 By developing these new hexagram sequences, the Han Yijing commentators wanted to achieve two goals. First, they freed themselves from the original sequence of the 64 hexagrams that was, to them, incoherent and inconsistent. To the Han commentators, the problem of the original sequence was its failure in lining up hexagrams in accordance with their graphic images. By creating new sequences, the Han scholars were able to match perfectly the hexagram images with the ebb and flow of cosmic forces (Redmond &amp; Hon 2014: 159–163). Second, with the new sequences, the Han commentators were better equipped to synchronize the hexagrams with the lunar calendar, showing a direct correspondence between the ebb and flow of the cosmic forces and the cycles of life in human society (R. Smith 2008: 62–77). For instance, the “waning and waxing hexagrams” were assigned to represent months in the lunar calendar: Fu ䷗ (the eleventh month), Lin ䷒ (the twelfth month), Tai ䷊ (the first month of the following year), Dazhuang ䷡ (the second month), Guai ䷪ (the third month), Qian ䷀ (the fourth month), Gou ䷫ (the fifth month), Dun ䷠ (the sixth month), Pi ䷋ (the seventh month), Guan ䷓ (the eighth month), Bo ䷖ (the ninth month), and Kun ䷁ (the tenth month) (Nielson 2003: 275–76). The same could be done for the hexagrams sequence based on the eight palaces. By matching the new sequence of the 64 hexagrams with 12 months, the Han commentators allotted eight months to four hexagrams and four months to eight hexagrams (Nielson 2003: 5).