What is Zhouyi?

Zhouyi, referred to as "Yi" for short, was a theoretical tool for understanding nature and society in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. The Book of Changes speculates on the changes of natural society in the form of eight diagrams (symbolizing eight natural phenomena: heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountains and ze), and holds that the interaction between the two forces is the foundation of all things in the world, and the so-called "combination of rigidity and softness changes in it". There are three meanings: changeable (focusing on the changes of things), simple (referring to simple control and complicated) and difficult to change (eternal), which are said to be made by people in the Zhou Dynasty, hence the name.

Zhouyi includes two parts: classics and biography. The classics mainly record eight diagrams, sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred and eighty-four hexagrams. As for the origin and significance of these symbols, China scholars suspect that it may be a disguised form of knotting symbols in the knotting era of early human society. When the real characters appeared, the original symbols of knots became religious characters, so these strange symbols became mysterious symbols used to predict good or bad luck. After sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred and eighty-four hexagrams were determined, the wizards created literal interpretation symbols, namely "hexagrams" and "hexagrams". At that time, people thought that the sixty-four hexagrams contained justice and human affairs, so we could find the good and bad of everything from the hexagrams. "Gua Ci" and "Yi Ci" are words to explain these good fortune and bad fortune.

The two words "Gua Ci" and "Yi Ci" are very old and difficult to understand. I'm afraid many words were difficult to explain in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. So at that time, philosophers among wizards immediately explained "divination" and "rhetoric". On the one hand, Zhuan explained Gua Ci and Yi Ci, which made it easy for people to understand at that time, on the other hand, it used the topic to elaborate its new ideas. The end of the Western Zhou Dynasty was a great turning point in ancient China, and a new era was coming. During this period, there will be no change in thinking, and biography is the product of this new trend of thought.

The central idea of biography is "Gankun philosophy". In the original sixty-four hexagrams, Gankun is a concrete heaven and earth, but only two of the sixty-four hexagrams are not particularly important than the other sixty-four hexagrams, except that they occupy the first place and represent a big object. But in the biography, the situation has changed a lot. Gan Kun no longer refers to the concrete heaven and earth, but has become two basic principles that produce everything in heaven and earth. This is the earliest dualism in China's ideological history.

Dry elements are the principle of heaven, the principle of movement and the foundation of all things in the universe. Kunyuan is the principle of the earth, the principle of quietness, and everything exists by itself. "Everything is born."

The duality of Gankun is the foundation of the universe. "Heaven and earth are combined and everything is connected", "Heaven and earth are incompatible and everything is not connected" and "Heaven and earth move with it, so the sun and the moon are only four o'clock". Heaven and earth nourish everything, "heaven and earth feel everything" and "heaven and earth change in four seasons" In a word, the duality of Gankun includes all phenomena and things in the universe. Duality is relative but not antagonistic, and it influences each other to produce the universe. If the Gankun binary system does not cooperate, everything in the universe will stagnate.

Gankun dualism includes not only natural phenomena. Social phenomena are also born of Gan Kun. Can't escape the scope of Gankun. So the cause of the universe is the cause of the world; If you follow it carefully tomorrow, everything will prosper; Otherwise, it will be a disaster. People who govern the country must understand this truth. "If heaven and earth don't intersect, everything will be impassable, and if heaven and earth don't intersect, there will be no state in the world." "Heaven and earth follow fate, so the sun and the moon are just four o'clock; When the sage goes in the right direction, the punishment will be clear and the people will take it. " "Heaven and earth change at four times, and the Tang and Wu revolutions depend on people." What is emphasized above is the truth that man can rule the country and level the world according to heaven.

Biography expresses pure political thoughts, telling people that the way to govern the country should be based on Gankun. "Heaven is healthy, the gentleman strives for self-improvement", "The terrain is vast, and the gentleman carries things with morality". That is to say, to govern the country by the way of "Gankun", we must strive for self-improvement first, and then accumulate the virtue of Xiu De. So, what should a gentleman do in Xiu De? "Learn more, speak first and then do, so as to accumulate virtue". Virtue is a mysterious force. If people have virtue, the world will be ruled.

Zhou Shu is the main part of Shangshu, which records the major events of the Zhou Dynasty and is a semi-historical and semi-philosophical work. Most chapters of Zhou Shu are full of philosophical thoughts, which is the bud of China's ancient philosophical thoughts. Zhou Shu's basic principle is the idea of harmony between man and nature. God is the master of the world, and a virtuous man is the son of heaven, ruling the world for heaven. If you don't accumulate virtue and do good, you will lose your destiny and lose the world. The rise and fall of Xia and Shang dynasties and the alternation of Shang and Zhou dynasties are all for this reason.

Zhou Shuhong Fan is a systematic and philosophical political work and a masterpiece of ancient political thoughts. It warns the rulers that if a person wants to rule the world and protect his destiny forever, he must adopt the book Hong Fan written by God.

Hong Fan recorded nine major events, namely "Hong Fan's Nine Domains" necessary to govern the world according to the relationship between man and nature:

One, five elements Namely water, fire, wood, gold and earth. These are five raw materials created by Heaven for human beings, representing Heaven and the material world. All the material materials needed for human life are produced from these five raw materials. People should understand the truth of the five elements and be good at governing the world with them. Five kinds of substances necessary for human behavior, "five kinds of substances are born, but are discarded for civilian use." So the monarch must know how to control the five elements.

Two, five things. Namely, appearance, speech, sight, hearing and thinking. These are the five behaviors of the monarch, representing the humanitarian and ethical world. According to the principle of "the connection between heaven and man", "there are five elements in the sky and five objects in the earth", thus combining the heaven and the material world with the humanitarian and ethical world, thus finding a reasonable basis for the monarch to rule the world. People do "five things" and govern the world, which is to do justice for heaven. At the same time, people are required to be respectful, obedient, wise, wise and wise when doing the "five things", which is the political quality and moral criterion for people to be king.

Three, eight politics. Ready-to-eat, merchandise, worship, sikong, Stuart, Scott, guests and teachers. These are eight national events that people should do when conducting personnel (five things) and managing heaven (five elements), representing the king of the unity of man and nature (material and ethics). These eight policies can be divided into three categories.

The first category is three positive. Food refers to agriculture, goods refers to industry and commerce, and worship refers to religious activities. Sacrifice is an act of praying to heaven for food and wealth. Or the etiquette necessary to express gratitude to heaven. These three policies can be said to be the fundamental events of the country and the responsibilities that the people must fulfill to the people and the sky under the monarch. Food and goods are the material or economic conditions necessary for a country, and worship is the spiritual or religious conditions necessary for a country.

The second category is the three officials. This is an administrative official in charge of the internal affairs of the country outside the three governments. Sikong is good at all public utilities, such as engineering construction and water conservancy. Si Tuleideng is in charge of civil affairs education and so on. Scott specializes in criminal cases. The monarch must supervise the performance of these three officials.

The third category is the country's two inevitable diplomacy. "Guest" refers to the affairs of receiving and dispatching envoys, which is the diplomatic relations of the country in peacetime. "Fen" refers to marching and conquering, which is a foreign relationship during the national war.

The fourth and fifth generations. That is, year, month, day, star and calendar. These are five common astronomical phenomena, which can be used to observe whether the Eighth Administration is fully implemented. If we implement the eight policies, the five disciplines will not deviate from the normal track; Otherwise, the sky will be a mess.

Fifth, the emperor. In other words, "Heaven" controls everything. In order to protect the people, "Heaven" sent his son as the representative to rule, and the pole of the emperor was the kingship granted by God to the son of heaven. Therefore, "the son of heaven is the parents of the people and thinks that he is the king of the world." Wang Xing's eight strategies depend on the divine emperor's pole.

Six, three virtues. That is, integrity, both rigidity and flexibility. These are the three political skills used by the monarch when he rules according to the principle of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. The world is at peace, and the monarch adopts peaceful "integrity" means. There was chaos in the world, and the monarch took decisive "gangke" measures. The chaos in the world must be ruled, and the monarch adopts the "soft" means of Huairou.

Seven, doubt. That is, divination and divination When the son of heaven is governing the country, he often encounters problems that are difficult to solve. In this case, the son of heaven used divination and divination to ask and understand God's will to help him solve the problem.

Eight, ordinary collection. That is, rain, sunny, hot, cold, wind and time. This is the last sign that nature reflects whether kingly way can work. The five dynasties only represent the general astronomical phenomena, which can only explain whether Wang Daoxing is ordinary or not. Whether the various parts of Wang Dao are completely unblocked depends on a detailed observation of the changes of the four seasons and the evil of the climate. If all the changes in nature can be carried out according to the normal track, it is a sign of the prosperity of the king. On the other hand, it proves that the king failed, and the son of heaven must strive to accumulate virtue in Xiu De.

Nine, Five Blessingg six poles. This is the last sign of Wang Daoxing in the world. If Wang Dao works, Five Blessingg will fall, that is, longevity, wealth, corning, friendship and virtue, and there will be rewards in the final exam. If the kingly way fails, the "six poles" will descend from heaven, that is, fierce and short, sick, worried, poor, evil and weak to show punishment. Heaven drops six poles, and the son of heaven still refuses to repent, and God will take back the pole and set others up as the son of heaven.

In a word, the thoughts of Hong Fan and Zhou Shu can be said to be the political ideal of harmony between man and nature. It warns rulers that if they want to manage personnel well, they must do things tomorrow and understand all the natural reasons first. Personnel management is good, heaven has become, and the laws of nature must be abnormal. If the country is in good weather and the government is harmonious, you can get God's blessing and protect your destiny for a long time. On the contrary, it will be a disaster, even losing our destiny and the world.