Tetragram for Bold Resolution

A sign of resolute, daring action, judged by its consequences.

In the Tai Xuan Jing, 𝌣 is named 毅, a character for firm resolve. Its opening judgment connects flourishing yang—the system’s active force—with decisive action and trust. The accompanying appraisals add limits: they praise inner firmness and public responsibility while warning against force without restraint. Here, “bold resolution” is a quality to judge, not blanket praise for aggression.

Where did 𝌣 come from?

The Tai Xuan Jing was completed around 2 BCE by Yang Xiong during China’s Western Han period. It was designed as a divination companion to the Yijing, an earlier Chinese classic for interpreting change and the timing of action.

The text was transmitted through later editions. The earliest surviving version is a Jin dynasty redaction by Fan Wang; later annotated editions kept each sign with its poetic image and appraisals.

Unicode’s 2025 standard describes a system of four lines with three possible states per line, yielding 81 tetragrams, unlike the Yijing’s six-line hexagrams. A 2021 University of Hawaiʻi study describes nine short judgments for each figure, alongside its name and image.