Korea, Empire; Republic (South Korea). An Order of the Eight Trigrams, VIII Class Breast Badge

(여덟 티그램의 순서 / Palgoe jung). Instituted in 1901. Two-piece construction, in silver with red, white and blue enamels, obverse centrepiece with a design of three rows of two short bars indicating that it is a VIII Class award, reverse with kanji inscription, measuring 46 mm (w) x 53.5 mm (h) inclusive of its integral suspension, exhibiting light wear and bubbling on the blue and white enamelled arms, original triangular ribbon with hook and eye, better than very fine.

Footnote: The Order of the Eight Trigrams was established on April 16, 1901 by Emperor Kwangmu, the last King of Joseon and the first Emperor of Korea. The symbolism of the Order insignia is the Chinese Ba Gua, based on Taoist principles. These Bagua or Pakua symbols are used in Taoist cosmology, to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either “broken” or “unbroken”, respectively representing yin or yang, 0 or 1 forming binary numbers 000-111 (0 to 7), the Order awarded in eight classes.