Many hexagrams have a military background. Indeed it is easy to imagine the gua, the yin yang diagrams, used in planning military strategy. The war leaders might have sat around planning strategy using the firm and yielding lines. The firm line would represent the invincible chariot, while the yielding line would represent the soldiers breaking formation to let the chariot through. The most ancient texts don’t refer at all to ‘yin and yang’ lines. They only refer to ‘firm and yielding’ lines. Commentaries on the I Ching frequently suggest the military foundation behind the hexagrams. The hexagrams are regularly interpreted as in motion from bottom to top. If the top is not strong or stable enough to balance the bottom or contain it, then the hexagram represents an out of balance situation.
The military overtones of the hexagrams of the yin-yang theory suggest a military origination. In fact King Wên, the military ruler of the Chou, wrote the Judgments on the hexagrams during a very war-like time. Furthermore the commentaries written by Confucius, or somebody from the aristocracy, would have furthered the military and patriarchal nature of these interpretations. Thus we can say that the judgments of King Wên and the Duke of Chou with the commentaries by Confucius certainly have a militaristic and patriarchal foundation. Hence our modern foundations