Overview of the Book of Changes
The Book of Changes is the change, and the Book of Changes is the method (or classic). The Book of Changes (The Book of Changes) is a rigorous philosophical work that can be used for divination within the scope of science. It's just that it's very profound and difficult to understand, so there are many far-fetched theories.
The "Book of Changes" is referred to as "Yi", also known as "Book of Changes". It is said that it was written by King Wen of Zhou Dynasty and was written in the Zhou Dynasty, so it is called "Book of Changes". In fact, the "Book of Changes" is a discipline that gradually evolved and completed in Chinese history. The English translation is "The Book of Changes", which refers to a book that studies changes. In fact, this kind of translation cannot explain the essence of the I Ching (many Chinese words lose their original meaning after being translated into English).
Yi: Has many meanings.
First, there is the phenomenon of circulation. In ancient pictographic characters, the character "Yi" is composed of the "sun" at the top and the "moon" at the bottom; the reciprocating cycle of the sun and the moon is used to describe the cycle and flow of "Yi". It just goes round and round. Secondly, Yi represents the connotation of simplicity and convenience. Often many philosophies are actually very popular and superficial. Third, Yi is change. Study and explain the law and connotation of a change.
The Book of Changes is a widely studied knowledge system. However, many people in history only focus on his philosophical content and divination system. But other scientific attributes of Yi itself are ignored. Moreover, due to most people's ignorance and resistance to divination, they have regarded the Yijing as a kind of feudal dross for a long time.
The Yi Jing, in history, in addition to the "Zhou Yi" we introduce here, there are also "Lianshan Yi" and "Guizang Yi". "Lianshan Yi", also known as "Xia Yi", is said to have been written by Mi Xi; "Gui Zang Yi", also known as "Yin Yi", is said to have been written by Huangdi. Unfortunately, these two are easily lost.
The Book of Changes initially focused on patterns and symbols as its main content; with the emergence and evolution of writing, it was gradually improved. The original Yi Jing mainly evolved from the connotative laws in the patterns of Hetu and Luo Shu, and gradually formed the Bagua symbols.
The formation of the Book of Changes
At the end of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, when King Wen of Zhou was detained in Youli (today's Tangyin), he further evolved the Bagua into sixty-four hexagrams; and gradually experienced the addition of Zhou Gong Writing Yao Ci, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius added ten wings to further improve it. In the Han Dynasty, Jingfang followed the combination of yin and yang, five elements, heavenly stems and earthly branches to create the Najia method; in the Song Dynasty, Shao Yong compiled the sixty-four hexagrams of Fang Tian and Yuan Tian and created the Plum Blossom Yi Technique. Xu Ziping innovatively adopted the four-pillar fortune-telling method; using the Japanese yen to represent the fortune-teller.
Currently, Yi academic circles call Taiyi, Qimen, and Liuren the three major arts, which are the main system for prediction and divination. In addition, the four-pillar system (commonly known as Pi Ba Zi) is based on the stem and branch calendar formed based on the heavenly stems and earthly branches. There are also "Najia" (commonly known as Liuyao Prediction), which was founded and gradually improved and developed in the Han Dynasty.
Yixue is a science that ancient people used to study the movement and changes of the universe and celestial bodies, and further explore the impact of the universe and celestial bodies on human social activities. The main purpose is to enable people to conduct further research and exploration by studying its internal laws, and it is by no means limited to prediction and divination.