These lists were posted to rec.games.go in 1999 by Clive Hunt, who learned them from Victor Chow?. They go back to Victor's early go training in Guilin, China.
The six 'famous good shapes' are:
That is, Black in some way 'bumps' with a play at
or any of a, b and c.
These are ways of creating good, fighting shape.
The six 'famous bad shapes' are:
Very bad for the stones.