The Essence of the Book of Changes

The Book of Changes is a mysterious work in ancient China. Because it was popular in the Zhou Dynasty, it was called the Book of Changes, and was regarded as the head of the Confucian classics. Judging from its arrangement style and text content, it is a book of divination. This paper discusses the extensive and profound Yijing, including Yijing and Yijing. In ancient books, only the names "Lianshan" and "Ghost Hide" are not discussed.

When Qin Shihuang burned books to bury Confucianism, Li Si secretly included the Book of Changes in Medical divination, and survived.

As for the author of the Book of Changes, Historical Records said that "the king of literature wrote the Book of Changes", so most of the ancients thought that the Book of Changes was written by Zhou Wenwang according to Sima Qian's theory, but today people have different views. Because it was written very early, the meaning of words evolved with the development of the times, and the content of the Book of Changes in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was not very good to read, so the ancients specially 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.

Some people think that 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 Book of Changes, but were added by later generations according to their own understanding of the Book of Changes.

The Book of Changes, which has been handed down to this day, consists of two parts: