The diagram here is the pattern of movement that the directions take to bring about the movement of hexagrams in the IChing. The lines of numbers in the magic square add together to make the same combination in any direction. This was said to have been inspired by unusual markings on the back of a tortoise emerging from the Yellow River in China around 4 thousand years ago. It was taken as a sign of luck and good fortune by Wu of Hsia as the tortoise was one of the creatures revered for it's spiritual qualities. He developed the oracle of IChing together with his students, from the markings on the tortoises' back.
According to another source, the map was borne from the Huang Ho or Yellow River on the back of a dragon -horse:
Below are diagrams from a translation of IChing 1986 by Henry Wei (translated directly from chinese into english).
Thursday, July 29, 2004
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hexagrams binary arrangment 