The most wise book in China should be the Book of Changes. Because the I Ching is the source of Chinese culture and represents the highest wisdom of Chinese philosophy, the ideological system of the I Ching has profoundly influenced Confucianism and other thoughts. It can be said that if you want to find a key to unlocking Chinese culture, it must be the Book of Changes.
The "Book of Changes" is one of the oldest documents in China and is respected by Confucians as the first of the "Five Classics". The Book of Changes uses a system of symbols to describe changes in state, expressing the philosophy and cosmology of classical Chinese culture. Its central idea is to describe the changes in all things in the world through the alternation of yin and yang.
In fact, from the beginning, the "Book of Changes" has been regarded as a book used for fortune telling. In the corner of the park or in the bustling market, you will often see someone under the banner of Master of the Book of Changes, telling people's fortunes and predicting good or bad fortunes in a serious manner. However, even when the city management came and took over his stall, he failed to calculate. . Therefore, it is vulgar and dangerous to regard the "Book of Changes" only as a tool for fortune telling.
The Bagua, which is the basis of the "Book of Changes", actually originated from the divination technique of China's primitive religion. The people of the Shang Dynasty were particularly superstitious about ghosts and gods. No matter what they did, they had to do divination. They initially drilled holes in tortoise shells or animal bones, and then burned them with fire to observe the direction of the cracks on the tortoise shells or animal bones, just like what we see today. The palm prints go in the same direction. Then an explanation is made based on the direction of these cracks. This method of divination is called "divination". But this method is really inconvenient, because the direction of these cracks is ever-changing and too complicated. Only professional wizards can master it, and it is inconvenient for the popularization of divination. In the Zhou Dynasty, people invented a new method, using yarrow through various combinations to form a hexagram. If you find the corresponding hexagram, you can predict good or bad luck. The "Book of Changes" was a divination tool at that time, equivalent to the status of the Xinhua Dictionary today.
The current "Book of Changes" consists of two parts. One part is the hexagrams with sixty-four hexagrams and the three hundred and eighty-four lines, which is called the "Book of Changes"; the other part is the explanation of the hexagrams and the The commentary on the Yao Ci is said to have been written by Confucius and is called "Ten Wings", also collectively known as "Yi Zhuan". According to the records of "Historical Records", "Zhouyi" should have originated from the period of Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty.
The hexagram is composed of two symbols: "—" and "--". "—" is called the Yang Yao, and correspondingly, "--" is called the Yin Yao. The three lines are combined in different arrangements to form eight images, called Bagua. They are Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen and Dui. "Shuo Gua Zhuan" explains, "Qian is the sky, Kun is the earth, earthquake is thunder, Gen is mountain, Li is fire, Kan is water, Dui is river, and Xun is wind."
From the essence of "Book of Changes", it is a highly developed semiotics used by ancient people to explore the origin of the universe. However, since the birth of "The Book of Changes", its focus has not been on exploring the universe or further questioning the origin of the universe. Instead, its focus has been on the good, bad, and bad luck of human beings in the world. It is concerned with the fate of people in the world, and inquires about the meaning of life and the good and bad fortunes. In this sense, what the "Book of Changes" wants to establish is exactly the meaning of life.
Zhou Yi summarized the universe, heaven and earth and human society as two forces of yin and yang, and believed that it was the interaction of the two forces that promoted the development of the universe, heaven, earth and society. Yin and yang are the foundation of the movement of heaven and earth and the development of society. strength. In the Book of Changes, yang represents heaven and yin represents earth. The interaction of yin and yang produces all things. Yang represents male, Yin represents female, and the interaction of Yin and Yang creates human beings and society.
Therefore, some "auspicious" hexagrams in the "Book of Changes" are generally the upper and lower hexagrams that have the same sympathetic nature. On the contrary, some "unfortunate" hexagrams are generally the upper and lower hexagrams. The two hexagrams have no interconnected and interactive nature. In other words, the author of the "Book of Changes" is good at observing the movement, development and changes of all things from the perspective of interactive induction, and believes that any hexagram with moving images and sympathetic images has a future, so it is called "auspicious". ".
For example, in the Tai hexagram in the Book of Changes, the upper hexagram is the earth, and the lower hexagram is the sky. The earth is above and the sky is below. According to the general understanding, this means twisting the order of heaven and earth. This is called turning the world upside down and is a sign of great evil. However, the ancients did not think so. The sky is condensed by Yang Qi, and Yang Qi rises; the earth is condensed by Yin Qi, and Yin Qi descends. The interaction of yin and yang causes the movement of heaven and earth, and moving things are auspicious.
On the contrary, the Fu hexagram in Zhouyi, the sky is above and the earth is below, which seems to be in line with the natural order, but in fact, the yin and yang energy of heaven and earth, one goes up and the other goes down, and there is no chance for the two to "date" "There is no chance for interaction, there is no movement without interaction, and things that are stationary have no future for development.
Based on this principle, we can see that the authors of the Zhouyi believe that things are in constant change, and it is the interaction of opposites and contradictions that promotes the development of things. This is a very simple dialectical view.
The Book of Changes contains a large number of simple views on development and change. The main meaning of "Yi" is change. It means that everything in the world is in the process of development and change, and this change is reflected in the mutual transformation of the contradictions between the opposite parties. From yang to yin, from yin to yang, whether it is nature, life or the changes in life, they are all contradictions. The result of mutual transformation. The development and change of things are gradual. Once they exceed the highest stage of development, they will definitely develop in the opposite direction. This is the principle of "things must turn against each other when they are extreme" and "things will turn into peace if they are extremely extreme".
Take the Qian hexagram as an example. Its hexagram is written like this:
The ninth day of the lunar month (the first line): Do not use the hidden dragon.
Ninety-two (second line): Seeing a dragon in the field will help you meet an adult.
Ninety-three (third line): A gentleman works hard all day long and is vigilant at night, without any blame.
Ninety-four (fourth line): You may jump into the abyss, no blame.
Nine-five (fifth line): The flying dragon is in the sky, which is good for seeing adults.
Shangjiu (sixth line): The dragon has regrets.
The ancients liked and worshiped dragons, which are the totem of the Chinese nation. Therefore, the dragon is used to represent a person's development process in society. The ninth day of the lunar month symbolizes a person's initial stage, when his power is very weak and he is in a latent and ready stage. In 92, after accumulating strength, the dragon got rid of its latent state and entered the ground from the water, and its career made a small improvement; in 93, with the development of career and status, people will inevitably become complacent and arrogant. At this time, the "Book of Changes" tells us to work hard every day, and the most important thing is to stay humble and cautious, so as to avoid disasters. In the 1994 stage, Long entered the abyss. It can be said that "the sky is high enough for birds to fly, and the sea is wide enough for fish to jump." There is a broader space for development in career and life; during the 95 stage, Long began to gain great success. Success, reaching the pinnacle of life.
Life is often like this. The course of life is like a parabola. After reaching the peak, it begins to decline. "The Book of Changes" recognized this principle of life very early. In the upper nine stages, the violent and aggressive dragon begins to move toward stagnation and decline. Things no longer develop and begin to move toward their opposite. This hexagram uses the dragon as a metaphor for our career and life. It tells us that as we progress in life, there will be retreat, and there will be gains and losses. There will be times when sailing is smooth, and there are times when we drink cold water to stuff our teeth. Just like what Lu You, a poet of the Song Dynasty, said, "The mountains are poor and the rivers are doubtful, but there is no way out, and the willows are dark and the flowers are bright, one village after another." When you "the tide is flat and the two sides are wide", don't forget about it, and you must know the truth that extreme happiness leads to sadness. When you fall into the suffering of life, don't be discouraged. You should know that "you should keep an eye on the future."
In the Qian hexagram, the "Book of Changes" tells us that no matter what stage of life we ??are in, "a gentleman should work hard all day long, be vigilant at night, and be blameless." A gentleman, on the one hand, should be diligent day and night, constantly strive for self-improvement, and be vigorous and promising; on the other hand, he should always examine himself and reflect on his own heart, so that he can be in a high position without being arrogant or impetuous, and be in a low position without being worried. Only then can there be no disaster.
"The Book of Changes" also tells us that persevering in maintaining one's good morals and hard work is the key to obtaining blessings and avoiding disasters. "Heng Gua" says, "If you do not persevere in virtue, you may be ashamed and stingy", which means that if you cannot maintain your good morals and unremitting pursuit of your career for a long time, you will eventually fail. It gives us a "prescription" for success in life. The first is to persevere in virtue and the second is to persevere in ambition.
In fact, "The Book of Changes" uses natural symbols to represent the laws of development of all things in the universe, which are the development and changes of contradictions. The focus of its philosophical thinking has not been on the development of all things in the universe from the beginning. It is not about exploring the laws of nature, but through the development and changes of nature, it is about exploring how people settle down in society and how they face their own turbulent inner problems. In this sense, Zhouyi is the origin of Chinese philosophy of life.
If we say that ancient Greek philosophy was about exploring the origin of the universe and how nature became possible from the beginning, then Chinese philosophy, represented by "The Book of Changes", is about teaching people how to settle down and live their lives, about caring for mankind, caring for society, and how to improve themselves. The issue of human nature is also the fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy.