Is the Book of Changes the same as the Book of Changes? Where should I start to learn?

Yi is changeable, and Jing is law (or classic). That is, the Book of Changes, a rigorous philosophical work, can be used as divination in science. It is only because it is profound and difficult to understand that there are many far-fetched theories.

The Book of Changes is the oldest cultural classic in China and the first representative work of China traditional culture. Orthodox scholars of past dynasties praised it in many different languages. On the whole, they praised it as the "head of the group classics" and respected it very much. On the contrary, they think it is just an ancient divination book, which is close to the false words of Wu Zhu. It was only after Confucius' Biography of Zhouyi and many scholars in the past dynasties that the later talents blindly followed and respected it. What's more, since modern times, there have been many similar frivolous taunts. The Book of Changes was originally an ancient divination academic, but in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, through the collation and annotation of King Wen, it was put into the academic field of "Heaven and Man" from the scope of divination, thus the Book of Changes became the foundation of China's humanistic culture. Since the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it has been studied and described by Confucius and scattered as the source of hundreds of academic thoughts. This is an undeniable fact.

Therefore, we should study the culture of China, whether it is Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, or even Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism after the Tang and Song Dynasties. If we don't explore the Book of Changes, we will forget our ancestors.

The Book of Changes and The Book of Changes

Usually we refer to the Book of Changes, and naturally we know that it refers to the Book of Changes. Because of China culture, since Confucius deleted poems and books, ordered rites and yue, and compiled Lu's history book "Chunqiu", it was named Zhouyi, which is collectively called the Six Classics (the rest of the books lost because of yue are called the Five Classics). Classics are the great yardstick of heaven and earth, and also the great channel of life. Calling the Book of Changes the Six Classics means that these six Classics were compiled by Confucius, which is a great principle and law that contains all the knowledge of China traditional culture "the time between man and nature".

Since Qin and Han Dynasties, there are similarities and differences in the naming of Yijing.

First, it belongs to the orthodox Confucian doctrine after Qin and Han Dynasties. According to the concept of chiseling, it is considered that the connotation of "Yi" includes three meanings:

(1) Easy. It means easy. Because the natural laws of heaven and earth are so simple.

(2) change. It is believed that all things in nature, as well as people, are constantly changing interactively and endlessly. However, the law of this change has its inevitable criteria to follow, not random changes.

(3) It is not easy. Everything in the world, as well as personnel, is changing in a complicated and mutually causal way at any time and anywhere, but what is changing is its phenomenon. It is not easy to change, but it is simple.

Second, it belongs to the common concept of Confucianism and Taoism after Qin and Han Dynasties. According to the meaning of "three changes" in Zhou Li Dabupian, it refers to the academic thought of the Book of Changes from ancient times to the early Zhou Dynasty, which is divided into three systems: (1) Lianshan Yi. (2) "back to Tibet." (3) Zhouyi.

It is said that the Yi-ology in Fuxi era was "Lian Yi Shan", which started with divination at the earliest, symbolizing that "everything is hidden in it". It means that human culture and civilization are mainly based on the earth, and everything is born in the earth and eventually hidden in it.

At the beginning of the humanistic culture of the Zhou Dynasty, the Book of Changes, which has been handed down now, was regarded as a treasure. It first began with Gankun divination, which indicated the knowledge between heaven and earth and between heaven and man.

However, Zheng Xuan, a great scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, thought that the Yi-ology of Xia Dynasty was Lianshan (hence its name), and that of Yin Dynasty was Tibetan (also known as Yi Yin). Of course, Zhouyi is Zhouyi.

There is also a saying that the lineage name of ancient Shennong is "Lianshan", also known as "Lieshan". The so-called "Lianshan" is the sound of "Lieshan". The lineage of the Yellow Emperor is also called "returning to Tibet". Lianshan Post is said to have been written for Mi Opera. "Returning to Tibet" is said to have been written by Emperor Xuanyuan.

So these two theories have similarities and differences. If we think that Yi-ology advocated by Xia Dynasty is Lian, Yi-ology advocated by Yin Dynasty is Gui-zang Yi, and in Zhou Dynasty, the Yi-ology system of Zhouyi was formed after collation, then there is not much difference between these two different opinions.

However, from the perspective of textual research scholars, Yi's Chisel and Big Supplement should be questionable. Textual research scholars have always believed that books such as Yi Chi Du are purely forgeries in the late Han Dynasty or the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and they are called the inheritance of ancient times. This concept is not completely unreasonable, but it is really worth studying and considering.

However, after the Han Dynasty, scholars stubbornly abandoned the concept of Zhou Li's Supplement and refused to accept it. They insisted on the more problematic theory of Yi Gan Wei's Letters, and believed that "simplicity, change and difficulty" were the natural meanings of Yi-ology, which was the basis for later generations to talk about Yi with Confucianism. That is, regardless of textual research, only the internal meaning of the so-called "three changes" principle is used to illustrate the main points of Yi-ology.

In addition, there are two theories about the three changes in Taoist academic thought after the Han and Wei Dynasties: Lianshan, Guizang and Zhouyi.

Fuxi painted hexagrams, which is a recognized fact in ancient and modern times. From the eight diagrams, it is interpreted as sixty-four hexagrams, but there are four opinions: (1) It is believed that the sixty-four hexagrams were also arranged by Fuxi. (2) Some people think that the sixty-four hexagrams are also the interpretation of King Wen. (3) I think Shennong is a person who repeatedly arranges eight diagrams into sixty-four hexagrams. (4) Think that Yu Xia is a person who plays hexagrams repeatedly. Wang Bi (auxiliary heir) is the most powerful advocate, followed by Sima Qian, Zheng Xuan and Sun Sheng.

It is not easy and almost impossible to add these four statements to Chinese textual research. As for the person who identified the repeated hexagrams as Zhou Wenwang, probably from the word "acting" of "Wang Wenyi Yan", it can't be said that it is the explanation of the meaning of the sixty-four hexagrams, but only the order and way of the arrangement of the sixty-four hexagrams in Zhouyi and the explanation of the hexagrams in Zhouyi. This is undeniable, and it is Wang Wen's masterpiece. As for the hexagrams written by Fuxi, it is worth studying why the arrangement of Gui Zang Yi is headed by Kun hexagrams. Wang Fuzhi thinks that it is still Fuxi's creation that rehearses sixty-four hexagrams repeatedly, which is the most reasonable.

Zhouyi is an ancient classic, and it is a knowledge about human thoughts and the essential laws of the universe. If its principle is correctly understood, it will have a great impact on the development of the future world.

Zhou Wen Wang Jichang, the author of Zhouyi, was a Xibo nationality in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and was founded under Qishan. He accumulated virtue and did good deeds and became a great politician. He was imprisoned in Youli (now Tangyin North, Anyang City) for worshipping Houhu and slandering Zhou Wang, and was later released. Benefiting from benevolent government, most governors in the world are obedient. After Zhou Wuwang won the world, he was honored as the leader of the princes in the last years of Shang Dynasty, known as the Hou of Northwest China in history, and was named as. Our ancestors, Gu Gong and his son, followed the cause of Hou Ji and Gong Liu, adopted the calendar and advocated the social atmosphere of respecting the elderly, showing little kindness and respecting the virtuous, so as to develop the social economy of their territory. Together with his son Ji Fa, he hired Jiang Shang as a strategist in Diaoyutai, Panxi, Baoji, and led an army to attack the Shang Dynasty from Qishan. He was a pioneer of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Invented the king of Wen gossip, spread all over the world. Historical records record that "Wen Wang was imprisoned and played Zhouyi". During his imprisonment by Shang Wang, he wrote Zhouyi in prison and reigned for 50 years.

Historical Records records that "the king of letters traveled in Zhouyi", so the ancients mostly agreed that Zhouyi was written with Sima Qian's theory, but today people have different views. Because it was written very early, with the evolution of the times, the meaning of words was not understood by the world, and the content of Yi was not very good to read in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Therefore, the ancients wrote the Book of Changes to interpret it. The "Book of Changes" we talk about today usually refers to the combination of the Book of Changes and the Book of Changes.

The Book of Changes is one of the oldest, most authoritative and famous Confucian classics in China, and it is the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation. It is also called the Book of Changes for short, including classics and biographies. The Book of Changes is a divination book, the main body of which is the interpretation of the symbolic meaning of the corresponding Yi hexagrams and the judgment of the good and bad of personnel, while the biography part is the understanding of Yi and the development of the Zhouyi characters.