Birds fly up toward the sky.
Plants reach up from earth.
The bird 'strives upward' while the object 'remains fixed', thus illustrating the traditional Chinese concept of the opposing tendencies of heaven and earth. But, if is a growing plant, then it too strives upward. Chinese writing is historically based on drawings, not spoken words. These original illustrations represent the oldest forms of the Chinese characters that later became the names the Hexagrams. Please review the Sources page for an explanation of the references.