Who knows how many parts of the Book of Changes?

China's Ancient Cultural Philosophy Works-The Book of Changes

The Book of Changes is a mysterious work in ancient China. Judging from its arrangement style and text content, it is a book of divination. When Qin Shihuang burned books to bury Confucianism, Li Si secretly included the Book of Changes in Medical divination, and survived.

As for its author, Records of the Historian contains "The Book of Changes was written by King Wen", so the ancients mostly agreed that the Book of Changes was written by Zhou Wenwang with Sima Qian's theory, but today people have different views. Because this book was written very early, and the meaning of the text evolved with the development of the times, the contents of the Book of Changes in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were not easy to read. 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 nature of the Book of Divination cannot conceal the value of the Book of Changes as a masterpiece. Divination originates from human desire to explain the world, and the sprout of philosophy originates from primitive religion. The Book of Changes provides a good example for this. In China's philosophy, the basic theory of mutual restraint and unity of opposites between Yin and Yang is rooted in the Book of Changes. Later generations developed a complex philosophical system from the Book of Changes, and the theories of Confucianism and Taoism were obviously influenced by the Book of Changes. Modern people interpret the research value of philosophy, politics, history, military, folk customs and many other aspects from the Book of Changes.

According to Zhou Li's records, there are three methods of divination, and the Book of Changes is just one of them. The other two books, Lianshan and Guizang, have been lost.

The Book of Changes was highly praised by many later researchers, many of whom were regarded as profound scholars at that time. The study of Zhouyi can be roughly divided into two schools: the school of righteousness and the school of image. The school of righteousness pays attention to exploring the philosophical value of Zhouyi, and the school of mathematics pays attention to divination with Zhouyi. The former is like Bi in the Eastern Han Dynasty and Cheng Yi in the Northern Song Dynasty, while the latter is like Shao Yong in the Western Han Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty. As we all know, Hutuluo Shu and Taiji Tu (including the circular patterns of Yin and Yang fish) were not in the original Yijing, and later generations supplemented it according to their own understanding of Yijing.

Writing process

The completion time of Zhouyi has always been controversial. As far as Yijing and Yijing are concerned, Yijing was written in ancient times. Judging from the rarity of its characters, it is at least earlier than the Spring and Autumn Period, and the specific age is difficult to verify. Some people talk about the early Western Zhou Dynasty, while others talk about Western weekends. The sixty-four hexagrams in the Book of Changes are complete, harmonious and inseparable, and the style of writing is consistent. It is a one-step work, not an intermittent work of several eras. It's just that some hexagrams (that is, paintings of gossip and sixty-four hexagrams, excluding words) may have been handed down earlier.

Compared with the Book of Changes, the text of the Book of Changes is obviously easier to understand, and modern people with a foundation in ancient Chinese can read it through. At the same time, the style and content of different articles and even different chapters of the same article have obvious changes, and it is not necessarily written by one person at a time. As for the author of Yi Zhuan, Historical Records is Confucius. Today, some people think that it was written in the Warring States or Qin and Han Dynasties, while others think that it was supplemented and revised by later generations on the basis of Confucius' original Yi Zhuan. Opinions vary. But it is undeniable that there are many Confucian viewpoints in the Book of Changes, and they are trying to find the moral and ethical value of the Book of Changes. Sometimes I feel that the Book of Changes is not so "loyal to the original", but in general, I still want to thank the Book of Changes. Without its explanation, the Book of Changes will really become a complete gobbledygook.