Chapter 32A: The I Ching

China 32A: The I Ching

While the “Sage Kings of Old” set the stage for Chinese political development, they also created the foundation for the I Ching, which has had a more global impact.

The Chinese Classics

First Classic, the I Ching

In later dynasties certain important works were accumulated. They were called ‘Classics’ = Ching. The primary of these Classics had an order and were called the Chinese Classics. Indicative of its importance to the Chinese the I Ching from the Western Chou has always been always considered the first Chinese Classic. Because of the Western association of the I Ching with divination, it is peculiar to think of it as the first Chinese classic. However its consideration by the Chinese as a classic reveals its true identity as a work of philosophy concerning the omnipresent yin-yang theory.

“[Cheng Man-ch’ing] said with his usual grin, “The I Ching is the most profound classic of the Chinese sages. Confucius himself did not believe he was ready to begin the study of the I Ching until he was 70.”[i]

Primacy of the yin-yang theory

To understand the primacy of the yin-yang theory in Chinese thought, let it be remembered that the formalized I Ching of Wen Wang, preceded Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Buddha by about 500 years. Further the yin-yang theory behind the I Ching provided the foundation for the Chinese philosophies.

“Professor [Cheng Man-ch’ing] said that the principles of the I Ching form the foundation for the teaching of Confucius, Lao Tzu, and the entirety of Chinese culture.”[ii]

Further Master Ni said that the main principle behind Taiji Quan was yin-yang theory – before Taoism, Confucianism, or Buddhism.

Classics of Writing and Songs

There were also other Chinese classics written during the Western Chou. The Classic of Writing, the Shu-ching, contains documentary pieces from the legendary rulers Yao and Shun down to the first three centuries of the Chou dynasty, the Western Chou Period. The bulk of the material, including many speeches by the Duke of Chou is from the Western Chou Period, and is considered somewhat historical. It is considered the second Chinese classic. The Classic of Songs, the Shih-ching, is considered to be the third Chinese classic. It contains many edited folk songs and poetry also from the Western Chou period. This is also considered historical.

Classic of Rituals

According to legendary history, the fourth Chinese classic, the Classic of Rituals, the Li-ching, also comes from the Western Chou. It consists of three books. The first, Chou Rituals, Chou-li, links proper government with proper ritual. The second, Etiquette and Ritual, I-li, details proper conduct for the aristocracy of the Western Chou, and the third Ritual Records, Li-chi, deals with the proper rituals for performing certain ceremonies including marriage, funerals, births and the like.

Han fabrication, attributed to the Duke of Chou

This classic was supposedly written by the Duke of Chou but is considered by scholars to have been fabricated during the Han dynasty, or a little earlier, to bolster the ways of the ruling class. Because of the Chinese reverence for age and ancestry, they have a tendency to attribute important works to ‘esteemed’ ancestors to add prestige. We will come upon this tendency frequently as we proceed through Chinese history.

Copied over and over and over again

We have no existing books from the Chou dynasty. Everything that exists has been copied and copied again thousands of times. Just like the Bible, scholarship can detect layers of editing through stylistic differences and content. While the first three Chinese classics were seemingly written and maybe even compiled during the Western Chou, the fourth Chinese classic, the Classic of Rituals, is considered to be of Han origination.[iii]

Reverence for history and the Word

While the lack of originals throws doubt upon the historicity of any of the Classics, the stylistic consistencies tend to suggest authenticity for most of the Chinese Classics. On a deeper level the transmission over centuries of these ancient texts serves to emphasize the Chinese reverence for their own history as well as their respect for the written word.

“These [Chou] documents bear witness to that sense of history which is one of the most striking features of Chinese civilization, and, as a corollary, to the almost sacred place held in Chinese life by the written word.”[iv]

Let us remember the magical divine origination of the ideogram during the Shang. This reverence for history reverberates continually throughout Chinese culture.

History of the I Ching

To better understand what the I Ching is all about let’s examine its history in a little more depth.

Fu Hsi introduces the bagua

As we saw earlier, according to legend, Fu Hsi, the mythical emperor, introduced the gua, the diagrams based upon the broken and firm lines of the yin yang theory. As pointed out, this establishes the true antiquity of this theory. Fu Hsi was especially connected with the trigrams. Indeed the Chinese names of the trigrams are unconnected with other Chinese words, i.e. they are not derivative in any way. Some say they are connected with ancient Chinese while other say that it indicates the influence of a foreign culture. (I Ching, Wilhelm p lviii)

Prior Books of Changes & King Wên ’s I Ching

Both the Xia dynasty and the Shang dynasty had their own Book of Changes, the Lien Shan and the Kuei Ts’ang . King Wên, while in jail composed his own order to the hexagrams and added a brief judgment to each. These judgments are in the form of song/poems, with about 4 lines each. It is not known whether his names for each hexagram were unique to the Chou dynasty or whether they were founded on the Book of Changes of the prior dynasties. Whichever is true, Wên Wang’s Book of Changes has set the order and the names ever since it was written.

Wên Wang’s I Ching crystallizes yin-yang theory

While yin-yang theory could have been around for centuries in some form, while the hexagrams could have been used in divination for centuries, King Wên’s judgments crystallized and formalized the philosophical foundation behind the yin-yang theory that culminated in the hexagrams. The I Ching, with his purported commentary upon each of the hexagrams, was foundational.

The Changing lines from the Duke of Chou

While there are only 64 combinations of 6 yin and yang lines, each of these hexagrams can change into any of the other hexagrams. There are over 4000 of these changes. The mode of change is based upon the individual lines of the individual hexagrams changing from yin to yang or vice versa. His son, the aforementioned Duke of Chou, wrote judgments, i.e. song-poems, upon each of the changing lines of the hexagrams.

Confucius commentaries

The judgment of King Wên on each hexagram coupled with the Duke of Chou’s judgment of each changing line was the foundation upon which a multitude of interpretations and commentaries were written. The most famous of these commentaries was attributed to Confucius. Thus mixed into the I Ching are the ‘Judgments’ by the ‘Sage King’ Wên Wang; the ‘Images’ and commentary on the individual lines by another ‘Sage King’, Chou Kung, the Duke of Chou; and finally a commentary by Confucius on each of these song/poems. Thus the ideas of 3 major Chinese personalities are mixed into one book.

An extension not an origination

Just as the Duke of Chou was merely formalizing and extending primitive concepts in his Mandate of Heaven philosophy, so was his father King Wên, just formalizing and extending the concepts of the yin yang theory in his Book of Changes. We will see that in a similar way that Confucius, in many cases, does not originate ideas but merely extends them. This continuance, rather than origination, of the tradition of the Book of Changes is indicated by an alternate name of the I Ching indicated by Wilhelm, Chou I, or Chou Changes. (I Ching, Note on the Chinese Title Page, first page, unnumbered)

I Ching, or Chou Changes, just one possible interpretation of hexagrams

The overall point is that while the hexagrams represent abstract concepts, the meaning is given a cultural context by the specific interpretation. Hence Wên Wang, Chou Kung, and Confucius gave these abstract symbols a Chinese context. This, however, does not invalidate someone interpreting the hexagrams in an American 20th century context or a feminist context. The Book of Changes that we most commonly use is the Chou Changes, but it is not the only possible interpretation of the hexagrams.