Xugua (Sequence of the Hexagrams)

The Xugua ("Sequence of the Hexagrams") is one of the Ten Wings commentaries appended to the I Ching, traditionally ascribed to Confucius, explaining the logic behind the fixed order of the sixty four hexagrams as a continuous chain of cause and consequence running from cosmic origins through the founding of the family to the full complexity of a stratified society. Its method pairs adjacent hexagrams and derives each from the one before it through the meaning of their names, for example reading Hexagram 4 ("Youthful Folly") as following naturally from Hexagram 3 ("Difficulty at the Beginning") because confusion follows every new beginning.