Let me start with the conclusion: "The Book of Changes" and "The Book of Changes" are not the same book!
To put it simply: "The Book of Changes" includes two parts: "Jing" and "Zhuan"!
The "Classic" refers to the "Book of Changes"!
"Zhuan" refers to "Yi Zhuan", also known as "Ten Wings" (written by Confucius or his disciples)
Let's talk about it in detail:
1. History of the Formation of the Book of Changes
The development of the Book of Changes has gone through three stages: the ancient times, the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with a time span of thousands of years.
In ancient times, the Bagua was determined by Fuxi based on the heaven and earth at that time. The Bagua at this time is called the Xiantian Bagua;
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Wen performed the Sixty-Four Hexagrams (i.e. King Wen of Zhou who was assisted by Jiang Ziya in "The Romance of the Gods"), the gossip at this time is called "the day after tomorrow gossip" or "King Wen's gossip";
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Confucius wrote "The Book of Changes" He created "Yi Zhuan" (also known as "Ten Wings").
So far, the Yi Jing has formed a relatively complete system. The reason why it is said to have formed a relatively complete system is not that the Bagua created by King Wen or Fu Xi is incomplete, but that after Confucius's "Ten Wings", It is more convenient for our descendants to understand.
"Hanshu-Yiwenzhi" said: "People are compared with three sages, and the world is divided into three generations." The three sages refer to Fuxi, King Wen and his disciples, and Confucius. It can be seen from the above three stages that the "Book of Changes" was not written by one person at once.
In addition to "The Book of Changes", there are two "Book of Changes" from ancient times to the Middle Ages, namely "Lianshan Yi" by Shennong and "Gui Zang Yi" by Xuanyuan of Huangdi. However, These two books have been basically lost. (In addition, I personally think that it cannot be said that they have been completely lost, but that they have been scattered and scattered among many sects such as Chinese medicine and Feng Shui. We will give detailed examples in the future)
So, we now The "Book of Changes" I saw = "Book of Changes" and "Ten Wings". (Note: "Ten Wings" is also called "Yi Zhuan")
After three to four thousand years of brewing, a book from the ancient times to the contention of a hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, if it is a jar of wine, , it has been settling for such a long time, and it will be so fragrant and heavy when you open it!
Even today, two thousand years later, there are countless celebrities who have studied the "Book of Changes" (for details, see my Relevant chapters on books about learning the Book of Changes)!
2. The Ten Wings of Confucius
The Book of Changes is divided into "Innate Bagua" and "Acquired Bagua". People who often read my articles Everyone should know. The biggest difference between "Xiantian Bagua" and "Acquired Bagua" is the different positions of the hexagrams.
Of course, in actual application, the usage of the two is different. When should we use "Xiantian Bagua" and when should we use "Acquired Bagua"? This is something that needs special attention. I am in " "How to arrange the acquired Bagua in the palm of the hand" talks about the arrangement and combination of the acquired Bagua in the palm. Those who are interested can refer to it for themselves.
So back to "Ten Wings". What is "Ten Wings"?
To put it simply, "Ten Wings" is Confucius's ten "after-reading thoughts" after reading "The Book of Changes", which is also some of his understanding of the Book of Changes!
Some people say that since there is nothing innovative, what’s so surprising about it!
These ten articles are not ordinary articles. They use a more popular language to allow us to understand the usage of Zhouyi more quickly.
Confucius liked reading "Yi" very much, and was even obsessed with "Yi". There is a word called "Wei Bian San Jue". This idiom means that Confucius read the Book of Changes so many times that he compiled and tied them. Zhouyi's rope was broken many times!
Others have read "Yi" even if they have read it, but Confucius is different. He wrote ten "After Reading" in one breath, which is the "Yi Zhuan" we see now, also called "Ten Wings" . "Wing" means "wing" or "auxiliary wing". "Ten Wings" can be understood as Confucius' comprehensive explanation of "Yi Zhuan", which makes people's understanding of "Yi Zhuan" clearer.
The reason why it is called "wings" is because these ten are like feathers, giving "Zhouyi" wings to fly!
Of course, many people think that "Ten Wings" " was not written by Confucius, but by his students, and it was written in his name.
Everyone who reads "The Book of Changes" must read "Ten Wings" carefully. These ten articles are really important.
3. The changes brought by "Ten Wings" to "The Book of Changes"
"Ten Wings" includes Tuan Zhuan, Xiang Zhuan, Xici, Classical Chinese, Shuo Gua, Preface Gua, Miscellaneous hexagrams, one to ten chapters.
"Tuan Zhuan" is divided into two parts, namely a general description of the hexagrams and an explanation of the hexagrams.
"Xiang Zhuan" is divided into two parts, which is an explanation of the hexagrams, such as the Kun hexagram. The image is "the terrain is Kun, and the gentleman carries things with great virtue". The hexagram Kun is the image of "earth", and the characteristic of earth is generosity. The sage observed the image of the earth to warn future generations to imitate the image of the earth in order to accommodate things and people.
In addition, elephants are divided into "elephant" and "little elephant". The explanation of each hexagram in "Xiang Zhuan" is called "elephant". So what is a "little elephant"?
The so-called "little elephant" is the explanation of the "line words" of each line in the hexagram.
Give me an example.
Qian Gua (?), the line on the ninth day of the lunar month is: Do not use the Hidden Dragon!
The corresponding image of the Qian hexagram is: "Don't use the hidden dragon, because the yang is down." It explains to us why the ninth day of the lunar month means not to use the hidden dragon? It's because "Yang is down", and these interpretations of Yao Ci are "little elephants".
"Wenyan Zhuan" can be understood as a supplementary explanation of the two hexagrams of Qian and Kun, and only explains the two hexagrams of Qian and Kun, not the other 62 hexagrams. Because Qiankun is the "Gateway of Changes", sages will make special comments on this.
"Xici Zhuan" is divided into upper and lower parts. It is an overall exposition of the thoughts of "The Book of Changes", including the tracing of the origin of "The Book of Changes" and the in-depth discussion of the theory of "The Book of Changes". It can be said that Confucius' report on the thoughts of "Yi". It is a must-read for those who study the Book of Changes. I often quote the text in the book to explain many basic knowledge, and its importance is evident from this.
"Shuo Gua Chuan", the emergence of "Bagua" hexagrams and the interpretation of the "Xiang" of Bagua also hint at the understanding of Bagua and the interpretation of the connotation of Bagua. It can be said to be the first "Bagua" "Elephant Encyclopedia".
"Xu Gua Zhuan" explains the order of the sixty-four hexagrams and tells people why the sixty-four hexagrams are arranged in this order. For example: "When things are born, they must be enlightened, so they are taught to be enlightened. Those who are enlightened are Meng, and the things are childish." This explains why the Tun hexagram is followed by the Meng hexagram.
"Za Gua Zhuan" is a high-level summary of the meaning of the sixty-four hexagrams, revealing the main characteristics of each hexagram, such as "Qian is strong, soft and Kun, the teacher is worried about happiness" and so on.
Among these ten articles, five are independent chapters, namely Xici (upper and lower), Shuogua, Preface hexagrams, and Miscellaneous hexagrams, while the other five are placed together with "The Book of Changes" Get up and interpret.
The structure of each hexagram in the Book of Changes only includes three parts at the beginning: the hexagram name, the hexagram words, and the line words. After Confucius made "Ten Wings", he added "彖词 and xiangci" to each hexagram.
In Xiangci, firstly, it includes the explanation of the hexagram; secondly, it also includes the explanation of the lines in each hexagram, which are called elephants and small elephants. Let's take an example, as shown below, the "Qian Gua" structure.
In the current "Book of Changes" books, the structure of each hexagram is modeled on this, such as the Shi hexagram, according to the hexagram name, hexagram words, Yan words, elephant words, Yao words, and small elephant words, according to This structure is displayed.
At this time, I remembered a famous saying of Confucius. "Respect ghosts and gods and stay away from them." Confucius did not say that he did not believe in ghosts and gods, but only said to "keep a respectful distance" and had a special liking for the "Book of Changes". This is enough to show that although the "Book of Changes" has the function of "divination", it is not superstitious!
If we understand the structure of Yixue clearly, we will understand why Confucius is so obsessed with the Yijing.
4. The Four-Dimensional Space of the Book of Changes
The system of Book of Changes mainly includes four aspects: "reason, image, number, and accounting", which is also called the four major functions of Book of Changes.
"Principle" is the principle of nature, the principle of things, the principle of the change of all things, the principle of respecting elders and inferiors, the principle of hardness and softness, and the principle of stillness and movement. The inspiration from the "Zhouyi" scriptures Just focus on this.
"Xiang" is the image corresponding to hexagrams and lines and all things.
"Number" is a mathematical method that simulates the changing patterns and connections of things.
"Principal Numbers" is the core, and "Zhao" is the comprehensive application of "Principal Numbers". "Li" and "Xiang" are more like two sides of one thing, one side is "Li" and the other side is "Xiang". I have repeatedly emphasized: "Principles are the bones of things, and images are the flesh of things. Things cannot stand without bones, and bones cannot be abundant without flesh." No matter what kind of "hexagram" is used, one cannot leave "reason" and only look at "xiang". "Li" and "xiang" are consistent, and neither aspect can be ignored.
"Xici" said: "In ancient times, the Bao Qi clan was the king of the world. When looking up, one observes the images in the sky, and when looking down, one observes the laws on the earth. He observes the patterns of birds and beasts according to the appropriateness of the earth. Take a close look. All bodies, taking things from afar, began to make Bagua to understand the virtues of gods and imitate the emotions of all things."
As mentioned in the previous article, "The hexagrams are hanging"! Before there was writing, the ancients used the Eight Diagrams to transmit information, and this transmission carrier was the Hexagram. All things in the heaven and earth have their own images. The Book of Changes highly summarizes the image of all things into Bagua, which is the image of all things.
The application of the "Book of Changes" is to transform the "image of all things" into "Yi". The so-called "looking at mountains is not mountains, and looking at water is not water", but this is only the first level, and we will reach it later. To the realm of "seeing mountains as mountains, water as water".
The "number" in the "Book of Changes" has proven its practical value in modern scientific applications. In today's digital age, we can turn all of our images and text into digital information that can be stored, received, and sent.
And the I Ching also contains the application relationship between images and numbers. For example: Qian Yi Dui, Li Li, San Zhen, Si Xun, Wu Kan, Six Gen, Seven Kun, Eight, etc., also belong to the category of numbers. As the saying goes, "Numbers are signs," and "images are numbers." Symbols and numbers are actually one and inseparable.
5. Classification of Applications of Yi Study
Most people study "Yi" because they are interested in traditional culture, but more often they also want to learn some "divination". Although the "I Ching" is not only used for divination, the most common way to learn the "I Ching" is through divination. We will open chapters to explain these in detail.