What is the Book of Changes? What is the main content?

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.

Later generations focused on the animals exemplified in the Book of Changes, such as dragons, horses, elephants, dragons and deer. And adopted the saying that when our ancestor Fuxi began to draw hexagrams, he took everything far away, and thought that the original word "Yi" was the idea of taking its pictographic bird. However, this statement has not attracted attention.

In modern times, some people think that' Yi' is a simplification of lizards. Lizard, a creature, its own color is changeable anytime and anywhere. When it is attached to an object, its color will change to the same hue as the object. The Book of Changes explains the inevitable changes of things between heaven and earth, so it takes lizards as symbols, just like dragons and elephants in the scriptures. But it can't be called Yijing, so it's named Yi. Those who advocate this view emphasize Japanese scholars most. This is equivalent to saying that Yao is a censer, Shun is a candlestick and Yu is a reptile before World War II, all of which contain frivolous malicious slander and are not worthy of being laughed off by knowledgeable people.

So, what does the word "Yi" in the Book of Changes mean? According to the tradition of Taoist Yi scholars, the definition of "Sun and Moon Said Yi" is the most reasonable, marked by Wei Boyang's Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The word "Yi" is enough to prove the accuracy of the Taoist tradition and Wei Boyang's definition of "the sun and the moon are easy". At present, the academic thought of the Book of Changes has gradually become popular in western countries and Europe and America. Our own accurate naming and explanation of national ancestral culture must not be confused with others, which will undermine the dignity of cultural orthodoxy.

Geng Yi Sansheng is the author after Qin and Han Dynasties, and it is recognized by those who formed the tradition of Yi-ology in ancient times, and it is also the problem that we must first understand when we begin to study Yi-ology.

After Qin and Han Dynasties, Confucian scholars agreed that it was our ancestor Fu who began to draw eight diagrams. Deduction of gossip, of course, Zhou Wenwang; It was Confucius who carried forward the essence of Yi-ology. Therefore, "Geng Yi Sansheng" refers to Fuxi, fortune teller, King Wen and Confucius. In fact, King Wen divined and wrote "oracles", and his only son, Duke Zhou, also wrote "oracles" by developing and expanding his thoughts. Why is the Duke of Zhou not mentioned in the Three Sages? According to the signs of Han Confucianism and the ancient patriarchal concept, father and son go hand in hand, so the Duke of Zhou was not mentioned in the Three Sages. On this issue, it is still difficult to determine whether this case is fair and reasonable.

Fuxi, of course, began to draw hexagrams, which is beyond doubt. After the divination of King Wen, the ancestors of Duke Zhou recorded that Confucius carried forward and insisted on relying on Duke Zhou's academic contribution in style. I'm afraid Confucius will feel uneasy when he dreams of Duke Zhou. At the same time, we should not slip away from the word "more holy" easily. The word "Geng" in ancient Chinese once had the same meaning. The so-called "Geng Yi San Sheng" talent means that the Yi-ology can only be carried forward after the arrangement of the three saints and three scholars.

From Fuxi's eight diagrams to Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the academic thought system of Zhouyi was established through the research and writings of three sages: King Wen, Duke Zhou and Confucius. Therefore, it can be seen that the word "Geng Yi Sansheng" should be strictly the book of Zhouyi. It seems a bit far-fetched to say that all Yi-ology systems drag Fuxi down to make up for the three saints. Associated with this problem is the problem of "Wang Wenyi Yan" and its repeated interpretation as a sixty-four hexagrams.

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.