Why can you read the Book of Changes, learn astronomy and geography and predict the future?

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.

The Book of Changes and The Book of Changes

Usually we refer to the Book of Changes, and naturally we know that it refers to the Book of Changes. Because of China culture, since Confucius deleted poems and books, ordered rites and yue, and compiled Lu's history book "Chunqiu", it was named Zhouyi, which is collectively called the Six Classics (the rest of the books lost because of yue are called the Five Classics). Classics are the great yardstick of heaven and earth, and also the great channel of life. Calling the Book of Changes the Six Classics means that these six Classics were compiled by Confucius, which is a great principle and law that contains all the knowledge of China traditional culture "the time between man and nature".

Since Qin and Han Dynasties, there are similarities and differences in the naming of Yijing.

First, it belongs to the orthodox Confucian doctrine after Qin and Han Dynasties. According to the concept of chiseling, it is considered that the connotation of "Yi" includes three meanings:

(1) Easy. It means easy. Because the natural laws of heaven and earth are so simple.

(2) change. It is believed that all things in nature, as well as people, are constantly changing interactively and endlessly. However, the law of this change has its inevitable criteria to follow, not random changes.

(3) It is not easy. Everything in the world, as well as personnel, is changing in a complicated and mutually causal way at any time and anywhere, but what is changing is its phenomenon. It is not easy to change, but it is simple.

Second, it belongs to the common concept of Confucianism and Taoism after Qin and Han Dynasties. According to the meaning of "three changes" in Zhou Li Dabupian, it refers to the academic thought of the Book of Changes from ancient times to the early Zhou Dynasty, which is divided into three systems: (1) Lianshan Yi. (2) "back to Tibet." (3) Zhouyi.

It is said that the Yi-ology in Fuxi era was "Lian Yi Shan", which first began with divination, symbolizing that "everything is hidden in it". It means that human culture and civilization are mainly based on the earth, and everything is born in the earth and eventually hidden in it.

At the beginning of the humanistic culture of the Zhou Dynasty, the Book of Changes, which has been handed down now, was regarded as a treasure. It first began with Gankun divination, which indicated the knowledge between heaven and earth and between heaven and man.

However, Zheng Xuan, a great scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, thought that the Yi-ology of Xia Dynasty was Lianshan (hence its name), and that of Yin Dynasty was Tibetan (also known as Yi Yin). Of course, Zhouyi is Zhouyi.

There is also a saying that the lineage name of ancient Shennong is "Lianshan", also known as "Lieshan". The so-called "Lianshan" is the sound of "Lieshan". The lineage of the Yellow Emperor is also called "returning to Tibet". Lianshan Post is said to have been written for Mi Opera. "Returning to Tibet" is said to have been written by Emperor Xuanyuan.

So these two theories have similarities and differences. If we think that Yi-ology advocated by Xia Dynasty is Lian, Yi-ology advocated by Yin Dynasty is Gui-zang Yi, and in Zhou Dynasty, the Yi-ology system of Zhouyi was formed after collation, then there is not much difference between these two different opinions.

However, from the perspective of textual research scholars, Yi's Chisel and Big Supplement should be questionable. Textual research scholars have always believed that books such as Yi Chi Du are purely forgeries in the late Han Dynasty or the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and they are called the inheritance of ancient times. This concept is not completely unreasonable, but it is really worth studying and considering.

However, after the Han Dynasty, scholars stubbornly abandoned the concept of Zhou Li's Supplement and refused to accept it. They insisted on the more problematic theory of Yi Gan Wei's Letters, and thought that "simplicity, change and difficulty" were the natural meanings of Yi-ology, which was the basis for later generations to talk about Yi with Confucianism. That is, regardless of textual research, only the internal meaning of the so-called "three changes" principle is used to illustrate the main points of Yi-ology.

In addition, there are two theories about the three changes in Taoist academic thought after the Han and Wei Dynasties: Lianshan, Guizang and Zhouyi.

(1) thinks that the Yi studies of Lianshan and Guizang schools have long been lost.

(2) It is reasonable to think that the Yi-ology of elephant numbers after the Han and Wei Dynasties is a legacy of going back to Tibet. Moreover, the essence of Yi-ology in Lianshan and Guizang really became the backbone of Taoist academic thought after Qin and Han Dynasties. For example, the theory of twelve hexagrams is based on the Kun hexagrams of "returning to Tibet". The half-image of divination is based on the anger of divination.