River Plan is proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" to be a magic square. He connects it to the mingtang halls of worship, saying that they share a division into 9 fields: these in turn are correlated with the 9 celestial objectsthe Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketuintroduced from and according to Indian astronomy. Other sources emphasize these points for the Luoshu. Another interpretation of the River Diagram has to do with the 5 elements (wuxing) and the 5 Asian cardinal directions. Anyway, according to James Legge the earliest versions appear to no longer be extant, with received versions going back only to Song dynasty (early Twelfth Century); concluding, "If we had the original form of 'the River Map,' we should probably find it a numerical trifle, not more difficult, not more supernatural, than the Lo Shu Magic Square", a companion piece to the River Map. Nevertheless, Legge finds it of interest in interpreting the I Ching. Interpretation of I Ching First of all, Legge notes that the little bright circles of the "Map" correspond with the "whole" (yang) lines of the I Ching and that the little dark circles of the "Map" correspond with the "divided" (yin) lines thereof. Tables Wuxing Notes: Extinction is: , which could also be translated as "completion". Generation is: , which could also be translated as "birth". 10 is represented in the Chinese (as are the other numerals) with a (different) single character: 十. Cardinal directions Odd number order (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) Even number order (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) Places Certain places in modern China use Hétú () as part of their proper place names. These include (), (), and . See also Longma, dragon-horse creature, mythological delivery beast of the Yellow River MapLuo River (Henan) Mount Buzhou, an important geographic feature, in relevant mythology References Christie, Anthony (1968). Chinese Mythology. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing. . Eberhard, Wolfram (2003 [1986 (German version 1983)]), A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought. London, New York: Routledge. Hawkes, David, translation, introduction, and notes (2011 [1985]). Qu Yuan et al., The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets. London: Penguin Books. Legge, James, translator. The I Ching: The Book of Changes Second Edition New York: Dover, 1963 (1899). Library of Congress 63-19508 Wu, K. C. (1982). The Chinese Heritage.