What are the mysteries in the Book of Changes?

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of studying the Book of Changes in China. Actually, this is not the first time. In the long years of more than two thousand years, many people have been keen on the study of the Book of Changes. I just never paid so much attention to it, and there are so many researchers. The Book of Changes has attracted so many researchers. What kind of book is it? The Book of Changes, like most ancient documents in China, is full of mystery. Moreover, The Book of Changes has the largest number of puzzles in ancient China literature.

The first mystery of the Book of Changes is its attributes. Some people intuitively say that it is an ancient divination book, which is also a reference book for fortune telling. Some people regard it as a history book. Some people have studied the profound meaning of the Book of Changes and come to the conclusion that it is a philosophical book. These are the conclusions that people have drawn after studying the Book of Changes in modern times.

The Book of Changes we are talking about today refers to the Book of Changes. They are all about gossip and the 64 hexagrams derived from it, and describe the hexagrams and corresponding rhetoric of each hexagram. According to legend, the Eight Diagrams were created by Fuxi, and later Zhou Wenwang interpreted the Eight Diagrams into 64 hexagrams.

It is precisely because of the obvious divination characteristics of Zhouyi that people naturally regard it as a reference book for divination, even the famous modern scholar Guo Moruo is no exception.

However, if we look at the appearance of hexagrams in Zhouyi, we can see that the whole book shows simple materialism and simple dialectics.

If we study the Book of Changes, it is not difficult to find that the language and other notes explaining the hexagrams are all notes about ancient wars, sacrifices, marriage and farming. According to this feature, some scholars believe that Zhouyi is a historical book.

Whether these views touch on the true nature of Zhouyi is still inconclusive.

Apart from the attributes of Zhouyi, it is difficult to determine when it was written and who the author is. In ancient times, there was a saying that "King Wen was arrested and beaten Zhouyi", and Fuxi, Shennong and Yuxia were all honored as gossips. Gua Yi Ci and Yi Zhuan are also regarded as the works of Duke Zhou and Confucius respectively. How different is this from historical facts? At least no one can judge accurately.

Nowadays, scholars shorten the writing time of Zhouyi to the Western Zhou Dynasty, but it is more than 300 years, and the writing time of Yi Zhuan in Zhouyi is extended to the early Han Dynasty, which is 500-600 years. There is still no confirmation in essence.

Although the Book of Changes is full of doubts, it has a growing influence on later generations, and it also reflects the incredible and profound ancient civilization in China. I hope the mystery of the Book of Changes can be solved soon.