The ins and outs of the Book of Changes?

The Book of Changes is the oldest and most profound classic in China. It is said that Fuxi's remarks were summarized and revised (at the same time, the gossip of Yijing was produced). It is the crystallization of China's 5,000-year-old wisdom culture and is known as "the head of the group classics and the source of the avenue". In ancient times, it was the study of emperors and a required skill for politicians, strategists and businessmen.

The Book of Changes is essentially a book about divination. "Divination" is to predict the development of future events, and The Book of Changes is a book that summarizes the laws and theories of these predictions.

First, the interpretation of the name of the Book of Changes:

The Book of Changes is also commonly called the Book of Changes.

& lt There have been many opinions about the word "Zhou" in Zhouyi:

1. Some people think that "Zhou" means "Everything is ready in Zhou Pu". Because 64 hexagrams and 384 hexagrams can easily cover everything, the meaning of hexagrams is naturally common in GAI.

2. Some people think that Zhouyi refers to Zhou Dynasty. The reason why the Zhou Dynasty was accepted by ordinary people is that many people think that the word "Zhou" in Zhouyi is the name of the dynasty.

< second > there are many explanations about the word "one", but they can be summarized as follows:

1, the last day and next month will be easy. "Yi is a word, from the moon to the sun, yin and yang." "Easy, the sun and the moon are also." "The sun and the moon are easy, quite just and quite soft."

2, golden bird, big day, life. "Yi is like a bird."

3. Lizards change easily. "Simple, it is a lizard. Lizards change color because of the bad environment, and it is easy to take the meaning of change. "

4. Simplifying complexity is easy. Simple Tao Te Ching: "Simple is simple, and easy is easy. Simple and easy, easy and easy, everything is simple and easy. "

5. Cohesion says: "Life is easy".

6. Marco in Qing Dynasty divided the definition of "Yi" into two types:

(1) Trading: Yin and Yang are cold and hot, so are the upper and lower sides.

(2) Change: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, and the cycle is also.

7. In addition, there has always been a saying that "Yi" has three meanings:

(1) Simplicity, that is, although "Yi" is all-encompassing, there is a simplest formula or "pattern" in which all things and phenomena can be explained. That is, "the simplest way."

(2) Change, that is, "change" refers to the way of change, that is, "dialectical method".

(3) Not easy, that is, although "Yi" talks about change, the "Tao" of this change is eternal, that is, it can "respond to changes with constancy".

What does "Yi" mean? Let's make a deeper analysis and discussion from the origin of the word "one" and the development and change of its form.

& lt Third, there are basically two kinds of opinions and opinions on the understanding of the change of the shape of the word "one" and its meaning during the development and change of Chinese characters:

1. The first view is that the word "Yi" is an pictograph.

(1) The form of the word "Yi" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions is like a lizard with its head up.

(2) The word "Yi" on the bronze inscription is more like a lizard.

(3) The form of the word "one" in Biography is similar to that of the bronze inscription.

(4) The word "Yi" is the writing and form of modern regular script.

This view holds that the word "Yi" originally refers to the "lizard" of "lizard" and its original meaning is "change". When the word "Yi" is disguised as "exchange" and extended from "exchange" to "change", then the word "Yi" said by a lizard is written as "lizard". The word "Yi" can also be said to be "Yi".

This is the theoretical basis of the view that "Yi" in the Book of Changes is "Lizard Yi".

2. Another view is that "Yi" is a cognitive word.

(1) The form of the word "Yi" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions was originally three points on the left, a long arc in the middle and a semicircle on the right. Or a semicircle on the left, a long arc in the middle and three points on the right. In ancient Chinese, many homophones were written backwards. )

Its formal meaning is interpreted as:

(1), the semicircle is half the sun;

② The long arc in the middle is a cloud blocking the sun;

(3), the next three points are sunlight transmitted from the clouds. (It can also be said that it is cloudy, because the ancients used "three is numerous and nine is extremely numerous." )

Therefore, the original meaning of the word "one" means "it's sunny and cloudy at first sight".

There is often a distinction between "one day" and "non-one day" in Oracle Bone Inscriptions. An "easy day" is "good weather" and a "difficult day" is "bad weather".

"One" comes from its original meaning of "seeing at first sight, seeing at first sight and seeing at second sight", and then it is extended to the meanings of "transformation", "exchange", "easier" and "transaction".

(2) The glyph of the word "Yi" on the bronze inscription is developed on the basis of the glyph of Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Half the sun and scattered sunlight have not changed, but the long arc of the cloud that covers the sun has been changed into an arc that turns left first and then right. What looks like a "bird's eye view" on the sun is actually the "sunspot" we saw in Japan and China. At first glance, this shape looks like a bird, which means that the "Yi" in the Book of Changes is a golden bird, a great sky and a destiny. "Yi is like a bird." The theoretical basis and source of this view. )

(3) The upper part of the word "Yi" in Xiao Zhuan in Qin Dynasty has become a square "Sun", and the arc and three-point sunlight in the lower part have been wrongly changed to "Don't" under the word "Yi".

(4) Therefore, the word "Yi" follows the shape of the word "Yi" in Biography and develops into the "Yi" of official script in Han Dynasty and the "Yi" of modern regular script.

To sum up, I personally agree with "doomsday, easy next month" and "easy to be a word, from month to day, both yin and yang can be used." Statement. This is because:

1, The Book of Changes is a classic work that reveals, discusses and reflects the laws of the development and change of nature (heaven and earth).

The sun and the moon represent heaven and earth, that is, Yin and Yang. This statement is more in line with the composition and arrangement of the eight diagrams in the Book of Changes and its core ideas.

3. No matter what kind of statement or viewpoint, we can't deny the meaning of "change" of "Yi". The number of images of the sun and the moon means alternation and change.

But no matter what kind of explanation, it is good to say that the Book of Changes is about the interaction of yin and yang, which produces everything, "combining rigidity with softness, changing in it".

During the Western Han Dynasty, Confucianism regarded Zhouyi, Poetry, Shu, Li, Yue and Chunqiu as classics, and called them Six Classics. So the Book of Changes is also called the Book of Changes.

& lt〈 < 4 > explanation of the word "Jing":

The origin and development of the word 1,, "Jing";

The word "Jing" was originally a hieroglyph, and there was no "Yi" next to it, only "Ji".

(1) The lower part of the word "Ji" in the bronze inscription is the word "I" used to support the thread when weaving, and the three curves in the upper part are the shape of "Jing" when weaving.

(2) In Biography, in order to make the meaning of "Jing" more clear, the ideographic part "Jing" was added to its left, so the word "Jing" became a pictophonetic word with left form and right sound.

Note: "Mi" and "Zi" should be read as (mρ) instead of (sρ). Because people mistakenly think that "rice" and "company" are the same, they also habitually pronounce "rice".

"Zhu" is an pictograph.

A. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the word "Zi" is like a handful of lemon.

B, there is the word "Yi" in the bronze inscription, and its form is basically the same as that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions.

C, in Biography, its shape is basically the same as that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinwen.

D. "Zi" is the writing method of regular script.

"Zhu" is the form of simplified characters.

Xu Kai, a scholar who studied Shuo Wen Jie Zi in Song Dynasty, said: "Silkworms spit' suddenly' and' silk'; Hey, it's already five o'clock. "

It can be seen that the "child" is a tiny silk (half silk).

The original meaning of the word "Zi" is "filament".

Shuowen: "Long, thin line also. Like a bundle of silk. "

(3) "Jing" is the writing method of regular script.

(4) "Jing" is a simplified word.

2. Interpretation of the word "Jing":

(1) The original meaning of the word "warp" refers to the longitudinal thread of textile, as opposed to "weft".

"Wen Xin Diao Long: Emotion": "Change to weft, and then speak smoothly." The general idea is that the warp is positive and the weft can be achieved; Only when the content of the article is determined can the text be fluent.

(2) Later, the meaning of "latitude and longitude" was extended to the meaning of north and south, and the north and south were called "classics"; Something is called "weft".

"Examination: Craftsman": "Nine Classics and Nine Wefts in Junior High School."

(3) Because there is no "warp", there is no "weft". So "essence" is the main thing. The main channels of qi and blood in human body are also called meridians, such as meridians and meridians.

(4) In the same way, it is precisely because of the importance of "classics" that books that record the highest ideological and moral standards of a certain class, traditional authoritative works, or books that preach religious teachings are called "classics" and "classics".

"Tang Shu": "After the four parts, there are A, B, C and D, and Part A is the classics." That is to say, in the ancient books catalogue, according to the order of A, B, C and D, the books in Part A are all classics.

5], the ancient "diameter".

..... and so on.

3. Therefore, the meaning of the word "Jing" in the Book of Changes should include:

(1) Pass the word "Dao", path, approach road, gate diameter. That is, the method of identifying, reflecting, revealing and mastering the trajectory and law of things' development and change.

(2) the trajectory and law of the development and change of things.

(3) Understanding, experience and experience of the development and change of things.

(4) The main and important ideological theories and classic works that discuss the development and change of things.

Second, the emergence of the Book of Changes:

1, I ching era:

At present, there are different opinions about the age of the Book of Changes. According to scholars' research, it should be 5000 years ago, and some people say that it was 7000 years ago, and the age of the book is the late Shang Dynasty and the early Zhou Dynasty.

2. The origin of the Book of Changes:

As for the origin of the Book of Changes, traditionally, it is generally believed that the Book of Changes originated from the Book of Hutuluo.

Legend has it that a dragon horse with a picture on its back appeared in the ancient Yellow River, and a turtle with words on its back appeared in Luoshui, so the sage Fuxi drew "innate gossip". At the end of Shang Dynasty, Zhou Wenwang was imprisoned in the ancient place name "yǒu". Now, in the north of tangyin county, Henan Province, based on Fuxi's "innate gossip", he deduced the "acquired gossip", namely "Wang Wen's gossip", further deduced 64 hexagrams, and made the hexagrams. The Book of Changes was written by Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Therefore, the Book of Changes has a saying that "people are more sacred and the world is three ancient". Meaning: The Book of Changes experienced three times: ancient, medieval and ancient, and was completed by three saints: Fuxi, King Wen and Confucius.

3. In the history of the Book of Changes, it is said that there are three kinds, namely the so-called "three changes":

① The poem "Lian Shan Yi", which originated in Shennong era, started with "divination", symbolizing that "clouds emerge from the mountains and life is endless".

(2). Second, the "Guizang Instrument" produced in the era of the Yellow Emperor, starting with Kun Gua, symbolizes that "everything must be hidden in it", indicating that everything is born in the earth, and it will eventually be the earth, and everything is dominated by the earth.

(3) The Book of Changes, which originated in the late Shang Dynasty, begins with two hexagrams of "Gan" and "Kun", indicating the cognitive differences between heaven and earth and between heaven and man.

Lian He's Righteousness of Returning to Tibet has been lost, and all we see is the Book of Changes.

Third, the book-writing era of Yijing:

1, written in the Spring and Autumn Period: Guo Moruo said: The concept of the opposition between heaven and earth appeared very late in the history of China thought; There is no trace of gossip in Zhou's writing, not even the word "land"; Characters such as Gan Kun appeared very late in ancient books. It shows that the Book of Changes cannot be earlier than the Spring and Autumn Period.

2. The book was written in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty: Zhang Dainian, based on the stories in the hexagrams, such as Easy to Lose Cattle, Easy to Lose Sheep, Seeking Ghosts by Emperor Gaozong, Returning to Sister by Di Yi, and Ming Yi in Ji Zi. , are the stories of the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the stories after Zhou Chengwang are not quoted. It is inferred that the Book of Changes could not have been written later.

3. The Book of Changes was written in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties: Jin and others thought that the Book of Changes was a work in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. They must be "divination comes from divination". The history of ancient witchcraft summed up a large number of records of divination activities year by year, and after screening and sorting, it was written as the Book of Changes. Some scholars study the time of the Book of Changes from the logical process of the development of China Thought and the social contradiction between Yin and Shang Dynasties, and think that it is also the time of Yin and Zhou Dynasties.

Fourth, the content of the Book of Changes:

The Book of Changes includes the Book of Changes and biographies:

1, classics are divided into upper classics and lower classics. There are thirty in Shangshu, thirty in Xia Jing and one in Zhouyi.

Sixty-four hexagrams evolved from the eight diagrams of doing, seeing, rooting, truth, training, reason, Kun and dui. Each hexagram consists of hanging pictures, titles, hexagrams and words.

Each hexagram painting has six hexagrams, which are divided into yang hexagrams and yin hexagrams. The masculine gender is called "nine" and the feminine gender is called "six". Arranged in six rows from bottom to top, they are called primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, tertiary and quotient in turn. Sixty-four paintings, 384 hexagrams.

The title is related to the content of hexagrams. Gua usually plays a role in explaining the meaning of the topic before rhetoric; Yaoci is the main part of each hexagram, which is arranged in the order of six hexagrams according to the relevant content.

2. There are seven kinds of ten articles in Biography, namely: group up and down, item up and down, classical Chinese, cohesion, up and down, divination, miscellaneous divination and preface divination.

The ancients called these ten biographies "Ten Wings", which means attaching biographies to the wings of classics, that is, to explain the contents of classics.

(1) Xun is a special annotation on the names and words of the hexagrams in the Book of Changes.

⑵. Xiang is a comment on the names and words of hexagrams in the Book of Changes.

(3) The classical Chinese has further explained the two hexagrams of Gan and Kun.

(4) This kind of cohesion is different from Xun He Xiang. It is not an item-by-item annotation of the hexagrams in the Book of Changes, but an overall comment on the Book of Changes. This is the first book in ancient China that comprehensively and systematically explains the origin, principle, significance and divination of Yi. It expounds many ideas that can't be seen from the original meaning of the Book of Changes, which is the philosophical program of the Book of Changes. Its content is extensive and profound, and it is a must-read for studying Yi.

5] Shuo Gua is a concrete explanation of eight diagrams and images, and it is one of the theoretical bases for studying tricks.

[6], "Miscellaneous hexagrams" is sixty-four hexagrams. In the opposite or wrong form, the comprehensive hexagrams are compared with the wrong hexagrams, and the relationship between hexagrams and hexagrams is seen from the shape of hexagrams.

Once, tell the order of sixty-four hexagrams.

Fifthly, the cosmological thinking mode of the Book of Changes is "the unity of heaven and man".

"The Unity of Heaven and Man" is a way of thinking in the universe, the most important concept in the philosophical thought system of Zhouyi, and also an important concept in the traditional culture of China.

The highest ideal of the Book of Changes is to realize the realm of "harmony between man and nature".

In the Book of Changes, Gan and Kun are used to represent heaven and earth, and heaven and earth represent nature. The Book of Changes holds that everything in heaven and earth is "unified" in heaven, and heaven and earth complement each other and are indispensable. But after all, the earth is "obedient to the sky", so the sky can represent the whole nature.

Although man is born to be the place of heaven and earth, he is only a natural member of all things, but he is different from all things after all. Because people have the nature of "benevolence and righteousness" and the principle of "life", this determines that people have a sacred mission in all things in the world.

In the words of the Book of Changes, it means "cutting into the way of heaven and earth and assisting heaven and earth." Nature provides everything that human beings need to survive. While obtaining all the living conditions provided by nature, people should "cut" and "assist" nature to complete its meaning of life, so as to achieve the purpose of human life.

The Book of Changes, a universal thinking mode of "harmony between man and nature", pays full attention to understanding and grasping the world from a holistic perspective, and regards man and nature as an organic whole that interacts with each other.

Sixth, the overall philosophy of the Book of Changes: "Yin and Yang".

The copula says, "One yin and one yang are the Tao." Yin and Yang is one of the important thoughts of China's ancient philosophy, and it is also the overall philosophical thought of Yijing, which is the core of its connotation.

1, the core of the image in the Book of Changes:

The divinatory symbols in the Book of Changes are based on the two symbols of Yin and Yang, which are arranged and combined into eight diagrams according to the law of the rise and fall of Yin and Yang.

The composition and arrangement of gossip embodies the idea of interaction between yin and yang and unity of opposites. The Eight Diagrams take Yin and Yang as the core, which are overlapped and combined into sixty-four hexagrams.

2. Two aspects of the matter:

Besides the Yin and Yang in the original meaning of the hexagrams, The Book of Changes regards Yin and Yang as the essence of things and the law of their changes, and endows many concrete (natural and social) things with the meaning of Yin and Yang.

(1) From the natural phenomenon: "The sky is Yang, the earth is Yin, the day is Yang, the month is Yin, the summer is Yang, the cold is Yin, the light is Yang, the darkness is Yin, the day is Yang, and the night is Yin ...".

(2) From the social phenomenon: "Men are Yang, women are Yin, gentlemen are Yang, men are Yin, gentlemen are Yang, villains are Yin, ……".

In addition to the above two phenomena, the Book of Changes also uses "Yin and Yang" to explain some phenomena in nature and society, and gives it the meaning of "Yin and Yang". Such as: rigid, soft, healthy, smooth, forward, backward, stretched, curved, expensive, cheap, high, low and so on.

To sum up, the Book of Changes holds that both social life and natural phenomena are opposed, and this opposition is "Yin and Yang".

Seven, the fundamental spirit of the Book of Changes: "Life is easy".

"Life is change" in cohesion is the best answer to "what is change" and the most thorough explanation of the fundamental spirit of "change".

1, "Yi" is based on "living".

"Yi" means "fate", and "fate" is a continuous generation process that never stops. It is not created by a "master", but by nature itself. This is the way of heaven and earth, with "living" as the basic way of existence.

2. "Yi" represents the biochemical process of the universe.

This generation process of "Yi" shows the biochemistry of the universe.

The universe came into being from the chaotic and undivided Tai Chi, and then there was Yin and Yang. From the nature of Yin and Yang, four images, such as Taiyin, Sun, Shaoyin and Shaoyang, were divided into eight diagrams.

The eight groups of symbols in the Eight Diagrams represent the different properties of everything. According to Shuo Gua, "dry and healthy; Kun, Shun also; Shock, movement also; Xun, into also; Kan, sleepy; Stay, Li also; Hey, stop; Exchange, say it. "

These eight attributes can be expressed by the characteristics of "heaven, earth, wind, mountain, water, fire, thunder and peace".

Sixty-four hexagrams are separated from gossip, but it doesn't mean that the generation process of the universe is over by sixty-four hexagrams, and it can actually be unfolded. Therefore, the last two of the sixty-four hexagrams are "auspicious" and "unfortunate", which means that things must have an ending in the end, but this ending is another new beginning.

Eight, the dialectical law of the Book of Changes: "Change leads to long".

"Easy, poor will change, change will pass, and the general rule will last for a long time." This is what is said in cohesion, and it is also an important dialectical law in the Book of Changes: "Change is constant".

The Book of Changes has a saying of "changing classics" since ancient times, but change and constancy are linked together.

1, the operation law of heaven: "only change is appropriate."

"Cohesion" said: "It is also a book, not far away, and the Tao moves repeatedly and becomes constant. The circulation is six deficiency, ups and downs are impermanent, rigid and flexible. It can't be Canon, only suitable for change. "

When things change, they will remain unchanged, and when they remain unchanged, they will change. The Book of Changes shows the unchanging law of "constancy" and the changing law of "constancy". This law is the so-called "heaven", that is, the law of the operation of heaven.

2. Things change according to the law of the operation of heaven.

The ancients believed that everything in the world was changing, only the law of heaven itself remained unchanged, so the change of things must follow the law of the operation of heaven.

The Book of Changes: Biography of Three Talents: "It is the way to establish heaven with Yin and Yang, the way to stand firm and soft, and the way to establish people with benevolence and righteousness. These are all three talents. Therefore, the Book of Changes is drawn as a hexagram. Yin and Yang are divided into two parts, both rigid and flexible, so it is easy to be six chapters. "

Every hexagram in the Book of Changes represents the three talents of heaven and earth, and each of them has yin and yang, rigidity and softness, and benevolence and righteousness. The combination of six yin and yang and six hexagrams, that is, the constant change of Tao, interweaves and overlaps with each other, which constitutes the fundamental evolution law of Yi Gua.

3. Therefore, the Book of Changes holds that since everything in the world is changing, only the heaven itself remains unchanged, then people should follow the example of heaven, not go against nature, and keep pace with the times in order to last for a long time.

Nine, two concepts that guide people's behavior in the Book of Changes: "time" and "middle".

In terms of moral cultivation, the Book of Changes requires people's behavior to conform to the two concepts of "time" and "moderation". This concept of "sometimes in time" is a kind of high survival wisdom, which requires people to "stop when they move". People's behavior cooperates and vibrates with the movement of everything in the world and between people and things, so that people's existence can be realized smoothly in the consistency of adaptability.

1, "zhong" refers to the golden mean: it runs in the middle of the natural way of heaven and earth, neither too much nor too bad.

2. "Time" means keeping up with the times:

The significance of knowing the time: notice the opportunity coming and attach importance to the opportunity coming around you.

Know the opportunity: know when the opportunity will come and how to seize it.

Take advantage of the opportunity: seize and use the opportunity to come to you, don't miss it and regret it.

Wait for the opportunity: once the opportunity comes, act, act immediately.

Time change: be able to see the change of time and adjust your behavior accordingly.

Time goes by: start at the right time, stop at the right time, and successfully realize human existence in the connection with everything in the world.

This "timely" survival wisdom of the Book of Changes is completely different from those conservative, servile, closed, introspective and mediocre lifestyles, which constitutes the positive and enterprising character of China people.

References:

Baidu Dictionary and Illustration of the Book of Changes compiled by Zuxing.

The Spread and Genre of the Book of Changes

According to the documents of China Junyou Association, it is said that when Qin Shihuang burned books to bury Confucianism, Li Si was spared because he included Zhouyi in the book of medical divination. Later, people in all previous dynasties studied Zhouyi, including Fang Jing and Zheng Xuan in Han Dynasty, Wang Bi in Wei and Jin Dynasties, Lu Deming, Li Dingzuo and Kong in Tang Dynasty, Shao Yong, Cheng Yi and Zhu in Song Dynasty.

Yi Tu's research rose in the Song Dynasty, such as the well-known river map, Luo Shu, congenital map, acquired map and Taiji map (including the cake pattern of Yin and Yang fish). These are not in the original book of changes, but added by later generations according to their own understanding of the book of changes.

The study of Zhouyi in past dynasties can be roughly divided into two schools: the school of righteousness and the school of image mathematics. The rationalist school emphasizes that hexagrams, epigrams and epigrams are explained by the meaning of their names. Elephant Mathematics School pays attention to explaining hexagrams and speeches from the images symbolized by gossip. Others think that the school of righteousness discusses the philosophical value of Zhouyi, while the school of mathematics focuses on divination with Zhouyi. The former is Bi and Cheng Yi, and the latter is Shao Yong.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Book of Changes was translated by missionaries and introduced to the West. 1at the end of the 7th century, the German philosopher and mathematician Leibniz explained the Book of Changes in binary because of the introduction of the sinologist Buwei (Bai Jin in Chinese, 1662- 1732). Nowadays, many people in Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province Province and western countries have studied the Book of Changes.

According to Jiang Hongyuan's textual research on the changes of the Book of Changes, Zhu, Huidong and Si's summary of the General Catalogue all think that the book and its chapters have been written by myself since the publication of the Book of Changes. This book is extended by Shen Yanguo's argument, and it is determined that Fang Jing is based on 60 hexagrams headed by 12 hexagrams, and repeated at the rhythm of 60 minutes, while Bagong hexagrams, Najia and Yinna evolved from another non-Shi Jing school, such as Xun Shuang, Yu Fan and Gan Bao, and replaced the original pattern of Fang Jing after the appearance of Shi Jing Yi Zhuan.