八卦

Chinese

		eight	divinatory trigram
trad. (八卦)		八	卦
simp. #(八卦)		八	卦

Etymology

The figurative sense reportedly originates from the practice of using trigrams to censor explicit body parts on some Hong Kong tabloids.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bāguà

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄚ ㄍㄨㄚˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baat³ gwaa³
• Gan (Wiktionary): bat⁶ gua⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): pat-koa
• Northern Min (KCR): băi-gua̿
• Eastern Min (BUC): báik-guá
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): pat-kòa

  (Teochew, Peng'im): boih⁴ kuê³

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bāguà
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄚ ㄍㄨㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: baguà
    • Wade–Giles: pa¹-kua⁴
    • Yale: bā-gwà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: baguah
    • Palladius: багуа (bagua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pä⁵⁵ ku̯ä⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: baat³ gwaa³
    • Yale: baat gwa
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baat⁸ gwaa³
    • Guangdong Romanization: bad³ gua³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːt̚³ kʷaː³³/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: bat⁶ gua⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pat̚⁵ kua³⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: pat-koa
    • Hakka Romanization System: bad^ˋ gua
    • Hagfa Pinyim: bad⁵ gua⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /pat̚² ku̯a⁵⁵/
• Northern Min
  • (Jian'ou)
    • Kienning Colloquial Romanized: băi-gua̿
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pai²⁴ kua³³/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: báik-guá
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɛiʔ²⁴⁻⁵⁵ kuɑ²¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pat-kòa
    • Tâi-lô: pat-kuà
    • Phofsit Daibuun: patkoax
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pat̚³²⁻⁴ kua²¹/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pat̚⁵⁻²⁴ kua⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pat̚³²⁻⁵ kua²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /pat̚³²⁻⁴ kua¹¹/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /pat̚³²⁻⁴ kua²¹/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: boih⁴ kuê³
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: poih khuè
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /poiʔ²⁻⁴ kʰue²¹³/

---

• Middle Chinese: peat kweaH

Rime
Character	八	卦
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	鎋 (75)	佳 (32)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	II	II
Fanqie	博拔切	古賣切
Baxter	peat	kweaH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pˠɛt̚/	/kˠuɛH/
Pan Wuyun	/pᵚæt̚/	/kʷᵚæH/
Shao Rongfen	/pæt̚/	/kuæiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pəɨt̚/	/kwaɨjH/
Li Rong	/pɛt̚/	/kuɛH/
Wang Li	/pæt̚/	/kwaiH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pat̚/	/kwaiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	ba	guà
Expected Cantonese Reflex	baat3	gwaai3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*pˤret  [k]ʷˤre-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*preːd  kʷreːs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	八	卦
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bā	guà
Middle Chinese	‹ pɛt ›	‹ kwɛH ›
Old Chinese	/*pˁret/	/*[k]ʷˁre-s/
English	eight	prognosticate with Achillea
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	八	卦
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	89	4556
Phonetic component	八	圭
Rime group	月	支
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	八	卦
Old Chinese	/*preːd/	/*kʷreːs/

Noun

八卦

1. bagua (eight divinatory trigrams of the I Ching)

   • 八卦以象告，爻彖以情言，剛柔雜居，而吉凶可見矣。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     八卦以象告，爻彖以情言，刚柔杂居，而吉凶可见矣。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE

     Bāguà yǐ xiàng gào, yáo tuàn yǐ qíng yán, gāngróu zájū, ér jíxiōng kějiàn yǐ. [Pinyin]

     The eight trigrams communicate their information by their emblematic figures. The explanations appended to the lines and the completed figures tell how the contemplation of them affected (the makers). The strong and the weak lines appear mixed in them, and (thus) the good and the evil (which they indicate) can be seen.

2. (figurative) gossip; tittle-tattle; rumour

   八卦雜誌／八卦杂志  ―  bāguà zázhì  ―  gossip magazine; tabloid magazine

Derived terms

• 八卦丹
• 八卦佬
• 八卦公
• 八卦圖 / 八卦图
• 八卦山 (Bāguàshān)
• 八卦拳
• 八卦掌 (bāguàzhǎng)
• 八卦攔路虎 / 八卦拦路虎
• 八卦教 (Bāguàjiào)
• 八卦癀
• 八卦米篩 / 八卦米筛
• 八卦鏡 / 八卦镜
• 八卦陣 / 八卦阵
• 八婆 (bāpó)
• 諸事八卦 / 诸事八卦 (zhūshì bāguà)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (八卦):

• → Japanese: 八卦(はっか) (hakka); 八卦(はっけ) (hakke)
• → Korean: 팔괘(八卦) (palgwae)
• → Vietnamese: bát quái (八卦)

Others:

• → English: bagua, pa kua
• → Italian: bagua
• → Tagalog: bagua

Verb

八卦

1. (figurative) to gossip; to tittle-tattle

Synonyms

• 嚼舌 (jiáoshé)
• 嚼舌頭／嚼舌头 (jiáo shétou)

Adjective

八卦

1. (figurative) prone to gossip; gossipy

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
八	卦
はち > はっ Grade: 1	け Hyōgai
goon

/pæti kʷe/ → */patikke/ → /fakke/ → /hakke/

From Middle Chinese 八卦 (MC peat kweaH).

The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) はっけ [hàkké] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ha̠k̚ke̞]

Noun

八(はっ)卦(け) • (hakke) ^{←はちけ (fatike)?}

1. bagua: the eight divinatory trigrams of the 易経 (Ekikyō, “I Ching”):
   1. ☰ - 乾 (ken, “qián”)
   2. ☱ - 兌 (da, “duì”)
   3. ☲ - 離 (ri, “lí”)
   4. ☳ - 震 (shin, “zhèn”)
   5. ☴ - 巽 (son, “xùn”)
   6. ☵ - 坎 (kan, “kǎn”)
   7. ☶ - 艮 (gon, “gèn”)
   8. ☷ - 坤 (kon, “kūn”)
2. (by extension) augury, divination, scrying, fortune-telling; particularly using bagua trigrams

   Synonyms: 占い (uranai), 占術 (senjutsu), 占卜 (senboku), 卜占 (bokusen)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 八卦(はっけ)置(お)き (hakke-oki)
• 八卦鏡(はっけきょう) (hakkekyō)
• 八卦(はっけ)見(み) (hakkemi)
• はっけよい (hakkeyoi)
• 辻(つじ)八卦(はっけ) (tsuji-hakke)
• 年(とし)八卦(はっけ) (toshi-hakke)

Idioms

• 当(あ)たるも八卦(はっけ)当(あ)たらぬも八卦(はっけ) (ataru mo hakke ataranu mo hakke)

Proper noun

八(はっ)卦(け) • (Hakke) ^{←はちけ (Fatike)?}

1. a place name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
八	卦
はつ > はっ Grade: 1	か Hyōgai
kan'on

/pætu kʷa/ → /fakkwa/ → /hakka/

From Middle Chinese 八卦 (MC peat kweaH).

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) はっか [hàkkáꜜ] (Odaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ha̠k̚ka̠]

Noun

八(はっ)卦(か) • (hakka) ^{←はつくわ (fatukwa)?}

1. same as はっけ (​hakke) above

Derived terms

• 後天(こうてん)八卦(はっか) (kōten hakka)
• 先天(せんてん)八卦(はっか) (senten hakka)

See also

• 八卦掌(はっけしょう) (hakkeshō, “baguazhang”)
• 六十(ろくじゅう)四卦(しけ) (rokujūshike)

Korean

Hanja in this term
八	卦

Noun

八卦 • (palgwae) (hangeul 팔괘)

1. hanja form^? of 팔괘 (“bagua”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
八	卦

Noun

八卦

1. chữ Hán form of bát quái (“bagua”).