The Yî King — Sacred Books of China Part II, SBE Vol. 16 (trans. James Legge, 1882)
English·1879–1910·trans. James Legge·333 passages
The text · part 2 of 16
Heaven hangs out its (brilliant) figures, from which are seen good fortune and bad, and the sages made their emblematic interpretations accordingly. The Ho gave forth the scheme or map, and the Lo gave forth the writing, of (both of) which the sages took advantage.’
The words with which we have at present to do are— ‘The Ho (that is, the Yellow River) gave forth the Map.’ This map, according to tradition and popular belief, contained a scheme which served as a model to Fa-hsi in making his 8 trigrams. Apart from this passage in the Yi King, we know that Confucius believed in such a map, or spoke at least as if he did’. In the ‘Record of. Rites’ it is said that ‘the map was borne by a horse?;’ and the thing, whatever it was, is mentioned in the Sh0 as still preserved at court, among other curiosities, in B.C. 1079 %. The story of it, as now current, is this, that ‘a dragonhorse’ issued from the Yellow River, bearing on its back an arrangement of marks, from which Fd-hsi got the idea of the trigrams.
} Analects IX, viii. 3 Li Ki VIII, iv, 16. 5 Sha V, xxii, 19.
p. 15
All this is so evidently fabulous that it, seems a waste of time to enter into any details about it. My reason for doing so is a wish to take advantage of the map in giving such a statement of the rules observed in interpreting the figures as is necessary in this Introduction.
The map that was preserved, it has been seen, in the eleventh century B.C., afterwards perished, and though there
The form of Was much speculation about its form from the the River Map. time that the restoration of the ancient classics was undertaken in the Han dynasty, the first delineation of it given to the public was in the reign of Hui 3ung of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 1101-1125)'. The most approved scheme of it is the following :—
It will be observed that the markings in this scheme are small circles, pretty nearly equally divided into dark and light. All of them whose numbers are odd are light circles,— 1,3, 5)7;9; and all of them whose numbers are even are dark,—2, 4, 6, 8, 10. This is given as the origin of what is said in paragraphs 49 and 50 of Section i about the numbers of heaven and earth. The difference in the colour of the circles occasioned the distinction of them and of what they
* See Mayers’ Chinese Reader’s Manual, pp. 56, 57.
16 THE Yi KING. CH. Il.
This is given as the origin of what is said in paragraphs 49 and 50 of Section i about the numbers of heaven and earth. The difference in the colour of the circles occasioned the distinction of them and of what they
* See Mayers’ Chinese Reader’s Manual, pp. 56, 57.
16 THE Yi KING. CH. Il.
signify into Yin and Yang, the dark and the bright, the moon-like and the sun-like ; for the sun is called the Great Brightness (Thai Yang), and the moon the Great Obscurity (Th4i Yin). I shall have more to say in the next chapter on the application of these names. F(-hsi in making the trigrams, and king WaAn, if it was he who first multiplied them to the 64 hexagrams, found it convenient to use lines instead of the circles:—the whole line ( ) for the bright circle (CQ), and the divided line (— —) for the dark (@). The first, the third, and the fifth lines in a hexagram, if they are ‘correct’ as it is called, should all be whole, and the second, fourth, and sixth lines should all be divided. Yang lines are strong (or hard), and Yin lines are weak (or soft). The former indicate vigour and authority; the latter, feebleness and submission. It is the part of the former to command; of the latter to obey.
The lines, moreover, in the two trigrams that make up the hexagrams, and characterise the subjects which they represent, are related to one another by their position, and have their significance modified accordingly. The first line and the fourth, the second and the fifth, the third and the sixth are all correlates; and to make the correlation perfect the two members of it should be lines of different qualities, one whole and the other divided. And, finally, the middle lines of the trigrams, the second and fifth, that is, of the hexagrams, have a peculiar value and force. If we have a whole line ( ) in the fifth place, and a divided line (— —) in the second, or vice versa, the correlation is complete. Let the subject of the fifth be the sovereign or a commander-in-chief, according to the name and meaning of the hexagram, then the subject of the second will be an able minister or a skilful officer, and the result of their mutual action will be most beneficial and successful. It is specially important to have a clear idea of the name of the hexagram, and of the subject or state which it is intended to denote. The significance of all the lines comes thus to be of various application, and will differ in different hexagrams,
CH. Il. INTRODUCTION. 17
It is specially important to have a clear idea of the name of the hexagram, and of the subject or state which it is intended to denote. The significance of all the lines comes thus to be of various application, and will differ in different hexagrams,
CH. Il. INTRODUCTION. 17
I have thus endeavoured to indicate how the lineal figures were formed, and the principal rules laid down for the interpretation of them. The details are wearying, but my position is like that of one who is called on to explain an important monument of architecture, very bizarre in its conception and execution. A plainer, simpler structure might have answered the purpose better, but the architect had his reasons for the plan and style which he adopted. If the result of his labours be worth expounding, we must not grudge the study necessary to detect his processes of thought, nor the effort and time required to bring the minds of others into sympathy with his.
My own opinion, as I have intimated, is, that the second account of the origin of the trigrams and hexagrams is the true one. However the idea of the whole and divided lines arose in the mind of the first framer, we must start from them; and then, manipulating them in the manner described, we arrive, very easily, at all the lineal figures, and might proceed to multiply them to billions. We cannot tell who devised'the third account of their formation from the map or scheme on the dragon-horse of the Yellow River}. Its object, no doubt, was to impart a supernatural character to the trigrams and produce a religious veneration for them. It may be doubted whether the scheme as it is now fashioned be the correct one,—such as it was in the Kau dynasty. The paragraph where it is mentioned, goes on to say—' The Lo produced the writing.’ This writing was a scheme of the same character as the Ho map, but on the back of a tortoise, which emerged from the river Lo, and showed it to the Great Yii, when he was engaged in his celebrated work of draining off the waters of the flood, as related in the Sh. To the hero sage it suggested ‘the Great Plan,’ an interesting but mystical document of the same classic, ‘a Treatise,’ according to Gaubil, ‘of Physics, Astrology, Divination, Morals, Politics, and Religion,’ the great model for the government of the
1 Certainly it was not Confucius. See on the authorship of the Appendixes, and especially of Appendix III, in the next chapter.
[16] Cc
18 THE yf KING. CH. I.
kingdom. The accepted representation of this writing is the following :—
@ @e @e CO0000000
@ O O O O O O oO O O O O O O O O e eo @ @ ee @ e ®@ e @ O e@ @ @ @
But substituting numbers for the number of marks, we have
4 9 2 3 5 7 8 I 6
[16] Cc
18 THE yf KING. CH. I.
kingdom. The accepted representation of this writing is the following :—
@ @e @e CO0000000
@ O O O O O O oO O O O O O O O O e eo @ @ ee @ e ®@ e @ O e@ @ @ @
But substituting numbers for the number of marks, we have
4 9 2 3 5 7 8 I 6
This is nothing but the arithmetical puzzle, in which the numbers from 1 to 9 are arranged so as to make 15 in whatever way we add them'. If we had the original ‘form of ‘the River Map,’ we should probably find it a numerical trifle, not more difficult, not more supernatural, than this magic square.
3. Let us return to the Yt of Ku, which, as I have said above on p. 10, contains, under each of the 64 hexagrams, a brief essay of a moral, social, or political character, symbolically expressed.
' For this dissection, which may also be called reductio ad absurdum, of the Lo writing, 1, was indebted first to P. Regis. See his Y-King I, p. 60. But Kd Hs? also has got it in the Appendix to his ‘Lessons on the Yf for the Young.’
CH. Il. INTRODUCTION. 1g
To understand it, it will be necessary to keep in mind the circumstances in which king Wan addressed himself to the study of the lineal figures. The kingdom, under the sovereigns of the Yin or Shang dynasty,
State of the : : :
country in Was utterly disorganised and demoralised.
time or king A brother of the reigning king thus described ; its condition :—
“The house of Yin can no longer exercise rule over the land. The great deeds of our founder were displayed in a former age, but through mad addiction to drink we have destroyed the effects of his virtue. The people, small and great, are given to highway robberies, villainies, and treachery. The nobles and officers imitate one another in violating the laws. There is no certainty that criminals will be apprehended. The lesser people rise up and commit violent outrages on one another. The dynasty of Yin is sinking in ruin; its condition is like that of one crossing a large stream, who can find neither ford nor bank.’
This miserable state of the nation was due very much to The character the character and tyranny of the monarch. of the When the son of Wan took the field against monarc®- him, he thus denounced him in ‘a Solemn Declaration’ addressed to all the states :—
‘Shau, the king of Shang, treats all virtue with contemptuous slight, and abandons himself to wild idleness and irreverence. He has cut himself off from Heaven, and brought enmity between himself and the people. He cut through the leg-bones of those who were wading in a (winter-)morning; he cut out the heart of the good man*. His power has been shown in killing and murdering. His honours and confidence are given to the villainous and bad. He has driven from him his instructors and guardians. He has thrown to the winds the statutes and penal laws. He neglects the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth. He has discontinued the offerings
1 The Sha IV, xi, 1, 2.
His honours and confidence are given to the villainous and bad. He has driven from him his instructors and guardians. He has thrown to the winds the statutes and penal laws. He neglects the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth. He has discontinued the offerings
1 The Sha IV, xi, 1, 2.
3 These were well-known instances of Shau’s wanton cruelty. Observing some people one winter's day wading through a stream, he ordered their legs to be cut through at the shank-bone, that he might sec the marrow which could so endure the cold, ‘The good man’ was a relative of his own, called Pi-kan. Having enraged Sh4&u by the sternness of his rebukes, the tyrant ordered his heart to be cut out, that he might see the structure of a sage’s heart,
Cc 2
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in the ancestral temple. He makes (cruel) contrivances of wonderful device and extraordinary ingenuity to please his wife ?.— God will no longer bear with him, but with a curse is sending down his ruin®,’
Such was the condition of the nation, such the character of the sovereign. Meanwhile in the west of the kingdom, The lords of in a part of what is now the province of Shenespecially hst, lay the principality of Au, the lords of king Wan. which had long been distinguished for their ability and virtue. Its present chief, now known to us as king Wan, was Khang, who had succeeded to his father _in B.c.1185. He was not only lord of K4u, but had come to be a sort of viceroy over a great part of the kingdom. Equally distinguished in peace and war, a model of all that was good and attractive, he conducted himself with remarkable wisdom and self-restraint. Princes and people would have rejoiced to follow him to attack the tyrant, but he shrank from exposing himself to the charge of being disloyal. At last the jealous suspicion of Sh4u was aroused. Wan, as has been already stated, was thrown into prison in B.C. 1143, and the order for his death might arrive at any moment. Then it was that he occupied himself with the lineal figures.
The use of those figures—of the trigrams at least—had long been practised for the purposes of divination. The employment of the divining stalks is indicated in ‘the Counsels of the Great Yii, one of the earliest Books of the Shi’, and a whole section in ‘the Great Plan, also a Book of the Sha, and referred to the times of the Hsia dynasty, describes how ‘doubts were to be examined’ by means of the tortoise-shell and the stalks‘. Wan could not but be familiar with divination as an institution of his
1 We do not know what these contrivances were. But to please his wife, the infamous T4-Ai, Shau had made ‘the Heater’ and ‘the Roaster,’ two instruments of torture. The latter was a copper pillar laid above a pit of burning charcoal, and made slippery ; culprits were forced to walk along it.
2 The Shi V, i, Sect. iii, 2, 3.
3 Sha I, ii, 18. € Sha V, iv, 20-31.
CH. Il. INTRODUCTION. 21
The latter was a copper pillar laid above a pit of burning charcoal, and made slippery ; culprits were forced to walk along it.
2 The Shi V, i, Sect. iii, 2, 3.
3 Sha I, ii, 18. € Sha V, iv, 20-31.
CH. Il. INTRODUCTION. 21
country!. Possibly it occurred to him that nothing was King Win More likely to lull the suspicions of his oc eh dangerous enemy than the study of the the lineal figures ; and if his keepers took notice of what figures. he was doing, they would smile at his lines, and the sentences which he appended to them.
Tlike to think of the lord of Kau, when incarcerated in Ya-li, with the 64 figures arranged before him, Each hexagram assumed a mystic meaning, and glowed with a deep significance. He made it tell him of the qualities of various objects of nature, or of the principles.of human society, or of the condition, actual and possible, of the kingdom. He named the figures, each by a term descriptive of the idea ~ with which he had connected it in his mind, and then he proceeded to set that idea forth, now with a note of exhortation, now with a note of warning. It was an attempt to restrict the follies of divination within the bounds of reason. The last but one of the Appendixes bears the name of ‘ Sequence of the Diagrams.’ I shall have to speak of it more at length in the next chapter. I only remark at present that it deals, feebly indeed, with the names of the hexagrams in harmony with what I have said about them, and tries to account for the order in which they follow one another. It does all this, not critically as if it needed to be established, but in the way of expository statement, relating that about which there was no doubt in the mind of the author.
But all the work of prince Kang or king W4n in the Yi thus amounts to no more than 64 short paragraphs.
Work of the We do not know what led his son Tan to cnthesepeate enter into his work and complete it as he lines. did. Tan was a patriot, a hero, a legislator, and a philosopher. Perhaps he took the lineal figures in hand as a tribute of filial duty. What had been done for the whole hexagram he would do for each line, and make it clear that all the six lines ‘bent one way their precious influence, and blended their rays in the globe of light which his father had made each figure give forth.
1 Inthe Book of Poetry we have Wan’s grandfather (Than-fa, III, i, ode 3. 3) divining, and his son (king W4, III, i, ode 10. 7) doing the same.
22 THE yi KING. CH. It.
1 Inthe Book of Poetry we have Wan’s grandfather (Than-fa, III, i, ode 3. 3) divining, and his son (king W4, III, i, ode 10. 7) doing the same.
22 THE yi KING. CH. It.
ut his method strikes us as singular. Each line seemed o become living, and suggested some phenomenon in nature lor some case of human experience. from which the wisdom or folly, the luckiness or unluckiness, indicated by it could be inferred. It cannot be said that the duke carried out his plan in a way likely to interest any one but a hsien shang who is a votary of divination, and admires the style of its oracles. According to our notions, a framer of emblems should be a good deal of a poet, but those of the Yi only make us think of a dryasdust. Out of more than 350, the greater number are only grotesque. We do not recover from the feeling of disappointment till we remember that both father and son had to write ‘according to the trick,’ after the manner of diviners, as if this lineal augury had been their profession.
4. At length I come to illustrate what I have said on the subject-matter of the Yi by an example. It shall be the
The seventh treatment of the seventh hexagram = =), h . : : ~ . exagram which king Wan named Sze, meaning Hosts.
The character is also explained as meaning ‘ multitudes ;’ and in fact, in a feudal kingdom, the multitudes of the people were all liable to become its army, when occasion required, and the ‘host’ and the ‘population’ might be interchangeable terms. As Froude expresses it in the introductory chapter to his History of England, ‘ Every man was regimented somewhere.’
The hexagram Sze is composed of the two trigrams Khan (===) and Khwan (= =), exhibiting waters collected on the earth; and in other symbolisms besides that of the Yi, waters indicate assembled multitudes of men. The waters on which the mystical Babylon sits in the Apocalypse are explained as ‘peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.’ I do not positively affirm that it was by this interpretation of the trigrams that king Wan saw in == = the feudal hosts of his country collected, for neither from him nor his son do we learn, by their direct affirmation, that they had any acquaintance with the trigrams of Fa-hsi. The name which he gavep. 23 the figure shows, however, that he saw in it the feudal hosts in the field. How shall their expedition be conducted that it may come to a successful issue?
The name which he gave
p. 23
the figure shows, however, that he saw in it the feudal hosts in the field. How shall their expedition be conducted that it may come to a successful issue?
Looking again at the figure, we see that it is made up of five divided lines, and of one undivided. The undivided line occupies the central place in the lower trigram,—the most important place, next to the fifth, in the whole hexagram. It will represent, in the language of the commentators, ‘the lord of the whole figure ;’ and the parties represented by the other lines may be expected to be of one mind with him or obedient to him. He must be the leader of the hosts. If he were on high, in the fifth place, he would be the sovereign of the kingdom. This is what king Wan says :—
‘Sze indicates how (in the case which it supposes), with firmness and correctness, and (a leader of) age and experience, there will be good fortune and no error.’
This is a good auspice. Let us see how the duke of Kau expands it.
He says :—
‘The first line, divided, shows the host going forth according to the rules (for such a movement). If those (rules) be not good, there will be evil.’
We are not told what the rules for a military expedition were. Some commentators understand them of the reasons justifying the movement,—that it should be to repress and punish disorder and rebellion. Others, with more likelihood, take them to be the discipline or rules laid down to be observed by the troops. The line is divided, a weak line in a strong place, ‘not correct:’ this justifies the caution given in the duke’s second sentence.
The Text goes on :—
‘The second line, undivided, shows (the leader) in the midst of the hosts. There will be good fortune and no error. The king has thrice conveyed to him his charge.’
This does not need any amplification. The duke saw in the strong line the symbol of the leader, who enjoyed
24 THE Yi KING. CH. 11.
the full confidence of his sovereign, and whose authority admitted of no opposition. On the third line it is said :—
‘ The third line, divided, shows how the hosts may possibly have many commanders :—(in such a case) there will be evil.’
The third place is odd, and should be occupied by a strong line, instead of which we have a weak line in it. But it is at the top of the lower trigram, and its subject should be in office or activity. There is suggested the idea that its subject has vaulted over the second line, and wishes to share in the command and honour of him who has been appointed sole commander-in-chief. The lesson in the previous line is made of none effect. We have a divided authority in the expedition. The result can only be evil.
On the fourth line the duke wrote :—
‘The fourth line, divided, shows the hosts in retreat: there is no error.’
The lesson in the previous line is made of none effect. We have a divided authority in the expedition. The result can only be evil.
On the fourth line the duke wrote :—
‘The fourth line, divided, shows the hosts in retreat: there is no error.’
The line is also weak, and victory cannot be expected; but in the fourth place a weak line is in its correct position, and its subject will do what is right in his circumstances. He will retreat, and a retreat is for him the part of wisdom. When safely affected, where advance would be disastrous, a retreat is as glorious as victory.
Under the fifth line we read :—
‘The fifth line, divided, shows birds in the fields which it is advantageous to seize (and destroy). There will be no error. If the oldest son lead the host, and younger men be (also) in command, however firm and correct he may be, there will be evil.’
We have an intimation in this passage that only defensive war, or war waged by the rightful authority to put down rebellion and lawlessness, is right. The ‘birds in the fields’ are emblematic of plunderers and invaders, whom it will be well to destroy. The fifth line symbolises the chief authority, but here he is weak or humble, and has given all power and authority to execute judgment into the hands of the commander-in-chief, who is the oldest son; and in the subject of line 3 we have an example of the younger men who would cause evil if allowed to share his power.
CH. It. INTRODUCTION. 25
Finally, on the sixth line the duke wrote :—
‘The topmost line, divided, shows the great ruler delivering his charges (to the men who have distinguished themselves), appointing some to be rulers of states, and others to be chiefs of clans. But small men should not be employed (in such positions).’
The action of the hexagram has been gone through. The expedition has been conducted to a successful end. The enemy has been subdued. His territories are at the disposal of the conqueror. The commander-in-chief has done his part well. His sovereign, ‘the great ruler,’ comes upon the scene, and rewards the officers who have been conspicuous by their bravery and skill, conferring on them rank and lands. But he is warned to have respect in doing so to their moral character. Small men, of ordinary or less than ordinary character, may be rewarded with riches and certain honours; but land and the welfare of its population should not be given into the hands of any who are not equal to the responsibility of such a trust.
The above is a specimen of what I have called the essays that make up the Yi of Kau. So would king Wan and Y his son have had all military expeditions conducted in their’ country 3000 years ago. It seems to me that the principles which they lay down might find a suitable application in the modern warfare of our civilised and Christian Europe. The inculcation of such lessons cannot have been + without good effect in China during the long course of its“ history.
It seems to me that the principles which they lay down might find a suitable application in the modern warfare of our civilised and Christian Europe. The inculcation of such lessons cannot have been + without good effect in China during the long course of its“ history.
Sze is a fair specimen of its class. From the other 63 hexagrams lessons are deduced, for the most part equally good and striking. But why, it may be asked, why should they be conveyed to us by such an array of lineal figures, and in such a farrago of emblematic representations? It is not for the foreigner to insist on such a question. The Chinese have not valued them the less because of the antiquated dress in which their lessons are arrayed. Hundreds of their commentators have evolved and developed their meaning with a minuteness of detail and felicity of illustration that leave nothing to be desired. It is for foreign students of Chinese to gird up their loins for the
/
26 THE Yi KING. CH. 111, mastery of the book instead of talking about it as mysterious and all but inexplicable. Granting, however, that the subject-matter of the Yi is \ what has been described, very valuable for its practical ¥ wisdom, but not drawn up from an abysmal ‘deep of philosophical speculation, it may still be urged, ‘ But in all this we find nothing to justify the name of the book as Yi King, the “Classic of Changes.” Is there not something more, higher or deeper, in the Appendixes that have been ascribed to Confucius, whose authority is certainly not inferior to that of king W4n, or the duke of Kau?’ To reply fully to this question will require another chapter.
CHAPTER III. THE APPENDIXES.
1. Two things have to be considered in this chapter :— the authorship of the Appendixes, and their contents. The
Subjectsof | Text is ascribed, without dissentient voice, to the chapter. king Wan, the founder of the Kau dynasty, and his son Tan, in, better known as the duke of K au; and I have, in the preceding chapters, given reasons for accepting that view. As regards the portion ascribed to king Wan, the evidence of the third of the Appendixes and the statement of Sze-m4 X‘/ien are as positive as could be desired; and as regards that ascribed to his son, there is no ground for calling in question the received tradition. The Appendixes have all been ascribed to Confucius, though not with entirely the same unanimity. Perhaps I have rather intimated my own opinion that this view cannot be sustained. I have pointed out that, even if it be true, between six and seven centuries elapsed after the Text of the classic appeared before the Appendixes were written ; and I have said that, considering this fact, I cannot regard its two parts as a homogeneous whole, or as constituting one book in the ordinary acceptation of that name. Before entering on the question of the authorship, a very brief statement of the nature and number of the Appendixes will be advantageous.
vw
CH. Il. INTRODUCTION. 27
Before entering on the question of the authorship, a very brief statement of the nature and number of the Appendixes will be advantageous.
vw
CH. Il. INTRODUCTION. 27
2. They are reckoned to be ten, and called the Shih Yt or ‘Ten Wings.’ They are in reality not so many; but the
Number and ext is divided into two sections, called the nature ofthe Upper and Lower, or, as we should say, the
Appendixes. first and second, and then the commentary on each section is made to form a separate Appendix. I have found it more convenient in the translation which follows to adopt a somewhat different arrangement.
My first Appendix, in two sections, embraces the first and second ‘ wings,’ consisting of remarks on the paragraphs by king W4n in the two parts of the Text.
My second Appendix, in two sections, embraces the third and fourth ‘wings,’ consisting of remarks on the symbolism of the duke of Kau in his explanation of the individual lines of the hexagrams.
My third Appendix, in two sections, embraces the fifth and sixth ‘wings,’ which bear the name in Chinese of ‘Appended Sentences,’ and constitute what is called by many ‘the Great Treatise.’ Each wing has been divided into twelve chapters of very different length, and I have followed this arrangement in my sections. This is the most important Appendix. It has less of the nature of commentary than the previous four wings. While explaining much of what is found in the Text, it diverges to the origin of the trigrams, the methods pursued in the practice of divination, the rise of many arts in the progress of civilisation, and other subjects.
My fourth Appendix, also in two sections, forms the seventh ‘wing.’ It is confined to an amplification of the expositions of the first and second hexagrams by king Wan and his son, purporting to show how they may be interpreted of man’s nature and doings.
My fifth Appemdix is the eighth ‘wing,’ called ‘ Discourses on the Trigrams.’ It treats of the different arrangement of these in respect of the seasons of the year and the cardinal points by Fa-hsi and king Wan. It contains also one paragraph, which might seem to justify the view that there is a mythology in the Yi.
My sixth Appendix, in two sections, is the ninth ‘wing, —
28 THE yf KING. CH. II.
‘a Treatise on the Sequence of the Hexagrams,’ intended to trace the connexion of meaning between them in the order in which they follow one another in the Text of king W4n.
My seventh Appendix is the tenth ‘wing,’ an exhibition of the meaning of the 64 hexagrams, not taken in succession, but promiscuously and at random, as they approximate to or are opposed to one another in meaning.
3. Such are the Appendixes of the Yi King. We have
The author. tO enquire next who wrote them, and espefue ofthe cially whether it be possible to accept the ppendixes. . :
3. Such are the Appendixes of the Yi King. We have
The author. tO enquire next who wrote them, and espefue ofthe cially whether it be possible to accept the ppendixes. . :
dictum that they were all written by Confucius. If they have come down to us, bearing unmistakeably the stamp of the mind and pencil of the great sage, we cannot but receive them with deference, not to say with reverence. If, on the contrary, it shall appear that with great part of them he had nothing to do, and that it is not certain that any part of them is from him, we shall feel entirely at liberty to exercise our own judgment on their contents, and weigh them in the balances of our reason.
None of the Appendixes, it is to be observed, bear the
There isno superscription of Confucius. There is not a
Superscription single sentence in any one of them ascribing onany ofthe it to him. I gave in the first chapter, on
Appendixes. 9, the earliest testimony that these treatises were produced by him. It is that of Sze-ma4 Kien, whose ‘ Historical Records’ must have appeared about the year 100 before our era. He ascribes all the Appendixes, except the last two of them, which he does not mention at all, expressly to Confucius ; and this, no doubt, was the common belief in the fourth century after the sage’s death.
But when we look for ourselves into the third and fourth Appendixes—the fifth, sixth, and seventh ‘wings ’—both
Thethira Of which are specified by Kien, we find and fourth it impossible to receive his statement about isan them. What is remarkable in both parts Cot from of the third is, the frequent occurrence of the formula, ‘The Master said,’ familiar to all readers of the Confucian Analects. Of course, the
CH. Itt. INTRODUCTION. 29
sentence following that formula, or the paragraph covered by it, was, in the judgment of the writer, in the language of Confucius ; but what shall we say of the portions preceding and following? If he were the author of them, he would not thus be distinguishing himself from himself. The formula occurs in the third Appendix at least twenty-three times. Where we first meet with it, Xd Hsi has a note to the effect that ‘the Appendixes having been all made by Confucius, he ought not to be himself introducing the formula, “The Master said;” and that it may be presumed, wherever it occurs, that it is a subsequent addition to the Master’s text.’ One instance will show the futility of this attempt to solve the difficulty. The tenth chapter of Section i commences with the 59th paragraph :—
‘In the Yi there are four things characteristic of the way of the. sages. We should set the highest value on its explanations, to. guide us in speaking ; on its changes, for the initiation of our move- ' ments; on its emblematic figures, for definite action, as in the ‘ construction of implements; and on its prognostications, for our \ practice of divination.’
sages. We should set the highest value on its explanations, to. guide us in speaking ; on its changes, for the initiation of our move- ' ments; on its emblematic figures, for definite action, as in the ‘ construction of implements; and on its prognostications, for our \ practice of divination.’
This is followed by seven paragraphs expanding its statements, and we come to the last one of the chapter which says,—‘The Master said, “Such is the import of the statement that there are four things in the Yi, characteristic of the way of the sages.”’ I cannot understand how it could be more fully conveyed to us that the compiler or compilers of this Appendix were distinct from the Master whose words they quoted, as it suited them, to confirm or illustrate their views.
In the fourth Appendix, again, we find a similar occurrence of the formula of quotation. It is much shorter than the third, and the phrase, ‘The Master said,’ does not come before us so frequently; but in the thirty-six paragraphs that compose the first section we meet with it six times.
Moreover, the first three paragraphs of this Appendix are older than its compilation, which could not have taken place till after the death of Confucius, seeing it professes to quote his words. They are taken in fact from a narrative of the 30 Awan, as having been spoken by a marchioness-
30 THE Yi KING. CH. U1.
dowager of L( fourteen years before Confucius was born. To account for this is a difficult task for the orthodox critics among the Chinese literati. AQ Hsi attempts to perform it in this way :—that anciently there was the explanation given in these paragraphs of the four adjectives employed by king Wan to give the significance of the first hexagram ; that it was employed by Ma Xiang of LQ; and that Confucius also availed himself of it, while the chronicler used, as he does below, the phraseology of ‘The Master ‘said,’ to distinguish the real words of the sage from such ancient sayings. But who was ‘the chronicler?’ No one can tell. The legitimate conclusion from K(’s criticism is, that so much of the Appendix as is preceded by ‘The Master said’ is from Confucius,—so much and no more. , 1 am thus obliged to come to the conclusion that Confucius _ had nothing to do with the composition of these two Ap- . pendixes, and that they were not put together till after his death. I have no pleasure in differing from the all but unanimous opinion of Chinese critics and commentators. What is called ‘the destructive criticism’ has no attractions for me; but when an opinion depends on the argument adduced to support it, and that argument turns out to be of no weight, you can no longer set your seal to this, that the opinion is true. This is the position in which an examination of the internal evidence as to the authorship of the third and fourth Appendixes has placed me. Confucius could not be their author. This conclusion weakens the
Bearing of confidence which we have been accustomed
This is the position in which an examination of the internal evidence as to the authorship of the third and fourth Appendixes has placed me. Confucius could not be their author. This conclusion weakens the
Bearing of confidence which we have been accustomed theconclusion to place in the view that ‘the ten wings’ were as to the third to be ascribed to him unhesitatingly. The the other view has broken down in the case of three
Appendixes. : .
of them ;— possibly there is no sound reason for holding the Confucian origin of the other seven.
I cannot henceforth maintain that origin save with bated breath. This, however, can be said for the first two Appendixes in my arrangement, that there is no evidence against their being Confucian like the fatal formula, ‘The Master said.’ So it is with a good part of my fifth Appendix ; but the concluding paragraphs of it, as well as the seventh
p. 31
Appendix, and the sixth also in a less degree, seem too trivial to be the production of the great man. Asa translator of every sentence both in the Text and the Appendixes, I confess my sympathy with P. Regis, when he condenses the fifth Appendix into small space, holding that the 8th and following paragraphs are not worthy to be translated. ‘They contain,’ he says, ‘nothing but the mere enumeration of things, some of which may be called Yang, and others Yin, without any other cause for so thinking being given. Such a method of procedure would be unbecoming any philosopher, and it cannot be denied to be unworthy of Confucius, the chief of philosophers 1.’
I could not characterise Confucius as ‘the chief of philosophers,’ though he was a great moral philosopher, and has been since he went out and in among his disciples, the best teacher of the Chinese nation. But from the first time my attention was directed to the Yi, I regretted that he had stooped to write the parts of the Appendixes now under remark. It is a relief not to be obliged to receive them as his. Even the better treatises have no other claim to that character besides the voice of tradition, first heard nearly 400 years after his death.
4. I return to the Appendixes, and will endeavour to give a brief, but sufficient, account of their contents.
The first bears in Chinese the name of Thwan X wan, ‘Treatise on the Thwan,’ thwan being the name given
The firsts to the paragraphs in which Wan expresses
4. I return to the Appendixes, and will endeavour to give a brief, but sufficient, account of their contents.
The first bears in Chinese the name of Thwan X wan, ‘Treatise on the Thwan,’ thwan being the name given
The firsts to the paragraphs in which Wan expresses
Appendix. his sense of the significance of the hexagrams. He does not tell us why he attaches to each hexagram such and such a meaning, nor why he predicates good fortune or bad fortune in connexion with it, for he speaks oracularly, after the manner of a diviner. It is the object of the writer of this Appendix to show the processes of king Wan’s thoughts in these operations, how he looked at the component trigrams with their symbolic intimations, their attributes and qualities, and their linear composition, till he could not think otherwise of the figures than he did. All these considerations are sometimes taken into account,
1 Regis’ Y-King. vol. ii, p. 576.
32 THE Yi KING. CH. 111.
and sometimes even one of them is deemed sufficient. In this way some technical characters appear which are not found in the Text. The lines, for instance, and even whole trigrams are distinguished as kang and 24u, ‘hard or strong’ and ‘weak or soft. The phrase K wei-sh4n, ‘spirits,’ or ‘ spiritual beings, occurs, but has not its physical signification of ‘the contracting and expanding energies or operations of ‘nature. The names Yin and Yang, mentioned above on pp. 15, 16, do not present themselves.
I delineated, on p. 11, the eight trigrams of Fd-hsi, and gave their names, with the natural objects they are said to represent, but did not mention the attributes, the virtutes, ascribed to them. Let me submit here a table of them, with those qualities, and the points of the compass to which they are referred. I must do this because king Wan made a change in the geographical arrangement of them, to which reference is made perhaps in his text and certainly in this treatise. He also is said to have formed an entirely different theory as to the things represented by the trigrams, which it will be well to give now, though it belongs properly to the fifth Appendix.
FO-Hs?i’S TRIGRAMS.
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 khien tui li kan sun khan kan khwan gs | 2 3 aga | 4 x Ow § ESQ 3 g6 PS = g | . 3 Ty: g Aaa 8 ge ei aa FI g | ak | & E 3” § a2 a $ ees 5 FS a ee J rf cee 4 & a £ = ae a a 34 S. S.E. E. N.E. S.W. Ww N.W N 3 u a xs) : 3 ed on S was 2 gs. #2 | ¢s8 | g¢ | 38 | 28 2 | 32 | ge og | 723 | £8 oo | 3s € 3 23 Se | 282 | oP | SP | ge | S | Be | 83 B 1™3a) a 3] eR | £ | $5 | FS 2 ou Ou fo 1S)
p. 33
S.E. E. N.E. S.W. Ww N.W N 3 u a xs) : 3 ed on S was 2 gs. #2 | ¢s8 | g¢ | 38 | 28 2 | 32 | ge og | 723 | £8 oo | 3s € 3 23 Se | 282 | oP | SP | ge | S | Be | 83 B 1™3a) a 3] eR | £ | $5 | FS 2 ou Ou fo 1S)
p. 33
The natural objects and phenomena thus represented are found up and down in the Appendixes. It is impossible to believe that the several objects were assigned to the several figures on any principles of science, for there is , no indication of science in the matter: it is difficult even, to suppose that they were assigned on any comprehensive scheme of thought. Why are tui and kh4n used to represent water in different conditions, while kh4n, moreover, represents the moon? How is sun set apart to represent things so different as wind and wood? Ata very early time the Chinese spoke of ‘the five elements,’ meaning water, fire, wood, metal, and earth; but the trigrams were not made to indicate them,and it is the general opinion that there is no reference to them in the Yi?.
Again, the attributes assigned to the trigrams are learned mainly from this Appendix and the fifth. We do not readily get familiar with them, nor easily accept them all. It is impossible for us to tell whether they were a part of the jargon of divination before king Wan, or had grown up between his time and that of the author of the Appendixes.
King Wan altered the arrangement of the trigrams so that not one of them should stand at the same point of the compass as in the ancient plan. He made them also representative of certain relations among themselves, as if they composed a family of parents and children. It will be sufficient at present to give a table of his scheme.
KING WAN’S TRIGRAMS.
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 lf sun kin kan han khien | tui khwan gi] gf | & | $ § #3 |
$ | °3 | 2 ] & F H | ee | 8
S. S.E. E. N.E N. N.W. WwW S.W.
! See Kao Y1's Hai Vii Shung Kho, Book I, art. 3 (1790). [16] D
34 THE Yf KING. CH, IIT.
There is thus before us the apparatus with which the writer of the Appendix accomplishes his task. Let me select one of the shortest instances of his work. The fourteenth hexagram is ===, called Ta YO, and meaning
‘Possessing in great abundance.’ King Wé4n saw in it the symbol of a government prosperous and realising all its proper objects; but all that he wrote on it was ‘T4 Ya (indicates) great progress and success. Unfolding that view of its significance, the Appendix says :—
‘In TA YQ the weak (line) has the place of honour, is grandly central, and (the strong lines) above and below respond to it. Hence comes its name of “Possession of what is great.” The attributes (of its constituent trigrams, £ien and li) are strength and vigour, elegance and brightness. (The ruling line in it) responds to (the ruling line in the symbol of) heaven, and its actings are (consequently all) at the proper times. Thus it is that it is said to indicate great progress and success.’
(The ruling line in it) responds to (the ruling line in the symbol of) heaven, and its actings are (consequently all) at the proper times. Thus it is that it is said to indicate great progress and success.’
In a similar way the paragraphs on all the other 63 hexagrams are gone through; and, for the most part, with success. The conviction grows upon the student that the writer has on the whole apprehended the mind of king Wan.
I stated, on p. 32, that the name kwei-sh&n occurs
Thename in this Appendix. It has not yet, however,
Kwei-shan. received the semi-physical, semi-metaphysical signification which the comparatively modern scholars of the Sung dynasty give to it. There are two passages where it is found ;—the second paragraph on Khien, the fifteenth hexagram, and the third on Fang, the fifty-fifth. By consulting them the reader will be able to form an opinion for himself. The term kwei denotes specially the human spirit disembodied, and sh4n is used for spirits whose seat is in heaven. I do not see my way to translate them, when used binomially together, otherwise than by spiritual beings or spiritual agents.
K0 Hst once had the following question suggested by the second of these passages put to him :— K wei-shan is a name for the traces of making and transformation; but when it is said that (the interaction of) heaven and earthp. 35 is now vigorous and abundant, and now dull and void, growing and diminishing according to the seasons, that constitutes the traces of making and transformation; why should the writer further speak of the Kwei-shin?’ He replied, ‘When he uses the style of “heaven and earth,” he is speaking of the result generally; but in ascribing it to the Kwei-shan, he is representing the traces of their effective interaction, as if there were men (that is, some personal agency) bringing it about!’ This solution merely explains the language away. When we come to the fifth Appendix, we shall understand better the views of the period when these treatises were produced.
The single character sh4n is used in explaining thethwan on K w4n, the twentieth hexagram, where we read :—
‘In Kwan we see the spirit-like way of heaven, through which the four seasons proceed without error. The sages, in accordance with (this) spirit-like way, laid down their instructions, and all under heaven yield submission to them,’
The author of the Appendix delights to dwell on the changing phenomena taking place between heaven and earth, and which he attributes to their interaction; and he was penetrated evidently with a sense of the harmony between the natural and spiritual worlds. It is this sense, indeed, which vivifies both the thwan and the explanation of them.
5. We proceed to the second Appendix, which professes to do for the duke of X4u’s symbolical exposition of the several lines what the Thwan A wan does for the entire
The second figures. The work here, however, is accom-
5. We proceed to the second Appendix, which professes to do for the duke of X4u’s symbolical exposition of the several lines what the Thwan A wan does for the entire
The second figures. The work here, however, is accom-
Appendix. plished w'th less trouble and more briefly. The whole bears the name of Hsiang K wan, ‘Treatise on the Symbols’ or ‘ Treatise on the Symbolism (of the Yi).’
4 See the ‘Collected Comments’ on hexagram 55 in the Khang-hst edition of the Yf (App. I). ‘The traces of making and transformation’ mean the everchanging phenomena of growth and decay. Our phrase ‘Vestiges of Creation’ might be used to translate the Chinese characters. See the remarks of the late Dr. Medhurst on the hexagrams 15 and §5 in his ‘ Dissertation on the Theology of the Chinese,’ pp. 107-112. In hexagram 15, Canon McClatchie for k weishan gives ‘gods and demons ;’ in hexagram 55, ‘the Demon-gods,’
b2
36 THE Y{ KING. CH. If.
If there were reason to think that it came in any way from Confucius, I should fancy that I saw him sitting with a select class of his disciples around him. They read the duke’s Text column after column, and the master drops now a word or two, and now a sentence or two, that illuminate the meaning. The disciples take notes on their tablets, or store his remarks in their memories, and by and by they write them out with the whole of the Text or only so much of it as is necessary. Whoever was the original lecturer, the Appendix, I think, must have grown up in this way.
It would not be necessary to speak of it at greater length, if it were not that the six paragraphs on the symbols of the duke of K4u are always preceded by one which is called ‘the Great Symbolism,’ and treats of the trigrams composing the hexagram, how they go together to form the six-lined figure, and how their blended meaning appears in the institutions and proceedings of the great men and kings of former days, and of the superior men of all time. The paragraph is for the most part, but by no means always, in harmony with the explanation of the hexagram by king W4n, and a place in the Thwan Awan would be more appropriate to it. I suppose that, because it always begins with the mention of the two symbolical trigrams, it is made, for the sake of the symmetry, to form a part of the treatise on the Symbolism of the Yi.
I will give a few examples of the paragraphs of the
Great Symbolism. The first hexagram is formed
The Great bya repetition of the trigram K Zien =S= Symbolism.
’
representing heaven, and it is said on it:— ‘Heaven in its motion (gives) the idea of strength. The superior man, in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity.’
= is formed by a repetition
The second hexagram
of the trigram Khwan = =, representing the earth, and it is said on it:—‘The capacious receptivity of the earth is what is denoted by Khwan. The superior man, in accordance with this, with his large virtue, supports men and things.’
p. 37
The superior man, in accordance with this, with his large virtue, supports men and things.’
p. 37
The forty-fourth hexagram, called Kau
,is formed by the trigrams Sun ===, representing wind, and Khien , representing heaven or the sky, and it is said on it :—‘(The symbol of) wind, beneath that of the sky, forms Kau. In accordance with this, the sovereign distributes his charges, and promulgates his announcements throughout the four quarters (of the kingdom).’
The fifty-ninth hexagram, called Hwan == _=5, is formed by the trigrams Khan ===, representing water, and Sun ==, representing wind, and it is said on it :— ‘(The symbol of) water and (that of wind) above it form HwA4n. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, presented offerings to God, and established the ancestral temple. The union of the two trigrams suggested to king W4n the idea of dissipation in the alienation of men from the Supreme Power, and of the minds of parents from their children ; a condition which the wisdom of the ° ancient kings saw could best be met by the influences of religion.
One more example. The twenty-sixth hexagram, called Ta KAN = =, is formed of the trigrams Kien, repre- .
senting heaven or the sky, and K4n =="==, representing a mountain, and it is said on it :—‘ (The symbol of) heaven in the midst of a mountain forms TA 440. The superior man, in accordance with this, stores largely in his memory the words of former men and their conduct, to subserve the accumulation of his virtue.’ We are ready to exclaim and ask, ‘ Heaven, the sky, in the midst of a mountain! Can there be such a thing?’ and XQ Hsi will tell us in reply, ‘No, there cannot be such a thing in reality; but you can conceive it for the purpose of the symbolism.’
From this and the other examples adduced from the Great Symbolism, it is clear that, so far as its testimony bears on the subject, the trigrams of Fd-hsi did not receive their form and meaning with a deep intention that they should serve as the basis of a philosophical scheme concerning the constitution of heaven and earth and all that
38 THE yf KING. CH, III, isin them. In this Appendix they are used popularly, just as one
‘Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.’
CH, III,
isin them. In this Appendix they are used popularly, just as one
‘Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.’
The writer moralises from them in an edifying manner. There is ingenuity, and sometimes instruction also, in what he says, but there is no mystery. Chinese scholars and gentlemen, however, who have got some little acquaintance with western science, are fond of saying that all the truths of electricity, heat, light, and other branches of European physics, are in the eight trigrams. When asked how then they and their countrymen have been and are ignorant of those truths, they say that they have to learn them first from western books, and then, looking into the Yi, they see that they were all known to Confucius more than 2000 years ago. The vain assumption thus manifested is childish ; and until the Chinese drop their hallucination about the Yi as containing all things that have ever been dreamt of in all philosophies, it will prove a stumbling-block to them, and keep them from entering on the true path of science. 6. We go on to the third Appendix in two sections, being the fifth and sixth ‘ wings,’ and forming what is called ‘The Thethira Great Treatise.’ It will appear singular to the Appendix. reader, as it has always done to myself, that neither in the Text, nor in the first two Appendixes, does the character called Yi, which gives its name to the classic, once appear. It is the symbol of ‘change,’ and is formed from the character for ‘the sun’ placed over that for ‘the moon’, As the sun gives place to the moon, and the moon to the sun, so is change always proceeding in the phenomena of nature and the experiences of society. We meet with the character nearly fifty times in this Appendix; —applied most commonly to the Text of our classic, so that Yi King or Yt Shd is ‘the Classic or Book of Changes.’ It is also applied often to the changes in the lines of the
‘ WB = B, the sun, placed over 7, a form of the old =F ), the moon,p. 39 x figures, made by the manipulations of divination, apart from any sentence or oracle concerning them delivered by king Wan or his son.” There is therefore the system of the Yi as well as the book of the Yi. The definition of the name which is given in one paragraph will suit them _ both :—‘ Production and reproduction is what is called (the process of) change!” In nature there is no vacuum. When anything is displaced, what displaces it takes the empty room. And in the lineal figures, the strong and the weak lines push each other out.
Now the remarkable thing asserted is, that the
Harmonybe- changes in the lines of the figures and tween the lines ever changing the changes of external phenomena show and the changes. a wonderful harmony and concurrence. We in external phenomena. read :—
Now the remarkable thing asserted is, that the
Harmonybe- changes in the lines of the figures and tween the lines ever changing the changes of external phenomena show and the changes. a wonderful harmony and concurrence. We in external phenomena. read :—
‘The Yi was made on a principle of accordance with heaven and earth, and shows us therefore, without rent or confusion, the course (of things) in heaven and earth*.’
‘There is a similarity between the sage and heaven and earth; and hence there is no contrariety in him to them. His knowledge embraces all things, and his course is intended to be helpful to all under the sky; and therefore he falls into no error. He acts according to the exigency of circumstances, without being carried away by their current; he rejoices in Heaven, and knows its ordinations; and hence he has no anxieties. He rests in his own (present) position, and cherishes the spirit of generous benevolence ; and hence he can love (without reserve)*.’
‘(Through the Yi) he embraces, as in a mould or enclosure, the transformations of heaven and earth without any error; by an evervarying adaptation he completes (the nature of) all things without exception; he penetrates to a knowledge of the course of day and night (and all other correlated phenomena). It is thus that his operation is spirit-like, unconditioned by place, while the changes (which he produces) are not restricted to ‘any form.’
One more quotation :—
‘The sage was able to survey all the complex phenomena under the sky. He then considered in his mind how they could be
1 TIT, i, 29 (chap. 5. 6). vm * III, i, 20 (chap. 4. 2). , i, 22.
40 THE yf KING. CH. III, figured, and (by means of the diagrams) represented their material forms and their character '.’
All that is thus predicated of the sage, or ancient sages, though the writer probably had Fd-hsi in his mind, is more than sufficiently extravagant, and reminds us of the language in ‘the Doctrine of the Mean,’ that ‘the sage, able to assist the transforming and nourishing powers of heaven and earth, may with heaven and earth form a ternion?.’
I quoted largely, in the second chapter, from this Appendix the accounts which it gives of the formation of the lineal figures. There is no occasion to return to that subject. Let us suppose the figures formed. They seem to have wo the significance, when looked at from certain
Divination. : : : :
— points of view, which have been determined for us by king Wan and the duke of Kau. But this does not amount to divination. How can the lines be made to serve this purpose? The Appendix professes to tell us.