now our only concern. And all we do with each
is add two numbers together.!



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In this example we may add any matching colour, for instance the top left hand corner
added to the bottom right hand corner: 60 + 180 = 240. Each of the other matching colour
combinations gives the same total of 240 (as do many more combinations that are not
highlighted). By referring to the tables in the previous Step, we find the totals from each of
the nine Sets are as follows.!

Set One = 240

Set Two = 720
Set Three = 1200
Set Four = 1680
Set Five = 2160
Set Six = 2640
Set Seven = 3120
Set Eight = 3600
Set Nine = 4080
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These are the nine numbers that we may arrange in the nine positions of the Lo Shu -
each being a Central Value of the 5th Element of Earth, which equals the reduction of the
4 Outer Magic Squares of the Ho Tu’s Directions 1-6, 2-7, 3-8 and 4-9. These Central
Values can be placed into the Solfeggio values so each value = the values as given above
= 1 = 240, 2 = 720, 3 = 1200, 4 = 1680, 5 = 2160, 6 = 2640, 7 = 3120, 8 = 3600 and 9 =
4080. The Nine Values of the Solfeggio form 8 values = 4 pairing, and the Central value of
5 = 2160 when placed into the 18,81, 27,72, 36,63 and 45,54 so all give a value of 4320.!

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It is a Magic Square, and just as the rows, columns, and diagonals of the Lo Shu add to its
magic number of 15; each of the rows, columns and diagonals of this square derived from
the Ho Tu and = 6,480. Note:- all values in Lo Shu = 3s, 6s and 9s in Contracted Integers. 



The mathematical journey is almost complete. From the Ho Tu, Paul Martyn-Smith has
arrived at a Magic Square of the Lo Shu. It enshrines numbers of numerological
significance that we shall briefly consider in conclusion, and these numbers became the
focus of Paul's attention. I, however, noticed that the smallest number in the grid is 240
(derived from Set One), and that all of the numbers in the grid are actually divisible by this
number. We can, therefore, reduce the size of the figures in the 3 x 3 grid by dividing each
by 240, as below-left, to again produce ‘The Well’ when all values contract = 99 in all
directions.!

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This is also a Magic Square (= magic number 27), and contains the first nine odd
numbers. The numerical gap between each number is two, which when halved, gives us a
numerical gap of one, which is the Lo Shu itself (above, right). All of these values in the Lo
Shu’s 3 x 3 thereby conform to the 9 x 9 Magic Square, as they reveal the Nine Stack
Mountain of numbers found in the Binary Image’s of the Trigrams doubled to give all the 8
x 8 Magic Square’s of Hexagrams.!

I have given the Contracted 9 x 9 Pattern of Integers, and Solfeggio Values in another
paper, and will also link them to the Lo Sho’s 3 x 3 in the last paper on this subject called
The Solfeggio to the Lo Shu’s Nine Stack. !

I wish to give many thanks to Ken Taylor for putting all of my math from the I Ching’s Images of Heaven and
Earth, and the Two River Maps on his own site Earlyheaven.com, Origins, He Tu and Lo Shu, and for giving
such a clear explanation of the math involved through his own understanding of what was presented to him.!