Tetragram for Change

It names 更, the book’s figure for change.

Yang Xiong first drafted it in 2 BCE, following the older Yijing, or Book of Changes. Each tetragram has four lines: solid, split once, or split twice, tied to heaven, earth, and human; Yijing signs use six solid-or-broken lines. Fan Wang’s Jin-dynasty edition, the oldest surviving, groups each figure with commentaries. 更’s readings range from unclear change and small gains to a ruler’s change of course and a warning that changing—or not changing—can bring illness.