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University
Microfilms International
300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106
B320774
Shaughnessy, Edward Louis
THE COMPOSITION OF THE "ZHOUYI" StaMoid University Ph.D. 19S3
University Microfilms
International 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106
Copyright 1983 by
Shaughnessy, Edward Louis All Rights Reserved
THE COMPOSITION OF THE ZHOUYI
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ASIAN LANGUAGES AND TBE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR* OF PHILOSOPHY IN CHINESE
By
Edward Louis Shaughnessy June 1983
(c)   Copyright 1983 by
Edvard Louis Shaughnessy
li
I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
I]
(Principal Adviser)
I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, ir scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
0-6
I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quali a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Phi
Department of History university of California,
Approved for the University Committee on Graduate Studies
Dean of Graduk^e Studies and Research
111
TA3LE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vi
Prologue vii
Introduction 1
PART ONE: CONTEXT
Chapter One: The Date of the 2houvi 16
1.1 Previous Attempts to Date the Text 17 I.l.i The Gushi bian Critics 18 I.l.ii Qu Wanli's King Wu Dating 21 I.l.iii      The Late Western Zhou Date 24
1.2 A Synthetic Approach to Dating 27 1.2.1 Historical References to the Zhouvi 27 1.2.ii The Zhouvi's Place in Literary Development 33 I.2.iii      Philological Evidence 38
I. 2.iv        Historical Background 42
Chapter Two: The Use of the Zhouvi 50
11.1 A Survey of Divination in Ancient China 50
II. l.i Shang Oracle-Bones 51 Il.l.ii Western Zhou Divination 57 Il.l.iii Divination in the Zuozhuan 60 Il.l-iv      The "Treatise on Turtle-(Shell)
end (Milfoil) Stalk Divination" 64
11.1. v        Conclusions 66
11.2 Divination with the Zhouvi 74 II.2.i        The Charge 75
11.2. H Procedures and Results 81 II.2.ii      The Prognostication 97
II. 2.iv      Conclusions 101
PART TWO: CRITICISM
Chapter Three: The Structure of the Zhouvi 104
111.1 The Title 104
111.2 The Hexagram Picture 107
111.3 The Hexagram Name 112
III. 3.i      Associations with the Hexagram Picture 112
111.3. H Associations with the Hexagram Text 116 III.3.iii   Associations with the Hexagram Statement 120
111.4 The Hexagram Statement 123 III.4.i      Yuan heng: li zhen 124
111.4. H     Other Constituents of the Hexagraa Statement 133
iv
HI.5   The Line Statement 135
III.5.i      The Numerical lay. 135
III. 5.ii    The Constituents of the Line Statement Proper 136
IH.S.ii.l     The Topi<: 139
XII.5.U.2 The Injunction 149 III.5.ii.3     The Prognostication and Verification 152
111.6 Intra-Uexagramnatic Relationships 158
111.7 Inter~Hexagrammatic Relationships 168
Chapter Four: The Compositions of the Zhouyi 175 IV.1     Structural Paradigms
IV. I.i "Ding" (50) 177 IV.l.ii "Xian" (31) 183 IV.l.iii "Gen" (52) 186 IV.l.ii      "Jian" (53) 189
IV.2    Developed Omens
IV.2.i        "Wuwang" (25) 196
IV.2.ii      "Zhen"     (51) 202
IV.2.iii     "Kui"      (38) 211
IV.2.iv      "Mingyi" (36) 221
IV.3     Developed Narratives
IV.3.i        "Jie"      (40) 228
IV.3.ii      "Sui"      (17) 232
IV.3.iii    "Shi"      (7) 236
IV.3.iv      "Guimei" (54) 239
IV.4    Hexagram Pairs
IV.4.i        "Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12) 245
IV.4.U      "Tongren" (13) and "Dayou" (14) 250
IV.4.iii     "Jiji" (63) and "Weiji" (64) 2.S7
IV.4.iv      "Qian" (1) and "Kun" (2) 266
Notes 288
Collections of Oracle-Bone Inscriptions Cited 350
Works Cited 351
v
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Reconstruction   of   late Western Zhou structure at Shaochen
village, Fufeng county, Shaanxi vii
Zhcuyuan "bagua numerical symbols" 29
Casus of turtle-shell divination in the Zuozhuan 62
Cases of milfoil divination in the Zuozhuan 63
A    comparison   of   divination   topics   from   Shang   to   Han 70-71
(Zhouvi hexagram) Lines indicated by subtraction from 55 86
Chart of possible divination results according to Gao Heng 87
Results of Zhouvi divinations in the Zuozhuan 90
Oracle-bone grouping of six gui-dav divinations 110 Association   between "Ding" (50) hexagram picture   and line
statements 115
Occurrence of hexagram name in line statements 117
Line statement diagrams 137-38
Graphic associations of "Ding" (50) line statements 161
Graphic associations of "Xian" (31) line statements 162
Graphic associations of "Gen"   (52) line statements 162
Mawangdui manuscript hexagram sequence 169-70 Chinese star-chart centering on the extension from Gui to Bi,
including the Bow and Arrow constellation 213
Depiction of Archer Yi drawing bow against Sirius 218
The lunar-lodges of the Dragon constellation 270 The   position of the Dragon constellation at dusk at winter
solstice, 800 B.C. 273 The   position of the Dragon constellation at dusk   in early
Karen, 800 B.C. 274 The   positions   of the Dragon constellation at dusk in late
April and mid-May, 800 B.C. 275 The   position of the Dragon constellation at dusk at summer
solstice, 800 B.C. 276 The   position   of the Dragon constellation at dusk   in cid-
August, 800 B.C. 277
The constellation Bi, the Celestial Turtle 282 The position of the Dragon and Turtle constellations at dusk
in October, 800 B.C. 283
vi
Reconstruction of late Western Zhou Structure at Shaochen Village, Fufeng County, Shaanxi. From Fu Xinian, 1981: 37.
The reconstruction of this Western Zhou temple depicted above was achieved through the methodology of archaeology. At least four steps were required before the picture could be completed. First, successive layers of accumulated Chinese history had to be penetrated, coming at last to the pise foundation on vhich the temple was erected. Next, the perimeter of the foundation had to be determined, thereby demonstrating the size and outline of the structure. Third, post-holes cut into the pise indicated the detailed configuration of the temple's walls and some
vii
idea of the supporting structure of the roofing. And finally, comparative evidence and a degree of imagination allowed the archaeologists to draw in the roof.
In the following pages I propose to undertake a somewhat similar reconstruction of another temple of the Western Zhou. The same four-stage methodology will be employed: successive layers of Chinese history will have to be penetrated, the outline of the foundation will have to be determined, markpoints will have to be found in that foundation demonstrating how the edifice was constructed, and finally, a degree of imagination will be required to complete the picture. But the result of this reconstruction effort will inevitably be less graphically satisfying than that of the temple at Shaochen village, for although the temple with which we will be concerned was crafted by the same Western Zhou men out of the same hard Western Zhou earth, it was constructed of ideas and images rather than of timber and thatch. This temple of which I speak is the Zhouvi.
The comparison is not fatuous. As surely as men worshipped in the temple at Shaochen, so too have one hundred generations of Chinese never ceased to worship at the temple of the Zhouyi. But exposure to the light of day can result in the same type of disfiguration of original structures as can such long burials as that at Shaochen. Living institutions invariably and ceaselessly evolve. This has been true also with the Zhouyi. Early on, a cult formed around the sacred scripture, giving rise in turn to an intermediary priesthood formed in order to explain its mysteries. Later, successive generations never hesitated to change the   temple   trappings   to suit the fashions of   theit   own   day. This
viii
evolutionary process continues even today with the Zhouvi.
But for better or for worse, modern historical scholarship is decidedly agnostic. We in the halls of academe are only anthropologically concerned with cult. We are interested in the context of cult: where did it happen? when did it haopeu? how did it happen and what actually happened? who was responsible? and finally, why did it happen? We are fortunate with regard to the period since the formal organization of the cult of the Zhouvi to have abundant evidence with which to answer these questions. Unfortunately, even the beginning of that period some two-thousand years ago was already long removed from the original creation o-f the temple by the people of the Western Zhou. But thanks largely to the efforts of modern archaeologists and their related brethren the paleographers and historians of ancient China, it is now becoming ever more possible to ask these questions even of the time when the Zhouvi was but newly built. Indeed, it is time that these questions must be asked. For as splendid as the temple at Shaochen appears, it is but a hollow shell. It is from relics such as the Zhouvi that the spirit of the time may finally be divined.
*
* *
I should like to thank the members of my reading committee, Profs. David S. Nivison and Kung-yi Kao of the Department of Asian Languages, Stanford University, and especially Prof. David N. Keightley of the Department of History, University of California, Berkeley. Special mention is due to Mr.   Robert Smitheram of Stanford University and Prof.
ix
Richard Kunst of Duke University, with whom I have had many hours of stimulating conversation about the Zhouvi. I should also like to thank Mr.   Zhao Cheng of Zhonghua shuiu in Beijing, who, when all other
efforts proved fruitless, very graciously presented me with his personal copy of Li Jingchi's Zhouvi tenvuan. the importance of which for this study will soon become clear. I am also indebted to my friends Anne and Mark Gelltaan who have very kindly made available to me their word processor, so that this dissertation might be haokan 3"Cv ^ in at least one sense of the word. Finally, I should also like to acknowledge the generous support of the Giles Whiting Foundation and the Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund during the period of work on this dissertation.
x
for gina
INTRODUCTION
In the history of humanistic scholarship, the present century is destined to be regarded as the age of empiricism; scholars who once sought universal truths now content themselves with the more prosaic search for historical data. In no field, perhaps, has this change been more fundamental than in the study of classical scripture. And with no scripture, perhaps, have the consequences been so remarkable as with the first   of China's classics,   the Zhouvi J\ ,   or,   as it is better
known in the West, the Yiiing j$ £jt , the Book of Changes. The century dawned in China with an event of utmost portentiousness for the Yiiina tradition: in 1899, "dragon bones," a traditional rcedicinal panacea, were recognized as the vestige of one of China's earliest religious institutions: divination. The field of study thereby born, iiaguxue £fl ^ ^? (oracle-bone studies), would prove more than anything else to spell the end of the classical tradition. The present study, concerned with the origin of the Zhouvi. is very much a product of this age, and yet its one goal is to escape this age and return through one hundred generations to the age before there vtre classics so that we may view the birth of a great tradition.
The Zhouvi is incontestably the most important work of China's long intellectual history. Since its canonization, together with the body of commentary literature known as the "Ten Kings" (shi yi -j* J| ), in the second   century   B.C.,   the   work has been regarded as the   first among
1
China's classics.
The combination of that status and   the inherently
enigmatic nature of the images comprising the text has stimulated consideration by virtually every major thinker in Chinese history. Indeed, the history of Yij:.ng scholarship in China could well be said to be representative of the history of Chinese philosophy in general.
Despite this, virtually nothing is known of the early history of the text. Tradition ascribes its authorship to the sages Fu Xi-ffl^* , King Wen      and his son the Duke of Zhou (Zhou fcpng & J£ ), and also to
Confucius. The earliest references to the text occur in the Zuozhuan y£, ^ , the fourth century B.C. chronicle of the years 722 to 464 B.C. In these references can be seen the first of what would prove to be numerous developments in the interpretation of the text. During the first one-hundred years of this chronicle, the Zhouvi appears exclusively as a manual of divination. By the end of the seventh century B.C., however, a perceptible development took place in the uses to which the Zhouvi was put. From this time on, its functional nature as a divination manual diminished, and instead it began to be cited rhetorically as an ancient wisdom text. It probably is no coincidence that this development in the Zhouvi1s usage coincides with the life of Confucius (551-479 B.C.), the sage regarded by later tradition as the "transmitter" of the "classic" and the composer of its earliest interpretations. Although the ascription of authorship to Confucius is certainly hagiographical, there is some evidence that he both knew the text and subscribed to the contemporary moralistic interpretation of it.
The Master said,   "The people of the South have a
saying that a man without constancy (heng *jtL ) cannot be a shaman or a doctor. This is excellent indeed! 'Inconstant in his virtue, he will be held with contempt."1 The
2
master said,   "Do not simply prognosticate and do nothing else."
(Lunvu XIII/22)
1
In the eyes of this developing exegetical tradition, not only was the Zhouvi capable of fulfilling more than a pragmatic prognosticatory function, if it were to have any lasting value it would lie in its contribution to the moral life of man.
The four centuries after the time of the Zuozhuan is a period during which virtually nothing is heard of the text. The "Rulin zhuan" 4^ ^ chapter of the Hanshu ffi -^t supplies a skeletal line of transmission beginning with Confucius' first generation disciple Shang Ju 5^ (b. 523 B.C.) and passing through five generations to Tian He \q /jaj (c. 202-143 B.C.) at the beginning of the Han dynasty. Despite this affiliation with the Confucian school, the work is widely purported to have escaped the literary purge of Qin Shihuang <Jfc£ jP^ in 213 B.C. by virtue of its residual nature as a manual of divination. From Tian He the'Yiiing. now apparently replete with an imbedded commentarial tradition, was handed down through three more generations, coming finally in the middle of the first century B.C. to Shi Chou y5& ^jfife, Meng Xi ^ ]§. , and Liangqiu Jia jft ^ (all c. 90-40 B.C.), all members of   the Imperial Academy.     In spite of the imperial recognition of its
"orthodoxy,"   this   tradition soon lost currency and is now   known only
2
through fragmentary archaeological discoveries. Meanwhile, a separate tradition, characterized as guwen ^ (old text) and attributed to one Fei Zhi ^ jj^ (c. 50 B.C.-10 A.D.) appeared toward the end of the Western Han. This tradition received no official recognition, but by the   end of the Eastern Han it h3d attained supremacy by virtue of such
3
notable adherents as Ma Rong j| (79-166),   Zheng Xuan (127-
200), Xun Shuang |^ (128-190), Lu Ji ij^ (188-219), and Yu Far. £$«<"0-239>.
The two centuries of the Eastern Han marked the first documented flouresence of Yijing scholarship. The works of the above scholars fully developed the exegetical techniques of trigram symbolism, "line position" (yap wei ^ fa )» and "line virtue" (vao de ^ ^4 ), already incipient in the "Tuan" ^ and "Xiang" canonical commentaries. In addition, such new principles as "rising and falling lines" (sheng   Hang  -$\ )»   "hexagratnmatic changes" (gua bian        4^ ),
"internal forms" (hu ti. » "semi-images" (ban xiang ^ ^t )
gave   to the basic hexagram structure a virtually infinite malleability
by   which   these scholiasts could reconcile every aspect of   the Yiiing
3
with a systematically integrated view of the world.
Although Han Yi scholarship is of great interest for a variety of reasons, not the least of which for our purposes in this study is its textual and philological tradition, it is not difficult to imagine that its emphasis on exegetical technique, often at the expense of the original text, would in time provoke a back-to-the-roots reaction. It was not long before this response was forthcoming. "Sweeping out the images" (sao xiang ^ ), Wang Bi Jl ^ (226-249) gave rise to a new heuristic tradition that was destined to dominate for more than a millennium.   Writing in his "Yi lue" ^ (Treatise on the   Yi), the
young philosopher hearkened back to the Zhuanqzi fit -j- to justify the primacy of meaning.
Images   are   that which express ideas and   language is that   which illuminates images.     There is   nothing like
images for understanding ideas and nothing like language for understanding images. Because language is born of images, it is possible to follow language in order to see the images. And because images are born of ideas, it is possible to follow images in order to see the ideas. Ideas are understood through images, images made clear through language.
Therefore, since language is what is used to explicate images, when you have gotten the image forget the language; since images are what is used to fix ideas, when you have gotten the idea forget the image. ... If the meaning is "strength," what need is there for "horse?" If the category is "obedience," what need is there for "cow?" If the line corresponds to "obedience," what need is there for "Kun" then to be "cow;" and if the line corresponds with "strength," what need is there for "Qian" then te be "horse?"
And yet, there are those who establish "Qian" as "horse." If correlating the text with the hexagram, there is "horse" but no "Qian," then artificial theories propagate and it is difficult to draw lines. If the "internal form" is insufficient, they follow it with the "hexagram change." And if the changed text is insufficient, they push it further with the "five phases." Once the source has been lost, the cleverness becomes ever more intricate. If (such cleverness) is allowed to go unchecked, there is no place to get the meaning, and this is all because of concentrating on the image while forgetting the idea. Forget the images and seek the ideas; the meaning will then be apparent.4
Despite his professed desire to interpret the text directly, however, not only was Wang not interested in the image symbolism employed by the Han scholars, but moreover, he was only tangentially interested in the original language of the text, always preferring to concentrate on its abstract meaning. For this reason, crucially important though Wang's commentary is in the history of Chinese philosophy in general and especially in the history of Yijing scholarship, it offers almost no aid to the philological study of the ancient text.
Wang Bi's thought is generally considered to be the primary influence   on the next great flowering of Yiiing scholarship during the Song
5
synthetic worldviev only hinted at in earlier thought. Other equally important works diverge radically, however.   The numerological cosmology
(i.e., the "Ten Wings"), though largely unappreciated in subsequent centuries, have proven in the present century to be a fundamental exege-
now all too often blithely reviled as "orthodox," was a pioneering attempt to understand the divinatory aspect of the text. And yet, despite its imagination and heterogeneity, there is no doubt that the Song Yiiing scholarship encountered by subsequent scholars through the standard educational system had indeed become orthodox. The critical spirit often evident in Zhu Xi's commentary came to be subsumed beneath a rigid emphasis on the abstractions of lixue J^f .
Historical perspective shows Yiiing scholarship to have developed dialectically. Just as the xiangshu point of the Han scholars gave rise to the yili counter-point of Wang Bi, so too did the abstractions of Cheng   Yi and Zhu Xi's interpretations give rise to a counter-sentiment
of
marked a return,   in spirit if not in
6
in favor of concreteness. One of Che first notable proponents of this movement was the Ming scholar Lai Zhide j& its (1525-1604), in whose massive Yiiing Lai zhu tuiie >j} $£. ^ "ni /3) (Lai's Notes and Illustrated Explanation of the Yiiing) the principles of Han Yiiin^ exegesis were resurrected. While Lai faithfully adopted such techniques as "changing hexagrams" and "internal trigrams" to interpret the text, the Qing Yiiing scholarship that grew up under the influence of his work turned instead to using the Han works as a means of understanding the language of the ancient text. Not only were the retrievable writings of the Han scholiasts put into convenient recensions, but more important, since they provided the earliest information on textual natters, they became the focus of Qing philology. Works such as Gu Yanwu's & 3^, (1612-1681) Yi vin % % (Yi Phonology), Hui Dong's % M>- (1697-1758) Zhouvi shu /*) ^} j^fc* (The Zhouvi Described), and Jiao Xun's & \% (1763-1820) Yi zhangiu ^ ^ (Sections and Sentences of the Yi). did for the Yiiing much the same as similar Qing philological study did for the Shiiing "j^ £5.. But in the absence of any linguistic evidence dating earlier than the Han dynasty, there existed no possibility for these Qing scholars to truly examine the archaic language of the text within its original context.
It is for this reason that the discovery in 1899 of inscribed oracle bones dating from the Shang dynasty must be regarded as a milestone in the history of Yijing scholarship. Though the oracular nature ~f the Z.hpuyi had long been knotm - indeed it is explicitly discussed in the "Xici zhuan" ^ ^ ^ , or Great Treatise, of the Yiiing - it was only   when the language of the roughly contemporary Shang oracle-bones,
lose Co scholarship for almost 3,000 years, became known that contextual studies of the Zhouyi could finally be conducted. It is commonly acknowledged that the first stride in this direction was taken in 1929 with the publication of Gu Jiegang's fify J*]'J (1893-1980) "Zhouyi guayaoci zhong   de gushi" /*1 $ ^        #L ^   (Stories among the Hexa-
gram and Line Statements of the Zhouyi). in which Gu discussed the historical background of several different hexagram and line statements, Gu's essay obviously touched a nerve, for two years later it was followed by the publication of the third volume in the Gushi bian \i 'j^L (Debates on Ancient History) series, half of which was devoted to context criticism of the Zhouyi. In addition to reprinting Gu's seminal article, the volume included two important studies, "Yi zhuan tanyuan" % 4% 08+ >& (Investigation of the Origin of the Yi Zhuan) and "Zhouyi shici kao" fk % & ^ ^ (Investigation of Zhouyi Milfoil-Divination Language)   by a student of Gu's,   Li Jingchi S- 41 (d.   -c. 1968).
Relying on comparisons drawn from the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions. Li demonstrated beyoud doubt the oracular nature of the Zhouyi text. The same   year   (1931) also saw the publication of Guo Moruo's
(1882-1978)   influential Zhongguo gudai shehui yanjiu  <f \^ ^fc^-^S
6
/r$T*%ti (Researches on China's Ancient Society). Using a nascent anthropological methodology, Guo took the first step toward illustrating the societal context in which the text had been composed. Perhaps the most important contribution of both of these works is that they served to thoroughly discredit the myth of the Zhouyi:s sagely authorship.
The   next   fifteen years were for China a bitter   time   of foreign invasion   and civil war.     But as so often seems to be the case in such
8
times of adversity, a bold new intellectual development was produced. This can truly be said of VIen Yiduo's fjfr — 1% (1899-1946) "Gudian xinyi"        ^ ^Jj (New Meaning of the   Ancient    Classics), first
published in 1941, but the breadth and imagination of which even today, forty years later, still has not been completely digested. In the sections of this work devoted to the Zhouyi. entitled "Zhouyi yizheng leizuan" /»} § Ufa $k ^  (Interpretation and Categorization of the
Zhouyi) and "Putang zashi » lit *** (Miscellaneous Observations from the Hall of Simplicity), Wen presented interpretations of over one-quarter of the hexagram and line statements. Although marred by an over-reliance on linguistic comparisons drawn from later sources, this sometimes brilliant, sometimes fanciful, but always interesting study can be recommended for the intuitive way in which it places each item of the text firmly within its cultural context.
With the cessation of military activities in the late 1940's came another flurry of context critical scholarship on the Zhouyi. Three works in particular merit noting. The first, entitled "Zhouyi shici xukao (A Renewed Examination of   Zhouyi Milfoil-
Divination Language), was a reassessment by Li Jingchi of his earlier study, "Zhouyi shici kao." This work, both linguistically and conceptually much more mature, introduced three crucial points: the division of line statements into three constituent parts (Topic, Injunction, and Determination), the illustration of coherent hexagram texts, and the demonstration that the final redaction of the text must have taken place at the end, rather than the beginning, of the Western Zhou period. In this same year (1947), the first complete context critical corxnentary
of the Zhouyi uas published by Gao ileng "J (b. 1900) under the title Zhouyi ftu'ing iinzhu f§ *j8 J/2. A it (Modern Notes to the Ancient Classic Zhouyi). This filled an important gap in the younr; field of Zhouyi context criticism, much of the earlier vor:c. having concentrated only on a relatively small portion of the text. Because of its completeness, Gao's work has become a necessary starting point for subsequent scholars. Nevertheless, the value of the work is greatly diminished by tvo critical methodological shortcomings. First, despite the advances in our understanding of the archaic Chinese language afforded by the study of Shang oracle-bone and Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, Gao's philology relies almost entirely on the traditional and often subjective technique of phonetic loans. Second, Gao viewed each individual line text as the result of independent and unrelated divinations. This was based on a preconception explicitly stated in his last published article.
The Yiiin^ was created in the early stage of the Western Zhou as a boon of divination; how could the six line statements have any so-called "internal logic?"
7
I believe that the present study will demonstrate the fallacy of the condescension toward the ancients implicit in this remark.
Another brief but important essay published shortly after these works by Li and Gao was Qu Wanli's Ja. % % (1907 -1978) "Zhouyi guayaoci cheng yu Zhou Wuwang shi kao" f\ % 3h     llfr     /R     ^ 2-
(That the Hexagram and Line Statements of the Zhouyi vere Composed during the Time of King Wu of Zhou). Although Qu's basic premise, that the Zhouyi '.:as composed during the time of King Wu jjj^" (r. 1049-1044 B.C.),    the   first   de. facto king of the V.'estern Zhou,    is demonstrably
10
mistaken,   this work did introduce one important philological tool into
the   contextual   study of the Zhouvi.     For the first   time, linguistic
evidence   drawn from the corpus of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions was
used to interpret and date the language of the Zhouvi.     As we will see
in Chapter One, subsequent advances is the periodization of these bronze
inscriptions have made them the source par excellence for the linguistic
study of the Zhouvi.
Following   this   second   period of scholarly   concern   with Zhouyi
context   criticism,   there ensued another twenty year period of relative
8
scholarly inactivity. Interest in the Yijing was finally re-sparked by the 1973 discovery at Mawangdui ^ j£ in Changsha, Hunan, of a silk manuscript of the text dating from the early Western Han dynasty. This led in turn (although rather circuitously) to Zhang Zhenglang's ^vj^ discovery of the divinatory significance of the "bagua numerical symbols" found inscribed on late Shang and Western Zhou artifacts. In the meantime, a number of works more purely text critical in nature were published. The first of these, in 1978, was Li Jingchi's posthumous Zhouvi   tan yuan       ^ (Investigation of the Origin of the Zhou-
vi) . a collection of articles written during Li's more than thirty years of studying the text. This was followed in successive years by Gao Heng's   Zhouvi dazhuan iinzhu *^\. "/^      ^£ (Modern Notes   to the
Great Commentary of the Zhouvi). ostensibly an expansion of his previous Zhouyi guying iinzhu; Zhang Liven's 7^.2» "j^ Zhouvi sixiang vaniiu
Vfi y^k $u researches on the Thought of the Zhouvi).    the first
half of which presents a review ol recent context critical scholarship, and finally   in   1981   by   Li Jingchi's   Ehonevi     tongyi jfj^ ^} *Jfj^
11
(Comprehensive Meaning of the Zhouvi). a disappointing attempt by Li to demonstrate his thesis that the Zhouvi is composed of coherent hexagram texts. Unfortunately, despite the relative abundance of these recent publications, context criticism of the Zhouvi cannot be said to have advanced beyond its level of 1950. Most disappointing has been the failure by scholars to incorporate into their study the recent advances, both linguistic and cultural, made in the interpretation of the contemporary oracle-bone and bronze inscriptions. It is to be hoped that the imminent publication of the Mavangdui manuscript will serve as a catalyst for further attention to these new paleographic sources.
In the West, though badly under-represented, context criticism of the Zhouvi has produced a handful of articles and monographs. The first such work was the posthumous publication of August Conrady's (1864-1925) "Yin-king Studien," a work that has toe often been disregarded. While there is no doubt that his basic premise that the Zhouvi was an archaic dictionary is faulty, there remains much of interest in Conrady's philo-logical discussions. Receiving a much better reception from the scholarly community was Arthur Waley's (1889-1966) 1933 article "The Book of Changes." In this article Waley employed comparative folklore to demonstrate certain universal portents found in the line statements of the Zhouvi. Stimulating though his article was, it was presented only as a methodological suggestion, without any formal philological apparatus, and a promised fuller study never appeared. Indeed, it was not until 1970 that the next Western language study of the Zhouvi appeared. This was Gerhard Schmitt's Sprtfche der Wandlungen auf ihrem geisteseeschicht-lichen Hintergrund.   Concentrating on those hexagram and line statements
12
studied by context critics in China, Schniitt's rain contribution lay in his demonstration of the possibilities tor nmlti-valent interpretation provided by phonetic puns. More recently yet, a Russian doctoral dissertation originally written in 1935 by Iulian K. Shchuts^ii (1897-c. 1940) was translated into English and published in 1979 as Researches on the I. China. Though this work must have been a unique contribution to Russian Sinology of the 1930's, it is so badly dated by now that one can but wonder why such great effort was put into its translation. Finally, now nearing completion is Richard A. Kunst's University of California, Berkeley doctoral dissertation, "The Original Yijin?:: A Text, Phonetic Transcription, Translation, and Glosses based on Recent Scholarship," which is destined to represent a major advance in Western understanding of the Zhouvi.
The present study, intended as the first installment in a history of the Yiiing. will use the methodology of context criticism to address the twin questions of how the Zhouvi cane into being and what it reant to it original composers. (The related questions of when it was composed and who composed it will oe discussed in their respective places; the ultimate question, why it was composed, will be reserved for a future study.) The investigation is divided into two parts, the first being an attempt to describe the cultural milieu in which the Zhouvi was composed, while the second is strictly text critical. Part One is further sub-divided into two separate studies: an attempt to date the text as precisely as possible, and a broad survey of the development of divination in anciert China together with a detailed study of Zhouvi divination.     Essential   though   these topics are for understanding the
13
text, Che heart of the dissertation lies in Part Two, and especially the chapter entitled "The Structure of the Zhouyi." By way of a rigorous analysis of the text structure, several theories about the text's composition are propounded. The final chapter, "The Compositions of the Zhouyi." examines these theories in light of tv/enty test-case hexagrams.
Before beginning, two definitions are necessary: what I mean by "Zhouyi" and what I mean by "context criticism." In this study, the title Zhouyi refers to the hexagram and line statements of the Book of Changes, especially as understood within the context of the Zhou dynasty. The title Yiiing. on the other hand, is reserved for the canonical text inclusive of the "Ten Wings," the whole being regarded as a "classic" (i.e., Hng). This convention will be strictly observed throughout this study, and the reader is advised that any alternation betweeu the two titles is intentional. By "context criticism" I intend a historical approach to literary criticism in which the target text is interpreted within the context of a specific historical tine and place. (I should like to make clear here that context criticism of any text need not refer exclusively to only one context; e.g., a context critical approach could equally well hp used to study the Zhouyi within the context of the Spring and Autumn period, to study tr.e Yiiing within the context of the Han dynasty, within the context of the Song dynasty, or within any specified cultural context. Needless to say, the depth of the criticism will depend on the specificity of the context.) In this study of the composition of the Zhouyi. the context will be shovm Co be Che r^yal courC of the late Western Zhou dynasCy. In practical Cenns, Chis   will   entail   philological analysis based   on   epigraphic sources
14
whenever possible, close reading of the text to determine the development of literary forms, and general sensitivity to the historical circumstances and the degree of intellectual sophistication of the time. In both of these definitions will be detected the one fundamental inspiration of the present study: rather than as scripture, composed by sages and having a universal and eternal meaning, I consider the Book of Changes to be the product of the human mind, however inspired, the meaning of which changes with each new mind it encounters.
15
PART ONE: CONTEXT
CHAPTER ONE THE DATE OF THE ZHOUYI
Recent generations of Zhouyi scholarship have made impressive strides in the contextual interpretation of the classic which until modern times had been seen as a source of wisdom for the ages rather then as the creation of a particular place and time. But the first and most- basic problem of context criticism has yet to be satisfactoraiiy resolved: there has been no convincing attempt to specify the date and circumstances under which the text was composed. An obvious reason underlies this lack. Until very recently, students of early Chinese intellectual history were content to distinguish three broad periods of development: the Shang, Western Zhou, and Spring and Autumn. Nearly all context critics of the Zhouvi have agreed that the text belongs to the second of these three periods, the Western Zhou. Those who have attempted to date the text more precisely have suggested either "early" or "late" Western Zhou depending on whether they have viewed the text as sharing more affinities with Shang sources, principally the oracle-bone inscriptions from Anyang, or with Spring and Autumn materials preserved in the Zuozhuan and portions of the Shiiing "X^ . But recent years have seen the discovery in great numbers of bronze vessels bearing inscriptions which have greatly enhanced our understanding of the society and language of the Western Zhou period. It is now possible to delineate with a certain degree of confidence early, middle, and late periods within the dynasty, and even more, to distinguish the historical
16
and intellectual climates of particular reigns. Granted this understanding, 1 believe it is now possible to specify quite precisely the date of the Zhouyi's composition.
1.1   Previous Attempts to Date the Text
Any   attempt to date the Zhouvi necessarily begins with the following two questions from the "Xici zhuan" ^»      >f|   of the Yiiing:
Was it not in the middle period of antiquity that the Yi began to flourish? Was not he who made it familiar with anxiety and calamity?
1
Was it not in the last age of Yin, when th-a virtue of Zhou had reached its highest point, and during the troubles between King Wen and Zhou that the Yi began to flourish?
2
Before   long,   Sima   Qian  *| ,   the great historian   of ancient
China,   answered in the affirmative.   Writing in the "Zhou benji"/^ ^
Oli   chapter   of his Shiii ^        >   Sima not   only   confirmed, albeit
cautiously, that the 64 hexagrams of the Zhouvi were created at the time
of   King   Wen,   but he also went one step further and named King Wen as
their probable creator.
The Western Earl (i.e., King Wen) was probably in power for fifty years. When he was imprisoned at Youli, he probably increased the eight trigrams of the Yi into sixty-four hexagrams.
3
Despite   the   tentative nature of these earliest remarks   regarding the
text's creation, in short order a theory of sagely creation came to full
fruition.     The   "Yiwen   zhi" % ^        bibliographic treatise   of the
Hanshu states:
The Yi says, "When in early antiquity Bao Xi ruled the world, he looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens; he looked downward and contemplated the patterns on the earth.     He contemplated the markings of
17
birds and beasts and the adaptations to the regions, lie proceeded directly from himself and indirectly from objects. Thus he invented the eight trigrams in order to enter into connection with the virtues of the light of the gods and to regulate the conditions of all beings." By the time of the Shang-Zhou transition, (Shang King) Zhou was in the highest position but he rebelled against heaven and was cruel to things. King Wen commanded the allegiance of the lords and put into practice the Way, and the prognostications of the heavenly men could be reproduced. Thereupon he doubled the Yi to six lines and created the upper and lower texts (i.e., the hexagram and line statements). Confucius made for it the "Tuan," "Xiang," "Xici," "Wenyan," and "Xu gua," ten texts in all. Therefore it is said, the Way of the Yi is profound indeed, having passed through the three sages of each of the periods of antiquity.
A
While   occasionally suspicions were cast upon one or another of the "Ten 5
Wings,"     the concept of the sagely composition of the Zhouyi's hexagram
and   line   statements continued unchallenged   until   China's iconoclast
6
movement of the 1920's and 30's. Then, in the precedent-shattering Gushi bian. a nascent context criticism was applied to the Zhouvi with the result that the hagiographical traditions regarding the composition of the text were convincingly refuted.
I.l.i       The Gushi bian Critics
The first and subsequently most influential essay of the Gushi bian volume bu Lhe Zhouvi was Gu Jiegang's attempt to use the hexagram and line   statements as a historical source.     Gu identified five historical
younger   brother   of King Wu of Zhou).     Since three of these vignettes
18
concern   events   fron the Shang dynasty and the other   two   events that
occurred just after the Zhou conquest, Gu concluded that the traditional
date   of the Zhouvi's composition was generally correct.     But since the
enfeoffment   of   Kanghou Feng is known to have occurred after   the Zhou 7
conquest, the anachronicity of King Wen's authorship was thereby proven.     Gu preferred to say instead "that (the Zhouvi's) date of composi-
8
tion should be the early stage of the Western Zhou."
This general conclusion was affirmed in the same volume by two other scholars, Yu Yongliang /it $L and Li Jingchi. Both of these scholars adduced evidence from the then recently discovered and tentatively deciphered oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty to demonstrate the oracular nature of the hexagram and line statements. Li categorized   these statements into eighteen divination topics which were
substantially similar to the topics Luo Zhenyu *>    had discerned
9
in   the   oracle-bone   inscriptions.     While the primary intent   of Li's
study was not to suggest a date of composition for the Zhouvi.   from his
analysis of these categories and the distribution of line statements, he
surmised   that   the text had been compiled over a long   period   of time
during which the Zhou people were predominantly pastoral, a period which
10
must have ended with their conquest of the Shang.
Yu   Yongliang was more specifically concerned with the date of the
text.     Like   Li,   he compared the hexagram and line statements with the
"linguistically similar" oracle-bone inscriptions, but he also suggested
that an important difference between the two lay in the Zhouvi's being a
product of milfoil divination, which he believed to have been an innova-
11
tion   of   the Zhou.      Moreover,   he asserted that   the   historical and
19
cultural background reflected in the text is consistent, both in general
and   in certain particulars not discussed by Gu Jiegang,   with an early
Western   Zhou date.     As general cultural themes,   he noted evidence of
abductive   marriages,   a slave system,   the establishment of the feudal
system,   sacrifice   rituals,   the   ancestor cult,   and using cowries as
currency,   while   particular evidence or the early Western Zhou context
could be seen in the hexagram statement of "Zhen" (51) hexagram:
"Zhen" (51):   % If M %
Zhen arouses one hundred li.
12
where   Zhen   is argued to refer to King Wen,     and in the   top   line of
"Shi" (7) hexagram:
"Shi" (7/6):       A fa^i fifl '$ * #
The great lord has a mandate: open the state and maintain the family,
which   Yu interpreted to describe the establishment of the Zhou state by
the   Duke   o£ Zhou.     For all of these reasons,   Yu specified   that the
Zhouyi   must have been composed during the reign of King Cheng jfy, (r. 13
1042-1006 B.C.).
The comparison of the language of the Zhouyi with that of the Shang oracle-bones was an important, indeed an essential, contribution to the contextual study of the Zhouyi. For the first time it conclusively demonstrated the oracular context in which the text had been composed and the anachronistic nature of the "Ten Wings" glosses. Despite this, such broad linguistic comparisons could yield only broad parameters for the dating of the text. To arrive at a more precise date, it would be necessary to exanine t.ie language in which the text itself was written; i.e.,   the   language of the Western Zhou.     This is possible through the
20
inscriptions on the bronze vessels of that period.
I.l.ii      Qu Uanli's King Wu Dating
The first study of this type was Qu VJanli's "Lhouvi guayaoci cheng yu Zhou Wuwang shi kao" (That the hexagram and line statements of the Zhouyi were composed during the reign of King Wu of Zhou). As the title indicates, Qu's research led him to the same general conclusion as the Gushi bian scholars, the only difference being that Qu insisted that the work was created during the reign of King Wu (r. 1049-1044 B.C.). He began by analyzing several expressions in an attempt co prove first that the   text could not have been composed as late as the Spring and Autumn
or Warring States periods, and second that it could date no later than mid-Western Zhou.   Included among his philological test cases were:
14
'Xiaoguo" (62/2): 2& Ä^^X^
Passing the grandfather, Meeting the grandmother.
Qu noted that the pairing of b_i-ifcfc with zu >flL is consistent with Western Zhou literary usage but stands in contrast   to   the Warring States pairing of b_i   with kao
Gives him a turtle worth ten strands of cowries.
Qu argued that through the early Western Zhou there is no bronze inscription which mentions more than ten strands of cowries, whereas in late Western Zhou sources there is mention of as many as one hundred.
"Weiji" (64/4):  % jft AÜ % ^
Zhen herewith attache the Guifang.
Relying on the contention of Wang Guowei £ '3 i-lt, that the people known in early sources as the Guifang had by the late Western Zhou come to be known as the Xianyun^jj^ $L , Qu argued that this Zhouyi reference to Guifang must antedate the late Western Zhou change in names.
15
21
"Li" (30/6): £ftXfr%%f!i£}flLfrJLft% The king herewith goes out to campaign at Jia: he cuts off heads and bags their leader.
Qu   noted that the usage zhe shou hup chou $j ^ jtfj^ can   be found in such Western Zhou sources as the "Xijia pan" A »f ,   "Guo Jizi bo pan" , and
the   Shiiing   poems "Chu che" it (Mao 168) aud "Cai
qi" 2tv "ft   (Mao 178).
16
Qu also noted the usage of such common early archaic Chinese expressions
as   da   guo        jfij   to refer to the state of Shang,   da iun yfi. to
refer to the king,   ji. mi°g #f ^    for iiu ming ,   and Han ^fj^_
for disasters.     However,   he acknowledged that these terms occasionally
occur   in   Eastern Zhou texts and thus cannot be considered   as primary
linguistic evidence.
The above being considered as evidence that the text could not have
been composed as late as mid-Western Zhou,   Qu then proceeded to propose
a   definitive date of King Wu's reign.     This dating was based on three
points of evidence: the well-known hexagram statement of "Jin" (35):
"Jin" (35):   ji 4k fh       % % pL
Archer-Lord Kang is herewith awarded horses of great number,
the significance of which had first been indicated by Gu Jiegang;
"Yi" (42/4): M
It is beneficial herewith to have the Yin move their state,
where Qu,   like others,   interpreted        v\I\»t (GSR 550a) as a phonetic
loan for        vidian (GSR 448a),   and thus read the line as a reference
17
to a forced migration of the Shang people;
"Sui" (17/6): iq&^fl'f?t#Li*£V8'i'?fl!i ^
Grasp and tie him, and then guard him: the king herewith sacrifices on the western mountain,
22
seen by Qu as a reference to human sacrifice. The first two of these lines have been noted by others as evidence of an early Western Zhou date for the Zhouyi. Yu Yongliang, for instance, having dated the text to the reign of King Cheng on the oasis of the hexagram statement to "Jin" (35). In order to substantiate his dating to the reign of King Wu, it was necessary for Qu to propose a unique history of the early post-conquest years in which King Wu's reign is considered to include many of the events traditionally assumed to have transpired after his death. The final piece of evidence was interpreted by Qu as an allusion to King Wu's post-conquest sacrifice of Shang nobles, the account of which is contained in the "Shifu"  ^ chapter of the Yi Zhou shu ^
Admirable as Qu's methodology would seem to be,   his conclusion can
but be viewed as tendentious.     There is no evidence that King Wu's life
did   in fact long postdate the conquest,   while there is evidence, both
traditional and epigraphical,   to link the events of "Jin" (35) and "Yi"
18
(42/4)   to King Cheng's reign.      And while the "Shifu" is   almost cer-
19
tainly a record of King Wu's activities, there is evidence of a continuing   practice of human sacrifice in later Western Zhou epigraphical
and archaeological sources as well as in Eastern Zhou transmitted liter-20
ature. Thus, Qu's insistence that the Zhouyi was composed durj.ng King Wu's reign is not convincing. Indeed, not only do the final three points of evidence not prove his contention, but even the evidence adduced to demonstrate that the text could not have been written after the mid-Western Zhou can also be turned against Qu's argument. To pursue just one instance,   Qu cited the occurrence of the expression zhe
23
shou #j % in the top line of "Li" (30/6) and, noting that the tern never occurs in Eastern Zhou texts, found it significant that it does occur in such Western Zhou bronze inscriptions as the "Xijia pan" and "Guo Jizi bo pan." But these bronze inscriptions can be dated with confidence to the reign of King Xuan j*» (r. 827-782 B.C.), the penultimate   king of the Western Zhou dynasty.     Moreover,   while Qu is correct
that the term does not occur in later materials,   neither does it occur
21
in materials earlier than the late Western Zhou. This should cause us to suspect not just that the text was not written during King Wu's reign, but even that it may not have been written curing the early Western Zhou.
I.l.iii    The Late Western Zhou Date
Such, in fact, had been the conclusion of a growing number of scholars in the years when Qu, working in relative isolation in Taiwan, formulated his argument. Perhaps the first to have reasonably countered the early Western Zhou view was Chen Kengjia *J^.t^ » in a postface to a work of Guo Morao's on the Zhouyi. Noting the usage of a number of terms which occur commonly throughout Western Zhou bronze inscriptions but which are absent in the language of the Shang oracle-bones, e.g., xianssi %. fai (sacrificial offering), iin ^ (metal), zhufu jfi &^n, (crimson leggings), <hifu i^C (red leggings), wans.au j» $ (queen mother), zhe shou % (cut-off heads), and hun-gou Afo 4& (marital relations), Chen observed that such linguistic developments would have required a relatively long period of time and that rather than dating the   text   to the early Western Zhou,   it would be more   appropriate to
24
22
consider it simply as a Western Zhou vork.
Even such a cautious view as this was questioned. Lu Kanru fj^jfeu ^o. > in his Zhong^uo trenxue shi i ianbian <j> ijj^ ^ ^ ^ ^ (Shorter history of Chinese literature), suggested that while the Zhouyi almost certainly began to be compiled curing the Uestern Zhou period, the definitive text was not "established" until the Spring and Autumn period. For this dating, Lu gave two .reasons: syntactic similarities with   Eastern Zhou materials,   especially the "Ya" ^ffe. (sic) and "Feng"
jflt  sections of the Shiiin?.   and quotations of the Zhouvi in the Zuo-
23
zhuan where the text differs from the nov? extant text.
The same conclusion was reached independently by Iulian £» Shchut-skii, the author of the only systematic Western language study of the Zhouyi published to date. Also analyzing Zuo2huan references to the text, he noted that "throughout the course of the 7th century B.C. the feudal   lords used the Book of Changes exclusively as a divinatory text.
... Only in 602 B.C. (sic) was the Book of Chanr.es not used for divination: it is referred to as a doctrine containing a certain world view. FuLLher, although it remains a text intended for divination, more and :r.ore perceptibly there appears the tendency to use it, with the help of a judgmental faculty, for explaining the vorld and the phenomena which occur   in it.     Thus during the 6th ana 5th centuries B.C.   the Book of
Changes.   while   preserving its mantic significance,   comes to be under-
24
stood as a philosophical text." Proceeding from this evidence that a text was in use at the end of the 7th century B.C., he applied what he termed a "Karlgrenian" linguistic analysis to the text. Noting that in the   construction "...   then ..." tlie Zhouyi employs the copula   ze. r|-|
25
used in the Shiiins). he concluded that "the language of the Shiiinq and
the   language of the Book of Changes represent two successive stages in
the   development of the sane language," with the Zhouvi being the latter
75
stage, created sometime between the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.
In "Zhouyi shici xukao," perhaps the most important content critical study of the Zhouvi yet written, Li Jingchi, one of the Gushi bian founders of this field, took account of these later studies and, tempering the rigidity of both his own former position and that of Lu Kanru, proposed that the most appropriate date for the composition would be the late Western Zhou. Like Lu's, this conclusion was also based on a genre study of the Zhouvi's prosody, but unlike Lu, Li detected a developmental difference between it and the prosody evident in the Shi jing. Offering a broad chronology for the creation of the Shiiin?.. he maintained that the "Zhou Song" ft Aft section was probably compiled during the first one hundred years of the dynasty, and that these poems display only sporadic and irregular rhyme. On the other hand, the "Guo Feng" Ifjl /8. section, which couLains an almost universally regular rhyme-scheme, was largely compiled in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. Li also found evidence for this literary development in the corpus of Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. There, he suggested, one finds little or no rhyme in early inscriptions, but a growing use of rhyme is detectable in inscriptions datable to the final reigns of the dynasty. Turning then directly to the Zhouvi. he recognized that portions of the text are poetic; in fact, he argued, certain lines would be indistinguishable from poetry in the Shijing. But the Zhouvi falls far short of the regular   rhyme of the "Guo Feng" sect'ion and would instead appear to be
26
consistent   with the stag*? of literary development reached by the end of 26
the Western Zhou.
1.2 A Synthetic Approach to Dating
The above survey of modern attempts to date the Zhouyi depicts, I believe, a growing methodological sophistication which has been brought to bear on the text. And yet nearly all of these attempts have been guilty to one extent or another of exclusively following just one line of argumentation. The earlier scholars' reliance on epigraphical materials, at that time too little understood, led to an exaggeratedly early view of the work. The later scholars, on tiie other hand, took little or no note of the epigraphic evidence, preferring instead to make sweeping generalizations about literary development. Both approaches have made important points, and yet neither approach has arrived at a convincing and precise date for the composition of the text. What is required in dating any text is a synthesis of all available information. In the case of the Zhouyi. genre comparisons with the Shijing are indeed compelling, but such broad comparisons must be correlated with the philological evidence it is now possible to glean from bronze inscriptional sources. And finally, all of this information must be fitted into a historical and social context. Creations of this sort do not appear spontaneously; they are the products of definite historical forces. When the historical context is understood, the task of interpreting the work itself becomes much easier.
I.2.i        Historical References to the Zhouyi
To ascertain the date of the Zhouyi's composition,   we should begin
27
afresh by setting parameters outside of which it could not have been composed. The terminus ante quem involves materials long available and much studied: the Zuozhuan citations of the Zhouyi. The terminus post quem. on the other hand, revolves around material archaeologically excavated within the last five years. To discuss this earlier parameter first, because the discovery of inscribed oracle-bones had been restricted solely to Shang remains, rationalizations had been made that the Zhou people were the inventors of an easier type of divination performed by manipulating milfoil stalks. But in 1977, remains of the Zhou ancestral palace were discovered in Qishan ^'X. county, Shaanxi, and in a vault therein was found a cache of some 17,000 pieces of turtle-shell.      A   number   of   these   were   inscribed   with divination
statements,   some   of which undoubtedly date to the pre-conquest period
27
and others of which probably date as late as the reign of King Cheng. This unprecedented discovery was followed in 1979 with the uncovering in Fufeng "it^jfiL  county, Shaanxi, of another, although much smaller, cache of inscribed oracle-bones.   What is significant about these oracle-bones
is that they can be dated on the basis of pit stratigraphy, accompanying
28
pottery   pieces,   and calligraphy to the middle of the   Western Zhou. These two discoveries provide material evidence that pyromancy continued as   a principal means of divination until at least the reign of King Mu (r. 956-923 B.C.).
This   is not to suggest that milfoil divination could not have been
used until after this time.     In fact,   an interpretational breakthrough
rivalling   in   importance these archaeological discoveries was   made in
29
1978   by   Zhang   Zhenglang.      Included among the   inscriptions   on the
28
Qishan turtle plastrons were several sets of symbols, the previous appearance of which on Western Zhou bronze vessels had been explained as
Zhouyuan "bagua numerical symbols:" Hll:7 (left) and Hll:81 (right)
"clan   insignia" or "strange writing."   Zhang noted that   these symbols
were   in fact numerals,   and because they invariably occur in groups of
three   or   six,   he   associated them with the three lines   of   a Zhouvi
trigram or the six lines of a Zhouvi hexagram.   This thesis has not only
met   with   great   critical approval,   but it has   also   sparked further
inquiries   into the nature of these symbols.     Among the conclusions of
these   studies   are   that milfoil divination was on   occasion performed
together   with   pyromancy and that these "bagua numerical   symbols" and
their   attendant   divination   statements are most   probably   the direct
30
predecessors of the formulaic divination language of the Zhouvi.
As evidence of this correlative association, various scholars perceive a similarity between Zhouvi omen statements and the inscription following the "bagua numerical symbol" "8-1-7-6-6-7" (reading from bottom to top) in Hll:8S. Most explicit among the transcriptions and interpretations   of this interesting inscription is that of Xu Zhongshu
29
fa ^ :  *3 j( ^ &i A    (It says, "It is trouble: take the fish"),
interpreting   wen    ifs.   as an abbreviated form of I in ,    a connon
31
Prognostication of the Zhouyi.      Xu opines that in addition to this use
of lin.   the terseness of the statement is strikingly reniniscent of the
form of Zhouyi line statements.     While this is true to an   extent, not
only   does neither the hexagram statement nor any of the line statements
of "Gu" (18) hexagram,   identified by Zhang Zhenglang and follov/ed by Xu
as   the   Zhouyi correlate of 8-1-7-6-6-7,   share any feature   with this
inscription,   but what is more,   there is not an analogous statement in
the   entire   text   of   the Zhouyi.     Xu's general   thesis   that   it was
divination   statements   such as this that were collected   by divination
officials   and edited into the text we know as the Zhouyi is undoubtedly
correct,   but the inscriptional evidence presently at hand suggests that
at least through the mid-Western Zhou,   the Zhouyi was not yet available
32
for consultation by the divination officials of the Zhou homeland.
On the other side of this issue, we can however surmise that an "established" text was'in existence by the mid-seventh century B.C. To document this assertion, we must turn again to the much studied evidence of divination contained in the Zuozhuan. In the above survey of modern attempts to date the Zhouyi. it has already been noted that Iulian Shchutskii specified a date of 603 B.C. as a point at which the text must have been in existence, for it is in that year that the Zhouyi is first cited rhetorically instead of simply being referred to in the course of divinations. To Shchutskii, that the text could be quoted in general conversation with the expectation that the reference would be familiar to a listener constituted proof that the text ir.ust have enjoyed
30
rather general circulation.
That the sixth century B.C.   did indeed usher in a new function for
the Zhouvi as an ancient source of wisdom is an observation of no little
moment   in   the   study   of   China's   intellectual   history. Moreover,
Shchutskii's contention that the rhetorical citation of the text in this
regard bespeaks a wider currency for it is undoubtedly both correct and
significant.     It   may not be irrelevant to the "established" nature of
the text that after this date of 603 B.C., 9 of 11 passages in which the
Zhouvi   figures   refer to the text by the name "Zhouvi." whereas before
this date only one of the six Zuozhuan divination accounts does so, and
that particular passage (Zhuang 22) is almost certainly a later interpo-33
lation.      Perhaps even more illustrative of the "established" nature of
the text,   after 603 9 of 10 citations match the extant text; before 603
34
the fidelity quotient is markedly lower (4 of 6). And yet, none of this evidence of an "established" text in wide circulation informs us directly about the date of the Zhouyi's composition. Indeed, the pre-603 B.C. citations of the text are prima facie evidence that it was already in existence by the mid-seventh century B.C. at the latest.
In making use of this evidence at all, an important methodological problem must be considered. This is the historical authenticity of the Zuozhuan. It is a premise of these remarks that although this chronicle of the years 722-464 B.C. was not composed until the fourth century B.C., the information contained in the text reflects for the most part ths actual history of the period and that its dates are generally reliable. This is not to say that the text can be used without caution. It   has   long   been noted that certain "predictions"   (which   are often
31
related     to   divinations)   in   the   text   prove   later   to   have been
astonishingly   accurate.     These cases are most probably ahistorical and
35
should be dismissed. But only a small number of the Zuozhuan references to the Zhouyi can be thereby dismissed. The great majority, on the other hand, evidence evolutionary features that can only suggest their authenticity. As mentioned above, the beginning of the sixth century B.C. marks a watershed in the uses to which the Zhouyi was put. Before this time, the Zhouyi was strictly a manual used \n the performance of divination. After 603, though still used in divinations, it came more and more to be regarded as a book of wisdom. Undoubtedly associated with this development, in all six of the references to the Zhouyi before 603 the interpretation of the divination result is based on bagua symbolism; after this date only 2 of 7 Zhouyi divination results are so interpreted. Similarly, in a development which will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter, during the seventh century B.C. divination appears to have been the exclusive prerogative of heads of state; during the next century, however, a concept took root whereby it was one's morality, and not his political prestige, that qualified him to perforu divinations. I would suggest that such subtle developments as these would be foreign to the historical intuition of both the Zuozhuan's composer, and any putative forger, and must therefore reflect genuine historical tendencies. For this reason, we can but assume that the cluster of passages in the Zuozhuan during the nid-seventh century B.C. where the Zhouyi is cited in the course of divinations do in fact attest that the text was already available to divination officials, if not to the educated populace at large.
32
I.2.ii      The Zhouvi's Place in Literary Development
In   the above section,   we have established the broad parameters of
the mid-Western Zhou (c. 950 B.C.) and roughly 650 B.C. cithin which the
Zhouvi   must   have been composed.     Thi3 is roughly the time   period Li
Jingchi theorized, on the basis of literary development and particularly
the   use of rhyme,   must have been the date of   its   composition. Li's
thesis that the use of rhyme began sporadically in the mid-Western Zhou,
began   to mature by the end of the period,   and cane to full fruition in
the first centuries of the Spring and Autumn can, I believe, be shown to
be generally accurate.     While the best source for this use of rhyme is
the   Shijing.   for   dating   purposes a more accurate indication   of its
development   can   be gained from the Western Zhou   bronze inscriptions.
Inscriptions from the early years of the dynasty display only irregular
36
and   presumably   coincidental   rhyme.      The first   obviously conscious
attempts   at prosody can be seen in the King Mu period "Shenzi   Ye gui"
37
liC* 3r AZK* and "Ban gui" Jv& ^X. . Although the entirety of both of these inscriptions displays rhyme, let us here consider just the dedicatory final portion of the "Shenzi Ye gui."
Wu hu (g'o   ft )
nai Shen zi mei ke li xian yan yu gong (kung   fciq )
4* >5c * » -fx m a? f
xiu Shen zi Zhao Dan Miu ning ze (tscg- $ £j )
* ft
zuo si gui (kivag     ^ 4| )
A  %A   4*1   & A
yong xian xiang Ji gong.(kung    ^ ^ )
33
yong ge duo gong (kung '
& ft >£   4-       *k M , ,
qi fan ai nai Shen zi Ye wei fu (p'iuk        4j '
/«   *. <ft   A    A   4   & 4. $
yong shui ling ling, yong sui gong uei shou (d'iog iA-ij
* ft
Ye yong huai rou wo duo di zi wo sun
ke you jing jiao (g'og     jHn4$ )
& 13   4, * , J ,
yi fu nai shi zi (tsieg     A.-*] )
Wu-hu! Your Shenzi attacked and conquered the Mie and displayed my contribution to my duke. He granted me, Shenzi, the tax income of the lands of Zhao, Dan, and Niu.
(Thus), I make this gui-vessel and use it to sacrifice to and feast Duke H and use it to pay my respects to the many dukes. With the concern they have held (for me) Shenzi Ye has had good fortune and herewith wishes my tranquil ancestors spiritual life and longevity. Ye uses (this vessel and inscription) to inspire ny yoi nger brothers, sons and grandchildren, that they may 02 able to have this model instruction. Then our good father will keep us in his affection.
The freshness of this attempt at prosody (and I should point out that in
addition to words in the same rhyme categories,   those in vou-bu   $<\ ^
and   zhi-bu   .i, 4j   are acceptable cross-rhymes,   as are those is zhi-hn
and   vu-bu   ,J| ^     ) gave rise in the late   Western   Zhou   to regular
formulaic   dedications.     To   cite   just   one   example,   from   a bronze
inscription   that will figure in this study later in another context but
which could be matched virtually at random,   consider the dedication of
the "Buqi gui" /\y 3* >   a vessel which can be dated with confidence
3S
to the 13th year of King Xuan        (815 B.C.).
34
* # M *
Bu qi bai qi shou (sjjog    ^ £y )
faßt t M A      & & 1% *k , .
xiu yong zuo zhen huang zu gong bo Meng Ji zun gui (kiwsg y^fa> fong gai duo fu Cp'iuk A.^;
yon
mei shou \m jiang VKxang f^^*'
yong qun ling zhong zi sun yong bao yong xiang (xiang 7&4h/
Buqi bowed and touched his head to the floor. In enjoyment I herewith make for my august ancestral dukes and earls and Mengji (this) precious vessel, in order to seek many blessings and longevity without limit. For an eternal and pure spiritual end, may that my children and grandchildren eternally treasure and use it in sacrifice.
The development of rhyme in the Shiiing is consistent with that in the bronze inscriptions. The "Zhou song" section, held both by tradition and linguistic analysis to be the earliest section of the anthology,   was   undoubtedly   put into writing in the mid-tenth   century B.C.,
39
probably   during the reign of King Mu.      It was during this reign that an incipient prosody first appears in the corpus of bronze inscriptions, and   I   suspect   that such inscriptions as that on the "Shenzi   Ye gui" reflect   a general literary consciousness of the age.     The "Da ya" 7*^ ffl^ and "Xiao ya" sections of the Shiiing display prosody consi-
derably more developed than that in the "Zhou song." Although tradition has been divided in the dating of these poems, historical allusions allow a significant percentage of them to be dated with some certainty to the final reigns of the Western Zhou dynasty. Moreover, one scholar, Sun Zuoyun  3^ ft ijfr  f   has argued that none of the poems was composed
j j
prior   to the reign of King Li        (r.   859-S42 B.C.).      The "Guo feng"
section is certainly later still, displaying highly sophisticated neter,
rhyne,   and imagery,   and a distinctly "private" tone in contrast to the
41
stateliness of the "Ya" sections.
The question for us in this essay then is where the prosody of the
Zhouyi   fits   into this development.     Lu Kanru compared it to the "Guo
feng"   section   by way of dating the text to the mid-Spring   and Autumn 42
period. Li Jingchi, on the other hand, noted that while some of the Zhouyi should indeed be considered as excellent poetry, such examples comprise a relatively small portion of the text. Moreover, he has shorn that aside from the Zhouyi citations, oracles (z_hou ^^s, ) in the Zuozhuan are invariably in verse. Thus, the lack of poetry in the Zhouyi cannot be seen as a feature of its genre. Rather, it should be seen as indicative of the literary development at the time of the text's composition, a degree of literary sophistication Li compared with that in the "Ya" sections of the Shiiing; i.e., towards the end of the V/estern Zhou dynasty.
We will have occasion later in this study to discuss examples of the Zhouyi's poetic forms (Sec. III.5.ii.a), but to gain some sense of the literary sophistication of the text as a whole, perhaps the only convenient method is to describe characteristics in terms of percentages. Phonological analysis shows that rhyme, whether conscious or coincidental, occurs in 118 of the 386 line statements, or slightly less than one line in three [302; the percentage would be lower (26.82) if the   occurrence   of rhyme in hexagram statements (3/64) were also to be
included,   but   as   we   will see in Chapter Three,   there   is   a marked
36
distinction between the language of the hexagram statements and that of the l-.ne statements, and analysis of prosody is most appropriate with regard only to the line statements]. There are also 61 lines which end forculaically in the name of the hexagram, as for example the six line statements of "Lin" (19) hexagram.
19/1:	Mi	Xian	looks	down.
19/2:	& &	Xian	looks	down.
19/3:	-a is.	Gan	looks	down.
19/4:		Zhi	looks	down.
19/5:	*	Zhi	looks	down.
19/6:	1k tk	Dun	looks	down.
43
Including this 16% of the line statements, roughly one-half (46%) displays some form of rhyme. One further feature of Shiiinz poetics is the regular use of four-character phrases. In the Zhouyi there are 142 lines with at least one phrase composed of four characters. Correlating this feature with the instances of rhyme already noted, approximately 60 percent (59.8%; 231/386) of the line statements can be considered as sharing at least one feature of the developed literary structure of the Shi Ting. As Li Jingchi has argued, if the Zhouyi had been composed in the Spring and Autumn period, it undoubtedly would display a considerably higher percentage of prosody. On the other hand, it would be difficult to imagine that the one-half of the text that does display features of prosody could have been composed prior to the nid-Uesterr. Zhou reign of King Mu.
37
I.2.iii     Philological Evidence
It would never be wise to deny the legitimacy of the type of connoisseurship outlined above, but regardless of the number of statistics cited in support of one's findings, such comparisons can at best give only an approximate idea of a text's date of composition. To substantiate the late Western Zhou dating for the Zhouyi suggested by its level of literary sophistication, and hopefully to further specify it, a closer study of the text's linguistic usage is required. By isolating particular vocabulary items that can be demonstrated to be peculiar to ox characteristic of particular periods or reigns, we have one of the surest proofs of a text's dating. In an analysis of this sort, epigraphic materials are evidence of the first order. There are two reasons for this: aside from the syntax and content of their inscriptions, bronze vessels can be dated with some confidence by several independent means. When available, archaeological reports of a piece's provenance allow it to be dated to a general period. Vessel style and decor are similarly helpful in arriving at a general date. For a more specific date, many inscriptions include calendrical data, from simply the year of the king's reign to a "full" date notation, i.e., the reign-year, month, the phase of the moon, and the day (in the Chinese cycle of sixty). These factors do not resolve all questions about a bronze vessel's date but they usually allow for more precision than with transmitted literature. Second, and perhaps more important, by the nature of their medium bror-c inscription5 are not subject to the vagaries of traditional textual transmission. When dealing with a bronze   inscription there can be no suspicion of a copyist's mistake or
38
44
other such textual corruption; the inscription before us is substantially as it existed nearly 3,000 years ago.
It   is not clear just how widespread the use of the Zhouyi was at
the   tine of its composition,   but the evidence in the Zuozhuan for the
seventh   century B.C.   combined with the many references in the text to
the   activities of the king makes it virtually certain that the composer
45
must have been one of the officials attached to the royal court. By happy coincidence, the rituals of the royal court figure largely in the mid and late Western Zhou bronze inscriptions. Moreover, certain terms were born of and unique to this innovation. The most striking of these, beginning during the reign of King Mu and formularized during the several reigns of the late Western Zhou, was the appellation "son of heaven" (tianzi ^ 2r ) for the king. The unambiguous development of this concept allows it to be used as a philological benchmark par excellence;   ay research on Western Zhov bronze inscriptions shows that this
term,   ubiquitous   in later inscriptions,   is not found in a single in-
46
scription   before the reign of King Mu.      The occurrence of the term in
the third line of "Dayou" (14):
14/3:   M H
The   duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven.
is firm evidence that the composition of the Zhouyi must date no earlier than the reign of King Mu.
Associated with the developing use of "tianzi" for the king was a pair of formulaic court rituals: the entrance of an official into the "central   hall"   (zhong   ting vj? ) of the   king,   and   the king's
entrance into the ancestral temple (ge miao  ^r* f!fa   ).     As shown in the
39
following list of inscriptions in which both of these rites are recorded,   with   the exception of the "Xiao Yu ding" ']<> ^ in which
the actions descrioed are decidedly non-formulaic, these rites were very much phenomena of the late Western Zhou.
Vessel Name Reign Reign Dates Source
(Shirakawa, 1962ff)
* 3 A &
Xiao Yu ding Rang (1005-978 B.C.) 12.682
k* * A
Wu fanevi Gong (922-904) 19.370
Tuan fangvi Gong - Xiao (922-868) 19.312
Tuan zun Gong - Xiao (922-868) 19.312
Tong £ui Yi (903-868) 26.326
Shi You £uT Yi - Li (903-842) 29.553
Ke ding Li (859-842) 28.490
*j *  fa ft
Yuannian Shi Dui gui     Li 31.758
Shi Dui gui Li 31.i3l
Wu^Hui ding Xuan (827-782) 26.348
The expressions occur in substantially the same fashion in the Zhouyi.
"Guai" (43):   "f^> % jL ^   Presented in the royal hall.
"Zu"     (45)       *m fa <£.     The king enters into the "Huan" (59)   «*" ™^ «1 temple.
47
Any   one   of these points might be considered inconclusive in   terms of
40
dating   the text,   but taken together I believe they shot; the Zhouyi to
share   the same cultic and linguistic environment as the bronzes of the
late Western Zhou.
In addition to the rituals occurring at the royal court,    the other
great concern of late Western Zhou bronze inscriptions is warfare. This
48
concern is also reflected in general terms throughout the Zhouyi. but more important, two expressions which are inextricably bound up with the military vocabulary of late Western Zhou bronze inscriptions are also to be found in the line statements of the Zhouyi.
"Li" (30/6):  .1^* fc* & ^flj&tU Jtfift*
The king goes out to campaign at Jia: he cuts off heads and bags their chief.
49
"Shi" (7/5):  ^ # & 4*1 *l ;l£
In the fields (i.e., hunting), there is a catch: it is beneficial to shackle prisoners.
50
The   expressions   "zhe «hou" ^rj 7n    (cut off heads) and "zhi   van" ^fi
shackle prisoners) occurring in these lines   are precisely
those   expressions used in bronze inscriptions of the reigns of Kinc Li
and   King   Xuan (but never earlier) to formulaically express a military 51
victory. Compare their usage in the following bronze inscriptions, the   first of which ("Duo You ding" <${   ) has been provisionally
dated to the reign of King Li, and the other three of which can be dated precisely to the years 823 ("Xijia nan A, Vf jjfc ), 816 ("Guo Jizi bo pan ^ ^ 3- -ft ^ ), and 815 B.C. ("Buqi gui"). during the reign of King Xuan.
52
"Duo You ding":
On £ui-wei (day 20), the Rong attacked Xun: it was captured. Duo You pursued in a westerly direction. On the morning of iia-shen (day 21), (they) engaged at Qi with   Duo You cutting off heads and shackling prisoners.
41
In all, with the war-cnrts he cut off the heads of 235 men, shackled 23 prisoners, and captured 117 Rong carts. He returned to Xun and presented the captives. Then he engaged battle at Gong, cutting off the heads of 36 men, shackling 2 prisoners, and capturing 10 carts, which were pressed into service. Pursuing and engaging (the Rong) at Sni, Duo You again cut off heads and shackled prisoners. Then continuing the pursuit as far as Yangzhong, the war-carts (sic) cut off the heads of 115 men, and shackled 3 prisoners; but the captured carts could not be used and were thus burned, while the horses were used to move the injured and return the seized captives of Jingshi.
"Xijia nan":
It was when the king first went and attacked the Xianyun at Tulfl; Xijia accompanied the king, cutting off heads and shackling prisoners.
"Guo Jizi bo pan":
Illustrious Earl Zi, stolid in military achievement, conqueror of the four quarters, broadly attacked the Xianyun on the northern bank of the Luo (River), cutting off five hundred heads and shackling fifty prisoners, and with this came into prominence.
"Buqi gui":
I ordered you to pursue to Luo. You took our war-carts and thoroughly attacked the Xianyun at Gaotao, cutting off many heads and shackling many prisoners. The Rong greatly converged to counter-attack you; you met them. The Rong greatly pressed the attack; you were victorious, not taking our war-carts and sinking them in difficulty but rather cutting off heads and shackling prisoners.
The Zhouvi's use of these expressions which arc virtually a signature of
King   Xuan's reign allows us not only to confirm the late   Western Zhou
date   for the text,   but also to specify it with some confidence to this
one important reign.
I.2.iv      Historical Background
At   the   beginning of this essay I suggested that it might   now be possible to be more specific about the date of the Zhouyi's composition.
42
To do this it will be necessary first to very briefly outline the events
leading   up to the campaign early in the reign of King Xuan described in
the above bronze inscriptions.
As briefly suggested above, the reign of King Mu marked a period of
political   expansion and cultural innovation.     This can be seen in the
incidence of campaigns reported in a large number of bronze inscriptions
from that period,   in the new court rituals remarked on above,   and in a
53
dynamic nev; style of decor on the vessels themselves.      There is even a
reminder of the glory of the period in the later romance Mu Tianzi zhuan
$f % 3- 'ft   .   After this reign, the time of King Gong 3*. (r. 922-904
B.C.) must have marked a period of relative stability and consolidation.
But something then began to go wrong.     During the next two generations,
three different kings [Yih        Cr.   903-868), Xiao        (r. 876-868), and
l 54 Yi f±  (r. 865-860)] reigned, two of them perhaps simultaneously. How
and   why   King Xiao,   brother of King Yih and uncle of King Yi   came to
power   is unknown,   but it is tempting to see this as the result of one
sort   of   court intrigue or another.     During this   period   of apparent
internal   turmoil,   the alliances which had been forged by King Mu with
the   Iribes   living   on   the borders of the Zhou   state   also   began to
disintegrate.     In particular, trouble began to appear with the Rong f%
living in the Huai River valley.     This resulted in a major insurrection
among   these peoples,   which was eventually quelled by the Zhou but not
without   great   expenditures.     While the exact date of this   revolt is
55
still open to debate, we can be confident in saying that it occurred between 890 and 850 B.C. and in asserting that these four or five decades   marked   a significant decline in the power of the   Zhou ruling
43
house.
This   decline cane to something of a penultimate climax during the
reign of King Li Jfo   (r.   859-842).     Since the time history began to be
written in China,   this king has been viewed as an example of a weak and
corrupt monarch, incapable of discerning the good from the bad in either
advisors or ladies.     As tradition has it,   it was due to the scandalous
activities   at   his   court that many of the songs of   the   Shiiing were
composed   as   lament and satire.     Eventually,   such   oblique criticism
proved   insufficient and the king was forced into exile,   leading to the
so-called   "Gong   He" ^    ^interregnum.     During   this   period royal
authority was excercised by He of Gong,   a feudal lord known from bronze
inscriptions   as the dominant power behind the throne.     After fourteen
years   of Gong He's reign,   King Li's son,   King Xuan,   was restored to
power.   Whether this occurred because Xuan had only then come of age, or
whether there was some sort of royalist counter-coup is another question
that   is not yet and will not here be resolved;   but whichever the case,
the   young king was surely in an embattled position.     Mot only had his
father exhausted most of what was left of the royal prestige within the
state,   but problems were also compounded without.     While the tribes in
the   Uuai River valley were still a menace,   a growing threat came from
the northwest.     There the Xianyunjfffl^ fax made incursions nearly to the
royal   capital before being repulsed in the fifth year of Xuan's reign,
and   were   not definitively defeated until the thirteenth year   of that 56
reign. Following this Zhou victory ensued some twenty-odd years of relative peace, according to the history books, but shortly after Xuan's death in 782 B.C. the final end came for the Zhou dominion over the West
44
and for the power of the Zhou ruling house as well.
The above outline of Western Zhou history does not pretend to be exhaustive or necessarily accurate as to detail. Such a study will have to await another day. It is here important merely to understand the flow of events and to be aware of the one historical event crucial to the prestige of the Zhou ruling house: the forced exile of King Li. Before this time, there was no question as to the position of that house, even during the chaotic period of three kings in two generations. But, from the time of King Li's exile, the Zhou house and the Zhou people must have been acutely aware of their own vulnerability. It was indeed a time of crisis.
I would maintain that the composition of the Zhouyi was directly influenced by this state of crisis. While I have argued that the Zhouvi was the conscious composition of a particular place and time, this is not to imply that it was not the cumulative result of a long tradition. To be sure, we have noted above that milfoil divination, upon which the Zhouvi was based, was practised at least as early as the early Western Zhou, and that oracles similar to those in the Zhouvi appear among the Qishan oracle-bones of the early Western Zhou. And yet the great bulk of milfoil divination lacks any oracle at all. Consider the inscription of the "Shi Youfu dine" <$1 , which reads:
Scribe Youfu makes this treasured, precious vessel. Divining:8-5-7.
We   can imagine that the casting of this bronze vessel was occasioned by
the   Scribe   Youfu's   divination,    the result of which   was   the "bagua
45
numerical   symbol"   8-5-7,   which possibly can be   associated   with the
.   PA 57
Zhouvi   trigram   "Sun1* ^  .      While we must suppose in this case that
the   trigram "Sun" was a result deemed auspicious for the casting   of a
bronze   vessel,   we should also suppose that the Scribe Youfu must have
announced some prognostication as to \;hy it was auspicious. Apparently
no   need   was   felt to immortalize this verbal   prognostication   in the
bronze   vessel.     Yet   it   probably was not simply   forgotten.     We can
surmise that Youfu either drew his prognostication from an oral body of
lore   regarding the "bagua numerical symbols" or else enriched that body
of lore with each new divination.     And since official positions in the
royal   court of the Western Zhou were generally hereditary,   along with
the   other   specialized knowledge that was in the domain of the scribe,
the   body of lore about divination prognostications presumably was also
passed from father to son.
A   great   deal of ancient literature passed through   such   an oral
phase.     But   at some point in history the oral traditions were put into
writing.   We might suspect that a period of crisis would occasion such a
change in the means of transmission.   At a time when a people feels that
its future security is threatened,   when its chain of social inheritance
dissolves,   the people would for the first time feel the need to comr.it
their   oral   traditions   to writing.     As one instance   of   this socio-
literary   phenomenon,   "form critical" scholars of the Bible   trace its
written transmission from the time of the Hebrew exile.
If we suppose that tradition was once anost exclusively oral, then we must proceed to propound the question: why have traditionists, poets and reciters made use of writing, and what consequences does this involve? These questions are of course not only of interest for the   Homeric poems;   they must be asked   regarding every
46
culture or cultural movement whatsoever, where the spoken proclaimed word was of primary significance, but where at some specified time writing nevertheless cat;.e into use. Thus these questions must be of the greatest interest to those concerned with Biblical research. It is certainly difficult, if not impossible, to give an answer that applies to the Old Nordic, the Hellenic, the Persian, the Indian, and the Semitic worlds. Especially in those cases where there was interplay between several civilizations, the answer must have many different nuances. But it is perhaps possible to indicate an incentive that at certain times made people start to write down their inherited traditions. Here we would draw attention to the answer of Engnell and Nyberg tbat "reduction to writing is linked with a general crisis of confidence." At some time faith in the spoken word began to waver, and it was thought necessary to write down the traditions.
58
I   believe that the Zhouyi offers an analogous case.     Two great crises
rocked   the   Zhou people in the ninth and   eighth   centuries   B.C.: the
flight   of   King Li into exile in 842 and the sack of Zongzhou   and the
death   of   King   You 4k   <r.   781-771) in 771.     While   both   of these
situations   offer   circumstances appropriate to the   recording   of oral
tradition,     I   believe   that   the   former   was   the   catalyst   for the
composition of the Zhouyi.   There are three reasons for this.   First, we
.  have   seen   that in its literary development of meter and   prosody, the
Zhouyi   lies   somewhere between the "Zhou song," probably   written down
during the reign of King Mu,   and the two "Ya" sections of the Sailing,
which date generally to the end of the Western Zhou.   Second, linguistic
usage   has   been   shown to accord with the brcnze inscriptions   of King
Xuan's   reign.     And   third,   the Zhouyi depicts throughout a   state in
which'the royal house is paramount.     From examples where the king goes
on campaign:
"Li" (30/6): X /fl      fe. A %
The king herewith goes to campaign at Jia, 59
to references to court ritual:
47
"Huan" (59)   3> m
The king enters into the temple,
to a pyramidal social structure:
"Dayou" (14/3):  £ Ih 1 f K 2r
The duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven,
the Zhouyi always assumes a state in which the king is at the top. This
of course was not the case after the catastrophe of 771.   From that time
on,   the Zhou king remained a king,   in name only,   only by the grace of
60
more powerful yet not quite powerful enough states.
But all of these conditions were net during the reign of Kim; Xuan. As outlined above, his reign began in what ..<ust have been a climate of despair. The young king's father had been a rascal finally forced to flee into exile; fourteen years had been spent under the authority of one not from the royal Zhou family; and now, a young and inexperienced boy had to grapple with not just these problems but also with the threat and reality of foreign invasion. This surely would have been cause for the royal scribes to put their oral traditions into writing in the hope that even if they were not to survive personally, at least their body of knowledge might.
It   would   seem moreover that this aspect of the Zhouyi's creation
was not entirely forgotten by later tradition.   At the beginning of this
chapter,   it was stated that any attempt to date the Zhouyi necessarily
begins with two passages from the "Xici zhuan" of the Yijing.:
Was it not in the middle period of antiquity that the Yi. began to flourish? Was not he who r.ade it familiar with anxiety and calamity?
Was   it not in the last age of Yin,   when the   virtue of
48
Zhou had reached its highest point, and during the troubles between King Wen and Zhou, that the Yi, began to flourish?
Nearly all of the evidence presented in this chapter shows that the second of these remarks owes nore to the hagiographical conceptions of the "Xici zhuan'"s own late-Warring States composer than to historical reality. And although the first is 3lso traditionally assumed to refer to   King   Wen   in his period of imprisonment at Youli   $L ,   it is
certainly possible that it recalls instead the anxious and calamitous circumstances surrounding King Xuan's post-exilic assumption of power.
In conclusion then, its literary development and linguistic usage show the Zhouvi to be a product of the latter stage of- the Western Zhou dynasty, and the historical context of this period suggests a composition date in the early years of King Xuan's reign: most probably, during the last two decades of the ninth century, B.C.
49
CHAPTER TWO THE USE OF THE ZHOUYI
Having seen that the earliest historical references to the Zhouyi uniformly treat it as a book of divination, in order to understand hot; the structure of the text may have come to be organized we should know something of how Zhouyi divination was performed. But before discussing Zhouyi divination itself, a subject much confused by anachronistic speculations, it will be helpful first to survey the general practice of divination in ancient China.
II.1 A Survey of Divination in Ancient China
There   is   evidence   that divination in the form of   pyromancy was
already   widespread   in neolithic China,   being regarded as one   of the
1
identifying traits of the Longshan cultural stratum.   Unfortunately, the
absence   of inscriptions on the divination bones allows us to do little
more   than note their existence.     More hints regarding the   origins of
Chinese   divination   can   be   gleaned from   traditional   historical and
raytholological sources.     Sirca Qian began the treatise on divination in
his Shiji with the remark:
Since the ancient sage-kings' establishment of the nation and acceptance of the mandate, in any of their acts have they ever not treasured turtle-shell and milfoil divination in assisting them to do good?
2
He   also   presaged modern archaeological findings by   remarking   on the
widespread use of divination.
Although the Man, Yi, Di, and Qiang lack the protocol of rulers and ministers, they also use divination to resolve doubts.
3
50
And   of no little interest in a study of the Zhouyi,    it is also to the
proto-historical   period that the origins of Yi divination are ascribed.
The   sage-enperor   Fu   Xi *-s said t0   have   copied   the natural
patterns   of heaven and earth in creating the three-line permutations of
broken   and solid lines known in the West as "trigrans."    Whatever the
4
historical validity of these traditions, it would seem that they do reflect an authentic and vibrant divination tradition of long-standing.
Il.l.i      Shang Oracle-Bones
It   is   with   the inscribed oracle-bones first   discovered   in the
vicinity   of Anyang beginning at around the turn of the present century,
however,   that true historical studies of Chinese divination can begin.
The   inscriptions   have allowed these oracle-bones to be dated first to
the   final period of the Shang dynasty,   then to its various individual
reigns,   and finally,   in very recent years,   to different groups within 5
single reigns.     In addition,   their content gives an indication of the
procedures used in these divinations,   the extent of the topics divined,
6
and used judiciously, the intent of the divination ritual. Piecing together all of these factors it is possible to discern a gradual but certain development in the role of divination during the 250-odd years of the late Shang.
As in all historical studies, a correct view of developmental trends is predicated on proper periodization of the sources. In the case of the Shang oracle-bones, the first major step in this direction was taken nearly fifty years ago when Dong Zuobin 3- ^ %s proposed a system of periodization allotting individual styles to particular reigns or pairs of reigns.   The subsequent discovery in the single pit YH127 of
51
inscriptions datable by his system to both the reigns of Wu Ding fS^ J
(Dong's   Period I) and the reigns of V.'u Yi 5v h    and V.'en Ding X. 1
(Dong's   Period   IV)   led him to espouse   a   rather   peculiar bipartite
development   of Shang divination,   vaccillating between "Old School" and
7
"New   School"   traditions.     Recent discoveries and studies   have shown
beyond doubt however that the rationale behind this proposal; i.e., that
Dong's     Period     IV   inscriptions,     although   sharing   many    of the
characteristics   of his Period I inscriptions,   are   temporally removed
from them by three generations, is faulty.   Instead, it has become clear
that this group of inscriptions, which is sub-dividable by diviners into
Dui    ^     ,   Wu ^  ,   Zi «3»   ,   and Li        groups,   is in fact roughly
contemporary   with Dong's standard Period I inscriptions,   those of the
Diviner Bin        group.     What is more,   there seems to be good reason to
regard   the Diviner Dui-group inscriptions among these as being earlier
8
than the Diviner Bin-group. This periodization not only obviates the need to see any "antiquarian" (fu £u "3? ) movements in later periods, but also moves us one step closer to the beginnings of Chinese divination.
The inscriptions of the Diviner Dui-group share several unique features. First, the inscripcions are individuated to a rather greater extent than those of other periods or groups. In contrast to such characteristically formulaic divinations as "xun wang hup*"i- [in the (coming) ten-day week there will be no misfortune] of later periods, the inscriptions of the Diviner Dui-group appear more or less ad. hoc, made with regard to a specific incident or situation. For example: jfi 4.46.1:   h «  h X        ...   & 4t 4> & 4
52
Crack on yi-you. the itins divining: ... Is it really that I am to receive the Horse-land's aid? Or am I not to receive the land's aid?" Third month.
Second,   but   perhaps related to this first   point,   these inscriptions
generally   do   not constitute "divination pairs" (dui zhen 1H  ^    ) of
the type known from the Diviner Bin-group, but, as in the example above,
combine   positive   and negative questions within   a   single divination.
This   may   well   be   a   feature   of   a   relatively   primitive   style of
divination.   A third point is also illustrated by the example above: the
9
divinations are often linguistically phrased as questions.
2,456:    Z *1 J* i - * & * *
Crack on vi-raao. Dui: "One sheep to Father Yi or not?
J&>&88:    1 & h 4* * * iA^'
Crack on ding-chou (day 14),   Gao:   "Shall we
order   (him)   to go out until gen^-chen (day 17) or not?"
ft 1194: i&VlK
Crack   on xin-you.   divining:    "Will it last until today? Or not?"
"J4-&2.466:      ... ^        4 A ')k  —.   & 3u *k K
Ren-.., divining: "... an ox at Zhao ... Can it not be used? Or can it be used?" Third month.
This linguistic feature is not seen in later inscriptions, a point the significance of which will be discussed below.
Subsequent   to   the   Diviner   Dui-group   inscriptions   comes Dong Zuobin's standard Period I grouping,   the Diviner Bin-group, probably to
53
10
oe   associated with the latter period of King Wu Ding's iengtny reign.
Whether   due to an extremely pronounced emphasis on divination   at this
time or due merely to the accident of discovery,    inscriptions from this
group   comprise far and away the largest percentage of the entire corpus
of Shang oracle-hone inscriptions.     Divinations concern virtually every
facet of life.   A general listing of Diviner Bin-group divination topics
would   include   sacrifices,   military   campaigns,   hunting expeditions,
excursions,     the   ten-day   week,     the   night   or   day,     the weather,
agriculture,     sickness,     childbirth,     distress,     dreams, settlement
11
building, orders, tribute payment, and divine assistance. A striking innovation vis-a-vis the Diviner Dui-group inscriptions is the ubiquitous use of paired divinations, usually a positive statement on the right side of the shell or bone and its negation on the left. Coupled with this development of paired divinations, the grammatically interrogatory phrases of the Diviner Dui-group inscriptions no longer appear, giving way to what grammatically mu3t be interpreted as declarative sentences.     Yet the general format and intent of divination see^s
12
to   have remained unchanged.     And despite an incipient formulaicness, the range of topics listed above demonstrates that divination was still very much ad_ hoc.
Dramatic changes in the function of divination appeared during the reign of Zu Jia frQ, *f and lasted through the remainder of the dynasty. Perhaps the most important innovation of this so-called "New School" is the much reduced scope of divination topics. By the dynasty's end, divination almost exclusively concerned only the sacrifce cycle, the ten-day week and the night,   and the hunt.     In addition to this reduced
54
topical scope, there also seems to have been a quantitative reduction in
the   number of divinations performed,   both in general and   in specific
cases.   To discuss just the specific case fcr now (we will have cause to
return   below   to   the general reduction in divination curing   the last
reigns   of   the   dynasty),     numbers   carved   alongside   cracks (crack
notations), presumably indicating the number of the crack in a series of
divinations   about   the same topic,   frequently go as high as 10 in the
inscriptions of the Diviner Bin-group;   by the final reigns of Di Yi <f>
2i   and   Di   Xin ^ they rarely exceed 3   and   never   exceed 5.
Related   to this,   the same divin-ition topic was commonly addressed to a
set   of shells.     in the early period it would seem that that the usual
number   was   5 or 6;   by the late   Shang   however,   both archaeological
evidence   and tradition suggest that divination was uniformly performed
14
with sets of three shells.
Aside from these quantitative changes, significant qualitative changes occurred as well. The ad. hoc quality which was remarked on with regard to the Diviner Dui-group and Diviner Bin-group inscriptions is nowhere to be seen in inscriptions of the reigns of Di Yi and Di Xin. These appear as basically pro forca rites; the mystery seems to have gone out of the pyromantic ritual. And yet, a curious theological reversal seems to have taken place. Mot only were the divination charges of King Wu Ding's reign relatively ad hoc, the prognostications made by the king (and the verifications as well) could be equally so.
$ 1.4:    * * I* * * * 4 i * T * * # *
* %
Crack-making on gui-chou (day 50), Zheng divining: "From today to dins-si (day 54), we will not expect to defeat the Zhou.:i
55
it )- 1 4 ft 4 i f r 4 a 4C
•J iv ? * # * * - e     * %
Crack-making on gui-chou (day 50), Zheng divining: "From today to ding-si (day 54), we will defeat the Zhou." The king prognosticated, saying: "Down to ding-si we are not to defeat them. On the coming Ha-zi (cay 1) x;e will defeat them." On the eleventh day, gui-hai (day 60), our chariots did not defeat them; in the early morning of iia-zi. we really did defeat them.
15
Prognostications   could be either auspicious or inauspicious.      By the
reigns   of Di Yi and Di Xin,   on the other hand,   prognostications were
invariably auspicious,   formulaically stated as ji.       (auspicious), da
H (greatly   auspicious),     or   yin   j_i    \\   j£ (extended
16
suspiciousness). Moreover, these prognostications are given for divination topics that could also be characterized as uniformly positive. The standard divination statements of this period are "xun wang huo" I in the (coming) ten-day week there will be no harm] and "wang lai wanq zai" ^i, ^R, "u *ji (going and coming there will be no disaster). The   logical negations to these [i.e.,   xun vou huo £j ^ (in the
coming   ten-day week there will be har-_0 and wang lai you zai ^ ^
(going and coming there will be disaster)] never occur. This suggests that for the last Shang kings, the ritual of divination was no longer simply an attempt to resolve doubts about impending events but rather had become a means of controlling them.
It goes without saying that a survey such as that above will be marred   by generalities and unsubstantiated statements.     What is more,
56
there are important historiographical problems to consider when comparing inscriptions of different periods. Most important, inscriptions of the King Wu Ding period Diviner Bin-group are far more numerous than those of any other period (comprising by one estimate 55% of the total;
the   same estimate ascribes only 7% of all inscriptions to the reigns of
17
Di Yi and Di Xin). There are two possible explanations for this: simple accident of discovery, or, that suggested above, that divination had gradually lost its vitality. In studies based on archaeologically discovered materials, it is of course always possible that future excavations will force revisions in even firmly held convictions. A future cache of oracle-bones from the reign of Di Xin, for example, could radically alter our picture of that reign and, with it, the apparent evolution of divination outlined above. But the fact that bones have already   been «rientifically excavated from numerous disparate sites in
the   Anyang   area   leads one to expect that future   finds   will enhance
18
rather than alter what is already known.
Il.l.ii     Western Zhou Divination
While our understanding of Shang divination (or better, Shang pyromancy) will presumably not change with future discoveries, the important discovery in 1977 of the cache of 17,000 turtle-shell pieces in the Zhou ancestral temple at Qishan has already forced fundamental revisions in the history of post-Shang divination. Heretofore, many scholars had assumed that pyromantic divination was a ritual institution unique to the Shang, and which, after the Zhou conquest, was no longer practised. It was believed that the Zhou divined predominantly through the use of milfoil or yarrow stalks,   materials which,   it was thought,
57
could leave no archaeological imprint. Two reasons were commonly given for this change in divination techniques:   the Zhou were an agricultural
Deople   and   thus naturally favored the botanical   milfoil,   and, oeing
19
located far in the West, did not have easy access to turtle-shells. Not only have the Zhouyuan turtle-shells proven this theory to be false, but the inscriptions discovered on a number of these pieces provide new insight into the conceptual foundations of Zhou divination. While the evidence is still too scanty to provide any but the cost general impressions, we can be safe in saying that these inscriptions, dating to roughly the Shang-Zhou transitional period, differ rather markedly from the contemporaneous inscriptions of Shang kings Di Yi a"'' Di Xin described above.     They are, as were the earlier Shang inscriptions, basi-
20
cally ad hoc.     Inscriptions of the type "xun wang huo" are not seen, with divinations instead referring to specific events.
Hll:l: &   &   tK ?v %  -L %  £  jt   £  BJ £
ffc x A * JL
On gui-si (day 30), performing the vi-ritual at the temple of the accomplished and martial Di Yi; divining: "The king will sacrifice to Cheng Tang, performing a cauldron-exorcism of the two surrendered women. He will perform the vi-ritual with the blood of three rams and three sows. We desire that it be correct."
Hll:6:
Crack-making, (we) say: "We desire that Bing be capable of serving."
On the other hnnd,   the inscriptions exhibit a development of one aspect
58
of late Shang divination:   the tendency for tne "charge" to be positive.
Although   the   Zhouyuan turtle-plastrons are   badly   fragmented, making
complete   inscriptions   rare,    evidence presently at hand suggests that
each inscription normatively ended with the prayer " ^   (i.e.,   si )
21
..." (we desire that ...). This seems to require that divination be construed as a request that the future event concerned be allowed to happen. While we will have occasion to discuss this in more detail below, it suggests a rather different role for divination in ancient China than has traditionally been assumed.
It was mentioned above that after the discovery of oracle-bones at Anyang, the site of the last Shang capital, many scholars surmised that pyromancy effectively ended with that dynasty and was supplanted by Zhou milfoil divination. Not only has the discovery of the Zhouyuan oracle-bones disproved this basic thesis, but it has also served to suggest that milfoil divination was also practised during the Shang dynasty. As pointed out in Chapter One (Sec. I.2.i), several of the oracle-bones at Qishan were inscribed with sets of numbers, identified by Zhang Zhenglang as numerical predecessors of Zhouvi hexagrams. Further study has revealed that in addition to occurring in Western Zhou inscriptions, these "bagua numerical symbols" are also found on late Shang oracle-bones. The convergence of vestiges of these two types of divination technique has led Zhang Yachu 3L and Liu Yu <&! >3\ to suggest that not only was milfoil divination performed during the Shang dynasty as early as the reign of King Wu Ding, but that it was often done in conjunction with turtle-shell divination. In addition to the evidence provided by these "bagua numerical symbols," Zhang and Liu also find linguistic   support    in   the   Shang oracle-bone   inscriptions   for this
conclusion.     For   instance,   they show that the graph        , previously
interpreted as wu        (shaman),   should instead be read as shi ^ (mil-22
foil divination). Corroborating this view, David II. Keightley nas suggested that the oracle-bone graph z.hu W I (bamboo), read as "bamboo stalks," also pertains to milfoil divination. Thus, such inscriptions as:
7ft 2.37.7: . J      MT t A •»
Crack-making and bamboo-stalking (?) on ding-chou, Zheng divining: ...
2.4&519:       H h k k J* *5T ^5 —
Crack on bing-yin.   Bi divining:   "The cracks and bamboo-stalks say ..."
suggest that, at least in certain cases, divinations were performed concurrently with both milfoil (or bamboo) stalks and turtle-shell. This insight has led Keightley to suggest that perhaps milfoil divination   was   quite common indeed,   although subordinate,   and was used to
determine   which   in   a series of cracks should be   the   basis   for the 23
prognostication. Evidence is still too scarce to accept this hypothesis as fact, but there does seem to be sufficient reason to accept that milfoil divination was practised at least as early as the time of King Wu   Ding   and that it was used in tandem with   turtle-shell divination.
Il.l.iii   Divination in the Zuozhuan
wnile we rely on the oracle-bones as historical sources of the first order for the Shang and Western Zhou periods, it would be foolhardy not to admit that many of our conceptions about the cultural institutions of that time derive from later, traditional sources. Theories regarding the dual use of milfoil and turtle-shell divination are no exception.     The inspiration for Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu's conclu-
60
sions   stens from a statenent in the "Stalk-Diviner" (Shiren
48.8b) section of the Zhouli that "in all great affairs of state, one must first divine by milfoil and then by crack-making." While historical evidence of such a dual divination technique is not as prevalent as Zhang and Liu imply, it is certainly true that both techniques enjoyed common currency in the best documented period of China's antiquity, the Spring   and Autumn period.     By my calculation,   in   the   Zuozhuan. the
chronicle   of   this era,   there are 24 historical cases of turtle-shell
24
divination and 12 historical cases of milfoil divination. It would be difficult to see any fundamental difference in the usage to which these different divination techniques were put. As the charts on the following pages show, turtle-shell divinations were performed about the following topics: day/night (1), marriage (1), sickness (1), travel (1)^ dreams (I), birth (2), re-settlement (2), sacrifices (3), appointments (3), and warfare (10). Milfoil divinations were also performed about dreams (1), travel (1), marriage (3), and warfare (5), in addition to such distinct topics as personal fortune (1) and personal decisions (1). Hor does there seem to be a distinction between the two types of divination as to the status of the persons for whom the divination was performed. Before about 600 B.C., which we have already indicated as a watershed in the development of Zhouvi divination, both turtle-shell and milfoil divination seem to have been reserved exclusively for heads of state, whereas after this time nobles of lesser standing are also seen to employ divination. Finally, although there is no doubt that milfoil divination was still considered to be subordinate to turtle-shell divination,the   conceptual pre-suppositions seem to have been   similar with
61
Turtle-shell Divination in the Zuozhuan
Year      Prin-      Diviner   Prognos- Topic Comments
cipal_ticator
% 22 762 B.C.				day and night	•
ŤÍS 2 660	& A			birth	+ milfoil divination
?* 4 656				marriage	+ milfoil divination
1* 17 643				birth	
ft. 19 641				sacrifice to exorcise a drought	
U 25 635				warfare	zhao described; + milfoil div.
« 31 629				sacrifice day	
M 31 629	ftí -fíL			removal of residence	
X 11 616				warfare	
X 13 614				removal of the capital	
< 18 609				sickness	charge announced
'£ 12 597	ft ^			peacemaking	
& 17 574				appointment to office	
%. 7 566				sacrifice	
.«.10 563			li	warfare	zhao described
IL 2k 549				appo intment to office	
t.2% 545	iS vi	/a		warfare	presentation of zhao
o£ 5 537				warfare	charge announced
at 10 532				warfare/appointment to office	
41 17 527				warfare	2 divinations; charge announced
á, 4 506				international relations	
3. 9 501				travel	zhao described
3k. 9 487				assisting another state	zhao described; + milfoil div.
^.17 479				dream	2 divinations zhen bu
62
Milfoil Divination in the Zuozhuan
Year    Prin-      Diviner     Prognos-           Topic Comments cipal ticator					
m i 661 B.C.				personal service	Zhouvi used
a a 656				marriage	+ turtle-shell divination
4k 15 645				marriage	Zhouvi used
A 15 645				warfare	
-ft 23 637		ti \		warfare	
-ft 24 636				crossing river	
^25 635				warfare	Zhouvi used: + turtle-shell div.
16 575				warfare	Zhouvi used
548		<		marriage	Zhouvi used
JJfL 7 535				personal fortune	2 divinations
9 487				warfare	Zhouvi used: + turtle-shell div*
^17 479				dream	zhou given: + turtle-shell div.
63
both   techniques.     As noted in the case of the Western Zhou oracle-bone
inscriptions,   the subject of the divination, addressed as a "charge" to
the turtle-shell (mine, eui or the milfoil (mine, shi
generally represented a desire of the person performing the divination.
The following narrative is an excellent example of this point.
In the Spring the Lord of Qi was preparing his troops when he became ill. The doctors said that he would die before autumn. Duke (Wen) heard of this and divined by turtle-shell, saying, "Would that he not reach the time." Hui Bo charged the turtle and Bu Chuqiu prognosticated, saying, "The Lord of Qi will not reach the time but it will not be because of illness. But neither will my lord hear (of his death); in the charge to the turtle there was a problem."
(Wen 18; 609 B.C.)
25
In addition to demonstrating the prescriptive nature of divination, this narrative • also shows that the performance of divination still required professional expertise. Not only does one official announce the "charge" to the turtle, but a second official, whose surname Bu h shows him to be a hereditary divination official, is relied on to interpret the crack and make the prognostication. All of this suggests that at least through the mid-Spring and Autumn period, the foundations of   divination   had   not changed greatly from its   practise   in earlier
antiquity*
Il.l.iv    The "Treatise on Turtle(-shell) and (Milfoil) Stalk Divination"
To   bring this survey of divination practise in ancient China to a
close,   it   is   important to introduce briefly the "Treatise   on Turtle
(-shell)   and   (Milfoil) Stalk Divination" ("Guice liezhuan"  &  % #1
26
) chapter of the Shiii. The treatise, in the main authored by Chu Xiaosun       'J* 3^ ,   is the earliest attempt at a synthetic treatment of
64
the history of divination,   the ideas behind divination,   the method by
which (turtle-shell) divination was performed, and especially important,
how the cracks on the turtle-shell were interpreted.     Both specific and
general test-cases are illustrated.
Crack-making about whether a prieoner will be released: "If he is not to be released, then it will be 'transversal; auspicious to rest1 ( I *). If he is to be released, the foot will open, the head will be raised and there will be an excess to the outside ( J—-'')."
Crack-making about seeking valuable commodities which are appropriate for one to obtain: "If they are to be obtained, the head will rise and the foot open, inside and out will correspond ( [*s ). If they are not to be obtained, the portents will be the head rising and the foot falling ( K >."
When the charge reads, "Good markings; the head is raised and the foot is falling ( h-\ ):" in pronouncing upon sickness, there will be no death; the imprisoned will still not be released; in seeking valuable commodities or in buying servants, wives, horses, or cows, you •will not be successful; you will not travel; they will not come; in attacking robbers, you will not see each other; if you hear that robbers are coming, they will not come; there will be much sadness if you stay too long in office; it is inauspicious to dwell in your house; the crops will not ripen during the year; there will be an epidemic among the people; there will be no fighting during the year; it is inauspicious to see an honored person; as for requesting an audience, do not go; your catch will be small in hunting or fishing; in travelling you will not meet robbers; it will not rain; it will not clear up; it is not auspicious.
28
Perhaps the most significant point about this text is its handbook format* Virtually every conceivable crack configuration is illustrated with the applicable prognostication specified for each of 46 different divination subjects. This type of formularization would have obviated the need for professional officials to interpret the results of the divination, and in so doing effectively opened divination to everyone.
65
II.l.v Conclusions
The   above   survey   of   over a millennium   of   divination practise
suggests   several iuportant points of development.     To consider perhaps
the   most important first,   there seems to have been an early change in
the   basic   religious conception of divination's   role.     The classical
interpretation   of that role is found stated in the Zuozhuan   under the
account of Duke Huan's jfe 11th year (701 B.C.): "bu vi iue vi  h I'-'s. >^s.
^^(turtle-shell divination is used to resolve doubts).     This is based
on the supposition that the the turtle (and the milfoil,   as well) has a
29
numinous   power   to know the future.      With the discovery on the Shang
oracle-bones of the formulaic use of the word zhen ^ / N  » oracle-bone
specialists referred to the seemingly incongruous definition of "zhen bu
wen ye"      )»  f?Jf|        (zhen means to inquire by turtle-shell divination)
given   by   Xu Shen       ^    in his Shuowen iiezi ftfi J^L  (Shuowen
iiezi Duan-zhu : 3B.29a) as a rationale for interpreting each of
the inscribed sentences as being interrogatory in nature.
In recent years however,   a group of American oracle-bone scholars
has   proposed reading the inscriptions instead as declarative statements
30
about which the divination process was a test of truthfulness. Their
argument   rests on two noteworthy linguistic phenomena:   first, although
interrogatory   particles   were available in the Shang language (witness
their use in Diviner Dui-group inscriptions),   they do not appear in the
overwhelming majority of Shang oracle-bone inscriptions (indeed,   in no
inscriptions posterior to those of the Diviuer Dui-group):
jf 1194:   4 il I- ft! * 1 4 « * ? ^'
Crack   on xin-vou.   divining:   "Will it last until today? Or not?
66
ft 611:    f A ft A i
In the ninth no-nth there will be activity.
Second,   there   is   no   grammatical difference   between   the divination
"charges"   (ming ci  ^ ) and the prognostications or verifications,
both of which certainly must be declarative in   nature.     Consider, for
instance, the three discrete portions of the inscription on   ft 4.1:
Charge: % A % * 1   ^^^^ %
From today to ding-si. we will defeat the Zhou.
Prognostication:
Verification:
* * <&) * * a * * * ^ +
Down to ding-si. we are not to defeat them; on the coming jia-zi. ue will defeat then.
On the eleventh day, gui-hai. our chariots did not defeat them; in the early morning of iia-zi. we really did defeat them.
The major implication of this argument,   as I understand it,   is that by
the late Shang,   divination was not simply a means of knowing the future
but was instead an attempt to control the future.     Rather than asking a
question of the turtle-shell, the king commanded it [and it is important
to   note   that the tern used to denote divination statements has always
been   rain° ci (charge or command)] with his desires,   presumably hoping
that   they   would thereby be communicated to his ancestors   and   to the
other   members   of the spiritual pantheon capable of assisting in their
realization.
Although the relevance of this first point to Z.houy.i divination will become evident only in the next section, the relevance of several other developments is mare immediately evident. The first of these is c movement   from relatively particularized,   ad hoc divinations   to those
67
more formulaic in nature.     This development is particularly striking in
the   case of the Shang cracle-bone inscriptions,   moving as they do from
the broad-spectrum questioning of the Diviners Dui and Bin groups to the
narrow,   ritualistic   affirmations of Di Yi and Di   Xin's   reigns. The
difference   between   the   Spring   and Autumn pyromancy   related   in the
Zuozhuan   and   that   described in the "Treatise   on   Turtle(-shell) and
(Milfoil)   Stalk Divination" chapter of the Shiii displays something of
the same development.   In the Spring and Autumn period cracks were still
prognosticated   upon by a designated auguror,   whose interpretations do
31
not   seem   to have been based on any objective standard.      By   the Han
however,   the   procedure   had   been   standardized   to   the   extent that
presumably   any crack obtained could be interpreted by matching it with
an   example among the 46 general or 46 specific types described   in the
manual.   While evidence of Western Zhou divination practise is still too
scarce   to draw any conclusions,   it seems reasonable that   the Zhouyi.
created as it was toward the end of the period, may have come about in a
similar manner as a standardized manual for milfoil divination.
The   above   survey also suggests a movement from divinations about
royal   affairs to those more secular in nature.     The Shang oracle-bone
inscriptions   portray   divination   as a ritual that   was   the exclusive
32
prerogative of the king. Indeed, by. the end of the dynasty, not only are the divinations exclusively concerned with royal affairs, even the performance of the ritual was generally done by the king himself. This situation also seems to characterize Western Zhou divination* The majority of the Zhouyuan oracle-bone inscriptions specify the king as either the subject of the divination or as the diviner.     In the case of
68
the   Zhouyi   as   well,   we have already had occasion to note   the royal
flavor of much of the text (see Sec.   I.2.iv); indeed, the 19 references
to   the   king   make him the personage most frequently mentioned   in the
text.     This situation begins to change,   however,   during the course of
the Spring and Autumn period.     Although the prestige of the royal house
had already been eclipsed by the events of 771 B.C., through the seventh
century B.C.   divinations continued to be performed exclusively for the
various   heads of states.     After roughly 600 B.C.,   on the other hand,
seemingly any nobleman had recourse to the rite.     From that time hence,
prerogatives formerly exclusively royal were widely enjoyed.   Indeed, by
the Han, the "Treatise on Turtle(-shell) and (Milfoil) Stalk Divination"
suggests that even the common person had access to divination.
The Records say, "Whoever is able to obtain a named turtle will have riches come to him and his family will be wealthy in the millions. .. If you obtain one of these turtles it need not be fully one foot two inches long; if the people get one (even) seven or eight inches long, it is treasurable.
33
This secularization is also evident in the topics about which divinations were performed. The chart on the following two pages demonstrates the gradual shift from topics of concern to the nation as a whole to those concerning individual fortune and benefit.
These remarks on a tendency towards secularization must be qualified in one very important respect. While divination was no longer restricted to any social class, a new conception developed whereby divination was considered efficacious for only those morally worthy. In the preface to the "Treatise on Turtle(-shell) and (Milfoil) Stalk Divination," Sima Qian makes this explicit:
69
A COMPARISON OF DIVINATION TOPICS FROM SHANG TO HAN
Topic Sacrifices Warfare
Hunting and fishing
Excursions
The "week"
Day/night
Weather
Harvest
Sickness
Childbirth
Distress/trouble
Dreams
Settlement building Divine assistance Appointments Mourning
Marital relations Residential life Legal Proceedings
Shang*    W. Zhou**
x x x
X X X X
. c
X X X X X X
X X
X
X
Zhouyi Zuozhuan
X X X X
X X X
X X
X X
s
X X
X X X X X
Han
X X
X
X
70
Topic Shang      W. Zhou       Zhouvi     Zuozhuan Han
Astronomical portents      x x x
Plans x Acquisition
of commodities x Acquisition of
servants, wives x and animals
Robbers x x
Change of office x x
Audiences x x
Seeking a lost
person x x
a. Based on Keightley, 1978: 33-35.
b. Based on Shaanxi Zhouyuan kaogudui, 1979: 39-43 and 1981: 3-7.
c. Based on Li Jingchi, 1978: 33-34.
d. Based on the "Treatise on Turtle-(Shell) and (Milfoil) Stalk Divination" chanter of the Shiii   (128.3223-3250); see also, Shaughnessy, 1980a: vi-via.
71
The cracks respond to faith and sincerity within; when mortals inspect (the cracks) they see them manifest without. Can this not be said to be the two (realms; i.e., moral and spiritual) coinciding?
34
This   equation of the spiritual quality of divination with moral virtue
was also expounded by the Han scholiast Zheng Xuan.
As for zhen meaning inquiry, in inquiring about what is proper, you must first make it proper and only then inquire about it.
35
Divination was still predictive,   but its prediction could not alter the
course of affairs made inevitable by one's own moral disposition.
The   roots cf this moralization of divination can be traced to late
in   the Spring and Autumn period.     The final episodes   of turtle-shell
divination related in the Zuozhuan share a marked disdain for relying on
the oracles.     For instance,   in the 23rd year of Duke Ai (473 B.C.), an
army   of Jin j£   was about to engage that of Qi "fa ,   when the general
was advised that he should first perform a turtle-shell divination. He
refused, saying, "It is enough that I was charged to punish a crime; why
should   I   now divine?"   In an account of happenings five years earlier
[Ai   18   (478 B.C.)],   not only is this same   disregard   for divination
evident but it is praised.   On the occasion of an attack by the state of
Ba 2i  on Chu        ,   King Hui ^   was encouraged to perform a divination
to   determine the proper commander for his defense.     The king resisted,
saying that a former oracle had already intimated a selection, and since
that   selection was in accordance with his wishes,   he saw no   need for
further   divination.     The result of this policy was a victory for Chu,
prompting the following reflection in the Zuozhuan.
The superior man will say that King Hui knew his mind. In him was an illustration of what is said in one of the Books of Xia,   "The officer of divination,   when the mind
72
is made up on a subject, then refers it to the great turtle." In the Book of History it is said, "A sage does not trouble the turtle-shell and milfoil." So it was with King Hui.
36
It \;ould seem, in fact, that this moralization of divination was a direct product of the exegetical tradition developing around the Zhouvi during the sixth century B.C. The clearest expression of this sentiment is found in the Zuozhuan account of the 9th year of Duke Xiang (564 B.C.). There it is related that Lady Mu Jiang £ was confined to the palace. Consult lug the milfoil about her fate, the scribe interpreted the result to mean that Lady Mu would soon be released from her confinement.   Rejecting the prognostication, she recited a philosophical
interpretation   that would subsequently be incorporated into the "Wenyan
37
zhuan" of the Yiiing.
No! Of this diagram it is said in the Zhouvi. "'Sui' indicates being great, penetrating, beneficial, firmly correct, without blame." Now, that greatness is the lofty distinction of the person; that penetration is the assemblage of excellences; that beneficialness is the harmony of all righteousnesses; that firm correctness is the stem of all affairs. The person who is entirely virtuous is sufficient to take the presidency of others; admirable virtue is sufficient to secure an agreement with all propriety; beneficialness to things is sufficient to effect a harmony of all righteousnesses; firm correctness is sufficient to manage all affairs. But these things must not be in semblance merely. It is only thus that "Sui" could bring the assurance of blameless-ness. Now I, a woman, and associated with disorder, am here in the place of inferior rank. Chargeable moreover with a want of virtue, greatness cannot be predicated of mu. Not having contributed to the quiet of the state, penetration cannot be predicated of me. Having brought harm to myself by my doings, beneficialness cannot be predicated of me. Having left my proper place for a bad intrigue, firm correctness cannot be predicated of me. To one who has those four virtues the diagram "Sui" belongs; what have I to do with it, to whom none of them belongs?
38
There   can   be no clearer statement for the need of personal   virtue in
73
divination. Once ensured by its restriction to the king, who by definition was imbued with a charismatic virtue, when divination became accessible to all, a nev; standard of virtue was required to ensure the efficacy of the ritual.   This standard was morality.
II.2 Divination with the Zhouyi
It   has   already   been noted in various contexts   above   that the
Zhouyi's original function was as a manual of divination.   Indeed, it is
said that it was this function that allowed the text tc be spared during
the book-burning purge of Qin Shihuang.     Despite this, it has also been
noted   that by the sixth century B.C.   a new exegetical tradition which
viewed the text as an ancient source of wisdom had begun to develop. By
the time this later tradition had been institutionalized during the ilan
dynasty,   the   divinatory   function of the Zhouvi seems already to have
been   lost.     Fortunately,   enough   of   the   references   to   the Zhouvi
contained in the Zuozhuan are in the context of divination that at least
some preliminary conclusions about Zhouvi divination can be derived.
The fullest of the Zuozhuan narratives concerning divination using
the Zhouvi occurs in the 7th year of Duke Zhao (535 B.C.).
The wife of Duke Xiang of Wei had no son, but his concubine Zhouge bore to him Meng Zhi. Kong Chengzi dreamt that Kang-shu (i.e., the first duke of Wei) told him to establish Yuan. ... Zhouge bore him a second son and named him Yuan. The feet of Meng Zhi were not good so that he was feeble in waiting. Kong Chengzi used the Zhouyi to divine by milfoil about it, saying, "Would that Yuan enjoy the state of Wei^and preside over its altars." He net the hexagram "Tun" || . He also said, "I want to establish Zhi; __would thatTie be capable of enjoying it," and met "'Tun' If zhi 'Bi' ?f ." He showed (these) to Shi Chao. Shi Chao said, "'Yuan hens;' what further doubts can there be?" Chengzi said, "Is it not said of the elder?"   The reply was,    "Kang-shu named him (i.e., Yuan)
74
so that he can be said to be the elder. Mens is not a (complete) man; he will not be placed in the ancestral temple and cannot be said to be the elder. Moreover, its zhou, says, 'beneficial to establish a lord.' If the heir were auspicious, what need would there be to 'establish' one. To 'establish' is not to inherit. The two hexagrams both say it.   The younger should be established."
The divination process described here does not differ fundamentally from
the procedure we have seen used in turtle-shell divination.     It can be
divided   into   three   discrete steps:   the annoucement of   the "charge"
(i.e.,   the   subject   of the divination),   the manipulation   of milfoil
stalks producing a result (usually) expressed as a relationship between
two Zhouyi hexagrams (e.g.,   "'Tun' zhi *Bi'" fit fj, -*«■ ec ||    ),   and a
prognostication   based more or less strictly on a Zhouyi- line statement.
In the following, each of these steps will be discussed in turn.
II.2.i      The Charge
It would seem that most context critics of the Zhouvi begin with the assumption that the Zhouvi line statement is in some way related to the topic of the divination. Li Jingchi, for instance, compares the line statements to the charges on Shang oracle-bones.
39
4t* 916:   £   & Js.
Divining: "It will greatly rain."
"Kui" 38/6:   H %J&        A* *
If in travelling you meet rain then it will be auspicious.
£ 407: ft 4'
Divining: "This month (the star) will culminate at Ji."
"Qian" 1/5:       H &
Flying dragon in the sky.
75
ft 113:   &  * X X 1 +
Make a burnt offering co Wang Hai, ten oxen.
"Jiji" 63/5:   & 1
The eastern neighbor kills an ox.
Based on this, he suggests that the Zhouvi line statement was originally a divination charge, which in the course of the text's editing had nad any specific allusions expunged, leaving only general images. Gao Hens, generally concurring with this view, carries it one step further. He argues that each line statement represented a particular omen, the peculiar nature of which had caused the ancients to perform a divination.   For example, in the case of "Qian" 1/5:
%% A K
Flying dragon in the sky, Gao   suggests   that having sighted a dragon flying through   the   sky, a divination was performed in order to determine the auspiciousness of the omen.   The continuation of the line in the extant text,
M % K
Beneficial to see the great man,
is then understood to represent the prognostication made on the basis of
40
the divination result.
Inviting though these interpretations at first seem, they presume a conception of divination fundamentally different from that described in the preceding section. There it was noted that the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions were prescriptive or optative rather than descriptive in nature. A divination charge such as in 916 was not a weather report but rather was an attempt to influence future weather. By the same token, j?j 113 did not serve to record the sacrfice of an oxen, but instead was an attempt to determine if it were an oxen that would make a
76
suitable sacrifice on that occasion. This ssse prescriptive or optative nature has also been noted in the case of the Western Zhou Zhouyuan oracle-bone inscriptions,   which fornulaically end with the prayer "
... " (we desire that ... ). A careful analysis of the Zjiozhuan. narrative above will prove not only that this conception of divination remained constant throughout the duration of ancient China, but will also demonstrate the fundamental misconception of Gao and Li's approach.
This divination by Duke Xiang of Wei actually includes two "charges," one concerned with the prospects of the younger son (Yuan) and the other with those of the elder son (Meng Zhi). James Legge translates the passage in question as:
Kong Chengzi consulted the Zhouyi by the reeds, propounding the inquiry whether Yuan would enjoy the state and preside over its altars; and he got the diagram "Zhun" (i.e., "Tun"). He also propounded the inquiry whether he should set up Zhi, and if this appointment would be acceptable, in answer to which he got "Zhun" and then "Bi."
41
Turning to the Chinese text,   however,   we see that the charges are both introduced by the word "yue" Y3   (to say) «3  fu ft X 4*1 IS, i * M #k
which requires that they be interpreted as direct quotations.     It will
also   be   noted   that   the word shanr. r%  figures   prominently   in both
charges.   Legge either fails to translate the word or else interprets it
as   an   interrogative   particle,   thereby construing   the   "charges" as 42
questions. But   shang   never   acts   in   classical   Chinese   as an
interrogative particle. It has three possible meanings: "still," "to elevate,"   and   "to want,   to wish."   In identical uses   elsewhere (for
77
which,   see   Delow),   the commentators Du Yu JH. $f{. and Zheng Xuan have
specified the third of these meanings,   s'nuii  J$s J&%  (to wish),   as tne
43
appropriate   sense.        Comparisons   with occurrences of   shang   in the
Shiiing confirm the meaning; e.g.:
"Tuyuan"  & (Mao 70):
* k *L 1L.       **• *        * 1 * *
« A < «L, i «* * 11, ft jfc & "it
There is a hare who moves slowly, the pheasant fastens in the net; in the early part of my life would that I had not acted! In the latter part of my life I have met with these hundred sorrows; wouM that I could sleep and not move (anymore)!
"Dadong"  iy. & (Mao 203):
When we have made firewood of that cut firewood, may it be possible to convey it home.
44
Thus, the translation of the two charges in the narrative of Zhao 7 should read:
Would   that   Yuan enjoy the state of Wei and preside over its altars,
and
I want to establish Zhi;   would that he be capable of enjoying it.
The importance of this meaning fcr shang becomes much more critical when it is noticed that its use in this narrative is not an isolated occurrence. Indeed, in Spring and Autumn and Warring States divinations, shang was the formulaic equivalent of si 4 , the word of prayer in the Zhouyuan oracle-bone inscriptions. Among the cases of divination in the Zuozhuan are a handful that provide explicit descriptions of the divination procedure, especially with regard to the charge.
78
Because   they constitute important evidence for the study of divination
in   China,   and to my knowledge have not been previously systematically 45
studied, I should like here to present these accounts in their entirety.
Zhao 5   (537 B.C.)
The people of Chu had captured Guiyou, the brother of the Viscount of Wu, and were about to smear their drums with his blood when the king had him interrogated, saying, "Did you divine by turtle-shell about the auspiciousness of your coming?" He responded, "It was auspicious. My lord heard that you were about to dispatch troops to our city and divined about it using our treasured turtle, saying, 'I will send a man to reward the troops, asking him to go and observe the king's mood, so that we may make preparations. Would that we can know it.' The turtle's portents announced that it was auspicious, saying, 'It is possible to be known.'"
Zhao 13   (529 B.C.)
At an earlier time, King Ling divined by turtle-shell, saying, "I wish to gain the world." It was not auspicious. Ho threw away the turtle and cursed heaven, saying, "Since you don't give me even this little thing, I must take it for myself."
Zhao 17   (523 B.C.)
Wu attacked Chu. Yanggai, the chief minister (of Chu) divined by turtle-shell about fighting and received an inauspicious portent. Sir.a Ziyu said, "We are at the head of the stream; why is it inauspicious? What is more, of old in Ohn the sima has charged the turtle; I request to divine again." He charged the turtle, saying, "Even if I and my followers die, the Chu troops will continue; would that we greatly defeat them."
Nor is this procedure unique to the Zuozhuan.     There is also a complete
description   of a milfoil divination in the "Jin yu" -31 ^   chapter of
the Gup. yu. % "fc*   for 637 B.C. (10.10a):
The duke personally divined by milfoil about it, saying, "Would that I gain the state of Jin." He obtained the zhen "Tun" and the hui "Yu," both of which were "eights."
79
The milfoil divination scribes prognosticated it, saying, "It is not auspicious. It is closed and not penetrating; the lines 'do not move." Sikong Jizi said, "It is auspicious. In the Zhouvi both of these read 'Beneficial to establish a lore.' If you do not possess the state of Jin in order to support the royal house, how will you be able to establish a lord? We charged the nilfoil, saying, 'Would that I possess the state of Jin,' and the nilfoil has announced to us, 'Beneficial to establish a lord.'"
In   the   Yili        ^>j£   ,   the Han compendium of   ritual   that certainly
preserves   a good deal of earlier material,   there are   three formulaic
descriptions of divination ritual.   To cite just the first of these, the
46
other two being structurally identical,     in the "Tesheng kuishi li" $4
H> chapter (15.1b), we read:
The officiant, standing to the left of the master, intones the charge. He charges it, saying, "Filial descendant so-and-so divines by milfoil about such-and-such an action he proposes to take on such-and-such a future day. Bringing this to the attention of august ancestor so-and-so, would that he enjoy it."
And finally,   our evidence of this formula is not restricted just to the
traditionally   transmitted literature,   as we can see from tiie following
bamboo-strip from the state of Chu unearthed at Tianxing guan 47
in Hunan.
Que Bian had Yu Da divine for the master: "Having had great chest pains and heart tremors, would that he not on this account have any great harm." He prognosticated and it was auspicious.
Isolating the divination charges in these accounts (as well as that of Wen 18, quoted above, Sec. Il.l.iii), we have:
Wen 18:     jHl ^ *W
Would that he not reach the time.
80
Zhao 5: & jfc*
Would that we can know it.
Zhao 13:   & fH) \% f^f*
I wish to gain the world.
Zhao 17:    r*j & -i*.
Would that we greatly defeat them.
Guo yu:      ft   ft   % |fj|
Would that I gain the state of Jin.
Yili:
Would that he enjoy it. Tianxing guan:
Would that he not on this account have any great harm.
It   can be seen at a glance that the one feature common to   all of
the charges is the formulaic use of the verb shang        ,   which can only
mean "to wish,   to hope."   The implication of this for the understanding
of   divination is great indeed.     This proves that these charges were in
no   sense   questions,   but   instead were a statement   of   the diviner's
wishes,   made in the hope that the numinous quality of the turtle-shell
or   milfoil   stalks would assist in their realization.     Divinations in
which   the   Zhouvi   was   used were   no   exception.     Tha   topic   of the
divination was not an omen,   as argued by Gao Hens,   but rather was some
future   activity   the   result of which the performer of   the divination
desired to know.   The nature and role in divination of the Zhouvi's line
statements will be discussed in Sec. II.2.iii below.   For the moment, we
shall   conclude simply that these line statements were in no   sense the
occasion of the divination.
II.2.ii     Procedures and Results
The second step in the process of Zhouvi divination,   the manipula-
31
tion of milfoil stalks resulting in the indication of a hexagram or line statement in the Zhouyi. actually involves two separate questions: how the milfoil stalks were manipulated, and what sort of result was oo-tained. There is no information in the Zuozhuan to answer the first of these questions. There is, however, an explicit description of the procedure in the Han dynasty "Da yan" "I^ section of the Yijinz' s "Xici zhuan."
The number of the total is fifty. Of these, forty-nine are used. They are divided into two portions, to represent the two primal forces. Hereupon, one is set apart, to represent the three powers. They arc counted through by fours, to represent the four seasons. The remainder is put aside, to represent the intercalary month. There are two intercalary months in five years, therefore the putting aside is repeated, and this gives us the whole. ...
Therefore four operations are required to produce a change; eighteen mutations yield a heaxgram.
48
In   his   Zhouyi   2u 7 ing   tonrtshuo f§ ^ £ JS. U^. %%±   ,   Gao   Heng has
elaborated on this passage to describe the following procedure.
The diviner selects fifty stalks of milfoil, actually using 49 of them. From these 49 stalks he removes one stalk, setting it aside. Next, he arbitrarily divides the remaining 48 stalks into two groups, and then divides each of these two groups into groups of fours. Finally, after this division by four, he adds together the remainder of each group and to this total then adds the one stalk which originally had been set aside; this total we will designate as A. This is the result of the first manipulation. Subtracting A from the original number of 49 stalks, only two situations are possible; there can be either 44 or 40 stalks remaining.
Next, now using these remaining 44 or 40 stalks, the procedure described above is repeated, producing the result of the second manipulation, which we will designate as B. Subtracting B from the 44 or 40 stalks will necessarily result in one of three totals: 40, 36 or 32 stalks.
82
Finally, these 40, 36 or 32 stalks are again subjeci.ec to the same manipulation, producing the third result which we will designate as C.
After A, B, and C have been subtracted from the original 49 stalks, one of the following four numoers of stalks will necessarily result: 36, 32, 28 or 24. Dividing these four numbers by four, one obtains either 9, 8, 7, or 6. It is these four numbers that are called the "four operations." They are termed respectively "Old Yang," "Small Yin," "Small Yang," and "Old Yin." It is only after having performed the above manipulations that one line is obtained. The line is the fundamental symbol of a hexagram and is divided into two types, vin and vang. The odd numbers (9, 7) represent vang and the even numbers (6, 8) represent vin. with vang lines being indicated by an unbroken line (—') and vin lines by a broken line (-").
49
We might further note that a hexagram, being comprised of six lines, would require eighteen such manipulations.
Although this description, based as it is on the earliest systematic information on the performance of milfoil divination, has been generally regarded as reflecting the original procedures used in Zhouyi divination, there are important reasons to suspect that it dioes not actually represent the form of milfoil divination current at the time of the Zhouvi's composition, or for that matter, even that during the period chronicled by the Zuozhuan. First, the numerological rationalizations   of   the various steps in the procedure derive from Han dynasty
cosr.ological   thought   and   \;ould be anachronistic for   the   Spring and
50
Autumn and especially the Western Zhou period. Of course, the presence of such anachronistic rationalizations need not detract from the authenticity of the procedure itself. More damaging is the evidence from the "bagua numerical symbols" identified by Zhang Zhenglan?; as being the earliest form in which the results of milfoil divination were indicated.     Contrasted   with the systematic results of 6,    7,   8,   or 9
83
required by the "Da yan" passage, the "numerical symbols" studied by Zhang include all the numbers from 1 through 9, with 1, 5, 6, 7 and 8 predominating. 'Jhile Zhang has suggested a correspondence between the odd numbers among these and the van^ or solid lines (i.e., 7 and 9 in the procedure described above) of the Zhouyi hexagram pictures, and between the even numbers and the yin or broken lines (i.e., 6 and 8), it would seem that some procedure other than that described in the "Da yan" would be required to result in these numbers. More important still, tre system of the "Da yan" posits a functional distinction between "moving lines" [i.e., "Old Yin" (6) and "Old Yang" (9)] and "stationary lines" [i.e., "Small Yin" (8) and "Small Yang" (7)] that is not supported by the actual cases reported in the Zuozhuan. Demonstration of this will require a rather detailed examination of how the divination results were indicated.
Divination results in the Zuozhuan are uniformly given in the form
"yu X   zhi Ju» X " (to meet X   zhi X ),   where X   and X represent
1 2 12 12
separate   Zhouyi   hexagrams.     The traditional interpretation   of their
relationship   has been that X   is the benp.ua  3$ £}\   ,   or base hexagram
1
obtained in the divination,   with 7 and 9 representing solid lines and 6
and   8 broken lines,   while X   is the zhigua (understanding the
2
word zhi of the formula X   zhi X   in its verbal sense of "to move, to go
1 2
to),   or hexagram produced by the change of the 6 and 9 lines into their
respective counter-parts.   In his much celebrated attempt to reconstruct
the ancient system of Zhouyi divination,   Gao Heng has expanded on this
tradition,   correlating   the   numerological rationalizations in the "Da
yan"   with examples of actual divinations in the Zuozhuan   to elaborate
84
the following systematic procedure. Gao begins with the "Da yan" asser-t ion:
Heaven is one, earth is two; heaven is three, earth four; heaven is five, earth six; heaven is seven, earth eight; heaven is nine, earth ten.
There are five heavenly numbers. There are also five earthly numbers. V/hen they are distributed among the five places, each finds its complement. The sum of the heavenly numbers is twenty-five, that of the earthly numbers is thirty. The sum total of heavenly numbers and earthly numbers is fifty-five. It is this which completes the changes and transformations and sets demons and gods in movement.
51
Emphasizing the importance of the number 55, Gao observes that this number is one greater than the largest possible product of six Zhouvi hexagram lines (i.e., 6 x 9 ■ 54). From this he surmises that after the manipulation of the milfoil stalks described in the "Da yan" produced a "base hexagram," the product of the numbers designating the six lines [a number between 36 (=6x6) and 54] was then subtracted from 55. Next, the remainder [a number between 1 (=55-54) and 19 (=55-36)] designated the line to be used in the prognostication. This was done by way of a process of counting first up and then down the hexagram until arriving at the line indicated by the subtrahand (i.e., 1 would indicate the first or bottom line, 2 the second line, 6 the sixth or top line, then in the reverse direction 7 would also indicate the top line, 8 the fifth line, and so on; cf. the table on the following page). The value of the line indicated would then determine whether one used the "base hexagram" or the "moving hexagram" in the prognostication. Gao posits twelve possible results, which are shown in the chart on p. 87.
85
	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55	55
	1	I	1	1	1	1	»	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	l	I	1	\	1
	54	53	52	51	50	49	48	47	46	45	44	43	42	41	40	39	38	37	36
	it	H	it	u	ii	i'	it	ii	u	H	n	M	i«	V	ii	u	i>	H	it
						$	7											1ft	19
					5			8									17		
				4					9							16			
			3							10					15				
.5.		2									11			14					
	1											12	13						
Lines indicated by subtraction from 55; after Gao Heng, 1958: 118.
86
Ho. of changing lines in XI	Line indicated by subtraction from 55 is changing?	Prognostication based on	Examples in the Zuozhuan52
0	Ko	hexagram statement of XI	Mone
1	Yes	line statement indicated in XI	Zhuang 22, Xi 15, Xi 25, Xiang 25, Zhao 5, Zhao7 Zhao 12. Ai 9
1	Wo	hexagram statement of XI	None
2	Yes	line statement indicated in X 1	None
2	No	hexagram statement in XI	None
3	Yes	line statement indicated in X 1	None
3	No	both hexagram statements	None
4	Yes	line statement indicated in X 1	None
4	No	hexagram statement of X2	None
5	Yes	line statement indicated in X 1	Mone
5	No	hexagram statement of X2	Xiang 9
6	Yes	hexagram statement of X2	None
Chart of possible divination results; according to Gao Heng, 1958:119-121.
87
53
Despite its seemingly common acceptance! it is necessary to conclude that this reconstruction of Gao's is utterly without foundation. There are any number of serious objections to it, any one of which would invalidate the entire argument. In the first place, as noted above, the "Da yan" passage on which it is based is disquietingly riddled with cosmological jargon representative of the Han dynasty and anachronistic for earlier periods. This is especially so in the case of the numbers 25 and 30 interpreted as the sum of heaven and earth, which play such an important role in Gao's thesis. There is no contemporary evidence to suggest that these numbers, or their total, 55, for that matter, had any importance during the Spring and Autumn period, much less during the Western Zhou. Second, there is no evidence in the Zuozhuan with which to confirm Gao's numerical counts. Hexagrams are indicated in the Zuozhuan by name and by hexagram picture; no numbers are specified. Thus, Gao is free to manipulate numbers in any manner he chooses in order to produce a desired result. Third, one wonders what function a "moving hexagram" could fulfill. Of twelve possible scenarios posited by Gao, the reputed "moving hexagram" comes into consideration in only four cases. Moreover, in terms of actual examples, only one case in the Z"?rK,.tan can be construed as requiring this sort of divination result. This is the divination done for Mu Jiang in the 9th year of Duke Xiang. We have already had occasion in Sec. Il.l.iv to remark on the extremely pronounced moralistic tenor of this narrative. Indeed, since the text was later to appear virtually verbatim in the "Wenyan zhuan" of the Yiiing. it would perhaps not be unfair to question its     historicity.      In     addition   to   what   intellectual historical
88
connoisseurship might suggest,   at least one technical anomaly suggests
that   this divination account is not of a piece with the other examples
in the Zuozhuan.     Instead of the "yu. X   zhj X " formula standard in all
1 2
other cases, the result of this divination is given as "yu 'Gen* zhi ba" 54
vj§l. ^ J\ * where ba (eight) is understood to refer to an "unchanging" (i.e., "Small Yin") line. But, as noted above, the numerical systematization of divination results as 6, 7, 8 or 9 seems to be anachronistic   for   at   least   the early period   of   Zhpuyi divination.
The anomalous nature of this case can be seen even more clearly just by examining the column headed "Examples" in the above table. In a system based oh arithmetic probability one would expect to find a relatively even distribution of actual examples with respect to the possible results. But in the nine analyzable examples of Zhouyi divination in the Zuozhuan. eight are found grouped under just one possible result, interpreted by Gao (and I should point out that Gao here is simply following the traditional interpretation) to mean that one line of the "base hexagram" changes to produce the "moving hexagram." Gao's mistake here is as much linguistic as it is conceptual. As mentioned above, following   the traditional interpretation,   he understands the word zhi
*** of the phrase X   zhi X   in its verbal sense of "to move,   to go to,"
1 2
and thus understands the phrase to mean X   goes to (i.e.,   changes into)
1
X ,   whence the term zhigua for X .     In fact,   I believe that zhi here
2 2 should be interpreted in its possessive sense,   i.e.,   X *s x .     In the
1 2
absence of the identifying tags chu iiu ^Jfl fL , liu er j\, *X , etc., for the line statements, which were to become standard in later periods but   which do not occur in the Zuozhuan (see Sec.   III.5.i),   the phrase
89
X 's   X     is simply the means of identifying which of a   hexagram's six 1 2
lines   has   been indicated by the divination.     Thus it is that   in all
eight   of these cases the hexagram picture of X   differs from that of X
2_ 1 by   the   change of just one line (e.g.,   "Tun" ??  and "Bi" |i     in the
narrative in Zhao 7),   and moreover, the line of X   differing from X is
2 1 precisely   the line (of X ) whose line statement is Quoted as the prog-
1
nostication.   These results are organized in the following chart.
Year	Divination Result	Line Statement Quoted Corresponding Zhouvi line	
Zhuang 22 672 B.C.	Guan zhi Pi	Observe the state's brightness; beneficial herewith to have audience with the king.	"Guan" 20/4
Xi 15 645 B.C.	Guimei zhi. Kui	The man stabs the sheep but there is no blood; the woman raises the basket but there is no gift.	•Guimei" 54/6
Xi 25 635 B.C.	Dayou zhi Kui	The duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven.	'Dayou" 14/3
Xiang 25 548 B.C.	Kun zhi Daguo	Bound to the stone, stuck in the brambles; entering his palace, you do not see his wife; inauspicious.	"Kun" 47/3
Zhao 5 537 B.C.	Mingyi zhi Qiar	The calling pheasant in flight, lowers its wing; the lordling in travel, for three days does not eat; there is travelling; che master has difficulty.	"Mingyi" 36/1
Zhao 7 535 B.C.	"Tun"	Primary receipt; beneficial to establish a lord.	"Tun" 3
	Tun zhi Bi e> as	Beneficial to establish a lord.	"Tun" 3/1
Zhao 12 530 B.C.	Kun zhi Bi - •         - —	Yellow skirts: prinary auspiciousness.	"Kun" 2/5
Ai 9	Tai zhi Xu	It is like Di Yi's eldest child being married and having good fortune.	"Tai" 11/5
90
Further   evidence   that this phrase X   zhi X   is simply a neans of
1 2
identifying   a   given   line   (statement)   and   does   not   refer   to any
divination   procedure   can   be seen by the use of tne   phrase   in those
Zuozhucn citations of the Zhouyi that are rhetorical and not divinatory
in nature.     For example,   in the 12th year of Duke Xuan (597 B.C.), Zhi
Zhuangzi   £n "ft,        is quoted as saying in pre-battle preparations:
These troops are in peril, indeed! The Zhouvi has it; at "'Shi' zhi 'Lin'" it says, "The troops go out in ranks: it is not good; inauspicious.
"The troops go out in ranks:    it is not good;   inauspicious" is a direct
quotation   of   the bottom line of "Shi" (7/1)   hexagram.     As   we might
expect   from the foregoing examples,    it is only in the bottom line that
the hexagram picture of "Shi" §t   differs from that of "Lin" Is  .   In a
similar manner,   in the 28th year of Duke Xiang (545 B.C.),   a Youji
is   quoted as making the following report about his mission to the
state of Chu:
The viscount of Chu will (soon) die. Instead of cultivating his government and virtue, he is blindly eager to command the states, and so gratify his ambition. If he wished to continue long, would it be possible for him to do so? The Zhouvi has it; at ,,,Fu' zhi 'Yi'" it says, "Confused return: inauspicious." Is this not applicable to the viscount of Chu? Wishing afterall to obtain what he desired, and abandoning what was essential to that, there is no place to return to - this is what is taught in those words.
55 __ The one line that differs between the hexagram picture for "Fu" §1 and
that   for "Yi" ||  is the top line,   it can be no coincidence that it is
the   line   statement for that top line of "Fu" (24/6)   that   is quoted.
Final   and incontrovertible proof of this interpretation is found in the
well-known   discussion   of dragons in the 29th year of   Duke   Zhao (513
B.C.).     Towards the end of this lengthy narrative,   the line statements
91
of "Qian" (1) hexagram are adduced as evidence of the existence of dragons.
The Zhouyi has it; at '"Qian* zhi 'Gou'" it says, "Submerged dragon: do not use;" its "Tongren" says, "See the dragon in the fields;" its "Dayou" says, "Flying dragon in the skies;" its "Guai" says, "Throated dragon: there is trouble;" and its "Kun" says, "See the flock of dragons without heads: auspicious." "'Kun' zhi 'Bo'" says, "The dragon fights in the wilds."
Among the hexagram pictures of the hexagrams here associated with "Qian"
Wt  s   all   except "Kun" (2) are composed of five solid lines   and one
broken   line (i.e.,   "Gou" |=   ,   "Tongren" f[f  ,   "Dayou" f|  , "Guai"
55 ), and in each case it is the position of the broken line (i.e., the
line that differs from "Qian") that indicates the line statement quoted
from   "Qian."   The anomalous case of "Kun" == ,   in which all six lines
differ,   represents   the   anomalous "Yonc iiu" fi\ fti    of   "Qian" (1/7)
hexagram, which along with "Kun" is unique in the Zhouyi by having seven
line statements instead of six.     The final citation,    "'Kun' zhi 'Bo',"
where   "Bo" s|  differs from "Kun" by just the top line of the hexagram
picture,   returns   us to the normative pattern (i.e.,   "Kun"   2/6: "The
dragon fights in the wilds").     But just as important as this invariable
pattern,   the   substitution   of a_i £   ,   the   third   person possessive
pronoun,   for "'Qian' zhi" in the second through fifth citations leaves
no doubt as to the possessive nature of zhi.     In short,    the phrase "X
1
zhi X " is but the original manner of identifying one particular line of 2
a given hexagram and has absolutely nothing to do with any divination procedure in which one hexagram "changes into" another hexagram.
This   argument   is not without implications in the case of   Zhao 7 quoted above.     There, two divinations were performed, one producing the
92
result "Tun" f| , and the other "'Tun' ff zhi 'Bi'ff" iloreover, two phrases from the Zhouy.i are quoted on the basis of these results: "Yuan heng" ^   (primary receipt) and "li. Han hou  Jt'l £^ (beneficial
to establish a lord). There is no question as to the interpretation of the first result; it must refer to the hexagram statement of "Tun" (3) hexagram.
"Tun" (3):   *L 1 M l% «l ft ^ *i
Primary receipt: beneficial to divine. Do not herewith have any travelling. Beneficial to establish a lord.
With the second result, however, Gao Hens's theory forces him to make an illicit textual emendation. Interpreting "'Tun' zhi 'Bi'" as "'Tun' 2z changing into 'Bi' \% ," Gao suggests that even though it would violate either the second or more probably the third of his proposed rules (i.e., if one line changes but that line is not indicated by the subtra-hand of 55, then the prognostication is based on the hexagram statement of the "base hexagram"), this prognostication must have been based on the hexagram statements of both "Tun" (3) and "Bi" (S) hexagrams. Noting that in his prognostication, Shi Chao claims that the "two hexagrams both say it," Gao compares these two hexagram statements in order to determine what they "both say."
"Tun" (3):    TO 1 4'J |. <3     ft <<K & M i£ fa.
Primary receipt: beneficial to divine. Do not herewith have any travelling; beneficial to establish a lord.
"Bi" (8): *A&*i*4l*****Jfc
Auspicious; the orginal milfoil divination: primary; the permanent divination: no harm. The unpacified lands come: for the latter man inauspicious.
93
Although there are no phrases conr.on to both statements in the extant text, Gao argues that since yuan fa normatively precedes heng "\ in Zhouvi hexagram statements, it is probable that the word heng has oeen inadvertantly deleted from the text here. With hem- restored, the phrase "yuan heng." which had indeed been quoted by Shi Chao at the beginning of his prognostication, would then be common to the two hexagram   statements and,   according to Gao,   satisfies the comment that the
56
two hexagrams "both say it." While I would accept Gao's emendation here on different grounds (for which, see below, pp. 96-97 and n. 59), understanding the phrase "'Tun' ff zhi 'Bi' \\ " simply as a means of referring to the bottom line of "Tun" (3/1) offers a far simpler solution.   This line reads:
"Tun" 3/1:    % £ * *J 4k
The boulder is secure: beneficial to perform a residential divination; beneficial to establish a lord.
Comparing   this with the hexagram statement to "Tun" (3),   which recall
was   the result of the first divination,   it can be seen that the phrase
"li jian hou"       it^'ifx. (beneficial to establish a lord),   also quoted
by   Shi Chao in his prognostication,    is common to both.     What is more,
the   statement   "the two hexagrams both say it" comes in the   course of
discussing this particular phrase.
Moreover, its zhou says, "beneficial to establish a lord." If the heir were auspicious, what need would there be to "estaolish" (one)? To "establish" is not to inherit. The two hexagrams both say it. The younger should be "established."
There   can be no doubt that what Shi Chao was referring to as being said
in both results was the phrase "beneficial to establish a lord," adding
94
one final proof to the fallacy of soth Gao's proposed reconstruction and
also the tradition of reading X   zhi X   as "X   changing into X .
12 1 2
I an confident that the evidence in the Zuozhuan regarding divination with the Zhouvi will allow of only the foregoing interpretation. In a somewhat more tentative vein, I would liice to suggest that the narrative of Duke Xiang's divination also evidences another facet of Zhouvi divination. It will be recalled that the divination entailed two "charges," both concerned with Duke Xiang's heir but one proposing Yuan as the choice and the other Meng Zhi. At first reading this type of dual   divination   proposing contrasting alternatives would seem to be a
vestige   of the positive-negative dui-zhen        /j[   so characteristic of
57
the King Wu Ding period oracle-bone inscriptions. But closer examination of the results of the two stages of the divination suggests another possibility. The result of the first divination is given as "vu. 'Tun'" ijS i£j » with the hexagram statement of "Tun" (3) cited as the prognostication. It is noteworthy that this is the only case in the Zuozhuan that results in a hexagram statement (again excepting the philosophized narrative regarding Mu Jiang in the 9th year of Duke Xiang). What is even more noteworthy is that the second stage of this divination also results in "Tun" hexagram, but this time specified as the first of its six lines ["'Tun' f[ zhi 'Bi' fl ;" (3/1)]. While in terms of probability such a result is perhaps not inconceivable (the chances of this occurring are 1 in 4,096), I suspect that the coincidence results from an integral relationship between two stages of a single divination process. If so, the first stage of the divination must normally have resulted in one of the 64 Zhouvi hexagrams,    in which case the hexagram
95
statement would have been the basis for the prognostication. This divination could then be further refined, perhaps normatively was further refined, by a second stage that would indicate one of that same hexagram's six lines.
Although   this narrative is the only material evidence for   such a
58
two-stage divination process involving the Zhouvi. there is some linguistic support in the text for such an interpretation. The phrase li 2hen ^v|| , which must be interpreted as "beneficial to divine," occurs almost exclusively in hexagram statements (20 of 23 occurrences). Cn the other hand, the phrase zhen X [where X is one of the Zhouyi's four Prognostications, ji (auspicious), xiong ^ (inauspicious), li. jj^ (danger), and lin ^j. (trouble)], in which the result of the divination (i.e., zhen) is expressed, normatively occurs in line statements (56 of 62 occurrences). As will be shown in greater detail in the next chapter (Sec. III.4.i), this distinction seems to require an explanation of the type suggested here for the dual divination in Zhao 7.
As one final textual support for this reconstruction, even though the above remarks have been generally critical of Gao Ueng's argumentation   and   even though I have rejected his reasoning   in   this specific
case, I believe that his suggested emendation of inserting the word heng
59
into the hexagram statement of "Bi" (8) is quite justified. I.e., for: ^        £  ^ Q
read: /& & -7b i <JL
With   this   emendation the balance of the statement brings   its meaning
into   focus:   there is a yuan shi       £ffj[   (original milfoil divination)
that   results   in   the   preliminary prognostication yuan   heng ^0
96
(primary receipt), which, as will be demonstrated in Sec. III.4.1, is normative in hexagram statements, and then a vong zhen jjv- (permanent divination) that gives the final result wu jiu  ^        (no harm).
I admit that this reconstruction of a two-stage divination procedure is quite speculative. It is unfortunate that there is not more evidence in the Zuozhuan on which to draw. But I believe that when we return to the question in the next chapter, the linguistic distinctions between the hexagram statements and the line statements of the Zhouvi will be seen to require such a functional distinction.
II.2.iii   The Prognostication
As already noted, the case of the divination in Zhao 7 demonstrates that prognostications were based on the one Zhouvi line or hexagram statement indicated by the result of the divination. It would suffice just to refer to the chart on p. to see the correctness of this. But if we pursue this question further, I believe it will be possible to learn something of the original nature of the line statements.
At one point in his prognostication, Shi Chao refers to the phrase "beneficial to establish a lord" as the zhou of the bottom line of "Tun" (3/1). In addition to referring to the line statements of the Zhouvi. it has often been noted that this word zhou/diog (GSR 1144n) is cognate with thevao/diog (GSR 1144j), the song-form known especially for its associations with "children's ditties" (tongyao ^ 62
). If we examine the citations of these vao in the Zuozhuan. we will find that they have more in common with Zhouvi line statements than just the cognate relationship of the words used to refer to them.
The   best known of the Zuozhuan's "children's ditties" is found in
97
the 5th year of Duke Xi (655 B.C.).
The Archer-Lord of Jin had surrounded Shangyang and asked Bu (the Diviner) Yan, "Will I succeed?" The reply was, "You will conquer it." The duke asked, "When?" And the reply was, "The children's ditty says:
At daybreak of Bing
The dragon's tail is submerged in the Chens They all succumb shakingly (zhen-zhen) Take the flag of Guo.
Chun goes brightly (ben-ben) And the Celestial Stalk is dim (chun-chun): When Huo culminates raise the army (iun) And the duke of Guo will flee (ben).
It will be on the cusp of the 9th and 10th months, on the morning of bing-zi. when.the sun is in the Tail (of the Dragon and the moon is in the Stalk and Quail-Fire culminates: it will certainly be at that time.
61
Although this ditty is cited most often for its astrological imagery, we
can obtain from it three basic notions about the vao form.     First, its
literary   form   is primarily one of   rhyming,   four-character couplets;
second,   it   is   introduced by the description of a   natural   omen that
evokes a particular prediction;   and third,   it was in the domain of the
divination official's prognostication lore.
To   this   example of a vao compare the following   divinatory zhoju,
which   is contained in the Zuozhuan (17th year of Duke Ai) account of a
turtle-shell divination.
The   Archer-Lord   of Wei divined (zhen) the turtle-shell divination.   Its zhou said:
Like the fish's red tail
Sideways flowing and tossed about (fang-yang.): Far away the great state Destroyed and about to flee (wane.). He closes his gates and shuts the openings (dou) . And then is overtaken from behind (yu).
62
98
Here too the forr. is one of rhymed, four-character couplets, introduced by a natural omen that evokes a prediction, and used in a divination prognostication. Given both the manifest similarities of the zhou and yao forms and the cognate relationship of the two words, I believe that there can be little doubt as to the common origin of the two poetic forms. Ke can perhaps venture an opinion that the genre derives from the same type of associative literary milieu as produced the djl tt and xinr,        forms of the Shiiing.
As will be demonstrated in Part Two of this study, many of the line statements of the Zhouyi are also very much akin to the xins form. To cite just one example for now, the third line of "Jian" (53/3) reads:
By comparing this line with the zhou contained in .the following Zuozhuan narrative about a turtle-shell divination (10th year of Duke Xiang), I believe that we may begin to see not only what role the Zhouyi line statements played in divinations, but also how they came to be composed.
ii
Jian" 53/3:   \% Ilu/li8k   (GSR 1032f)]
fe/M^ [fu/b'ick (GSR lC34d)] J4$-A% [vu/diok   (GSR 1020a)]
&  #"J   « &
The wild goose advances to the land:
the man campaigns but does not return;
the wife is pregnant but does not give birth.
Inauspicious; beneficial to ward off robbers.
Sun Wenzi divined by turtle-shell about pursuing them. He presented the crack to Ding Jiang and she asked him about the zhou.   He said:
'Jt ^'ftL [ling/li»ng (GSR 898c)] ^       * ii.     [zhens/ticng (GSR 833o)J
99
The crack is like a mountain peak There is a man who goes on campaign And loses his leader*
Madame Jiang said,    "That the campaigner loses his leader means that warding off robbers will (bring) benefit.
As with the other examples of zhou examined above, this zhou is comprised of rhyming four-character lines introduced by the description of an omen, which in turn serves to evoke an observation (prediction) regarding the human realm. Of particular interest in this example is the explicit nature of the omen: "the crack is like a mountain peak" is a description of the crack produced by the scorching of the turtle-shell. Given this description of the portent, the prognosticator evidently worked within certain constraints in composing his zhou. First of all, the zhou must have had to be generally relevant to the topic of the divination, in this case a military campaign of pursuit. Second, it was probably formally required to be a couplet of four-character lines, and it is virtually certain that the final words of these lines had to rhyme with the final word of the portent. This leads to the third and perhaps most important point. The couplet relating the portent to the human sphere presumably could not diverge from the evocation of the portent.     In this case, the appearance of the turtle-shell crack in the
shape of a mountain peak must have suggested to the diviner a dangerous 63
situation.
With the line of "Jian" hexagram (53/3) cited above, I believe that we can see something of the same creative processes at work. The formal similarity of this line and the zhou of Xiang 10 is obvious. But just as important, we should recognize that the resultative couplet of "Jian" (53/3) is just as contingent on the omen of the "wild goose advancing to
100
the land" as the zhou of Xiang 10 is on tho shape of the turtle-shell crack. There is substantial evidence that in the associative synbolisn of ancient China, the image of a wild goose flying over land autimati-cally evoked the association of soldiers on the march, and consequently, women left to cope by themselves. Compare the usage of this xin^-evocation in the ShiUng poems "Jiu Yu" Aj ~% (Mao 159) and "Hongyan" >$> J&   (Mao 181):
"Jiu Yu":    >**'A14, AlM-fll
The wild goose flies along the land: You will go back and not return.
Hongyan :
The wild goose in flight Flap-flapping his wings: This man on campaign Toiling in the wilds.
64
Given the image of the wild goose advancing to the "land," which is required by the internal structure of "Jian" hexagram (for which, see Sec. IV.l.iv), the composer of the Zhouvi was under the sane constraints as the prognosticator who composed the zhou in Xiang 10. That his creation took the same form should not be surprising; the line statements of the Zhouvi. themselves often referred to as zhou. fulfilled the same function in milfoil divination as did the zhou in turtle-shell divination.
II.2.iv Conclusions
I mentioned at the beginning of this section that Zhouvi divination involved three discrete steps. Pursuing these steps individually has taken us backwards and forwards through the evidence of divination in the Zuozhuan.   so that it may not be easy either to see the relationship
101
between the individual steps or their implications for the interpretation of the Zhouyi in general. I think, however, from these three steps two conclusions of general importance for the textual interpretation of the Zhouyi can be drawn.
The first of these is rather technical in nature. The tradition in Zhouyi divination of one hexagram "changing into" another has been shown to be anachronistic. Instead, divinations resulted in the indication of just one line of one hexagram, with the prognostication based on that line's line statement in the Zhouyi. Not only does this require that we dismiss the tradition regarding "changing hexagrams," but ve must also dismiss as anachronistic the traditional information on the procedure for obtaining a Zhouyi hexagram. Unfortunately, there is little evidence with which to suggest an alternative. Perhaps all that can be said with any degree of assurance is that milfoil stalks were manipulated in such a way as to produce a sequence of six numerals between 1 and 9, and that these numerals were then correlated (presumably according to whether they were even or odd) with the solid and broken lines of the Zhouyi. thereby forming one of the 64 hexagram pictures. This must have marked the initial result of the divination. But it would seem that a subsequent procedure was then required to indicate which of the hexagram's six line statements was to serve as the basis for the final prognostication. Although the historical evidence for this second step of Zhouyi divination is not unambiguous, there is linguistic evidence in the Zhouyi itself that this was, in fact, the practise. This evidence will be discussed more fully in Chapter Three, "The Structure of the Zhouyi."
102
Second, and of a more literary nature, the 386 line statements of the Zhouyi do not owe their origin to specific divinations. Contrary to the understanding of Gao Heng and Li Jingchi, divinations were not prompted by the fantastic appearance of a dragon in the sky or any other natural omen. Rather, they virtually always concerned human intentions, specifically the actions intended by a ruler but about which he had doubts. On the other hand, we have seen that the Zhouyi line statements served as prognostications in these divinations, and that in this function were referred to as zhou. We have also seen that the divination zhou and the yao "ditty" genre of poetry were identifiable, and that all of these employed the xing-evocation so ubiquitous in the Shiiina and so characteristic of the associative intellect of ancient China in general. While the question of the original authorship of this genre will probably never be resolved (it is basically the same question as who con-posed the poems of the Shiiing). I believe it would be safe to say that the scribes of the royal court, who, afterall, were responsible for both literature and divination, employed these products of the associative intellect of the time and then, imparting to them an "internal logic," produced the text we now know as the Zhouyi.
103
PART TWO: CRITICISM
CHAPTER THREE
THE STRUCTURE OF THE ZHOUYI
In Part One we have seen, first, that the 2houvi achieved its present form in the late ninth century B.C., and second, that it was originally used as a manual of milfoil divination. These two conclusions raise two further points for discussion: first, if the Zhouvi were indeed a manual of divination, how did it come to be so used; and second, if it did achieve its form at a particular time, what was the process of its composition? Lacking any contemporary external evidence with which to answer thesie fundamental questions, our only recourse is to the text itself. Therefore, in the following study we will endeavor to produce a preliminary analysis of the textual structure. In so doing, the purpose will not be description pure and simple, but rather will be to determine what the various features of the text's structure tell us about how the Zhouvi was composed and how it was used.
III. The Title
Perhaps the logical place to begin a structural analysis of any text is with a consideration of its title. In the case of the Zhouvi this tanes on added significance for not only has the title Zhouvi itself been subject to various interpretations, but, moreover, the text has also been known by other titles. Also known in China as the Y_i ^ and the Yiiing jjjj ,4a. » it is the latter of these titles by which the book   is   best known in the West.     Insofar as the present study   is an
104
attempt to describe the text within the context of its composition during the Western Zhou period, however, it can be stated v.'ithout equivocation, that this title Yii ing is anachronistic, having trade its first
appearance only in the Ilan dynasty at the time when the Confucian canon
1
was   first   formulated.      Moreover,   not only does this title   have no
historical validity before the Han dynasty,   but by its very use of the
word   iing        (classic),   it is inextricably bound to the philosophical
reinterpretation   of the text so characteristic of that period.     It is
for this reason that throughout this study, the title YiHng refers only
to the canonical text,   complete with the "Ten Wings," and especially as
it is interpreted as a "classic."
In   the same vein,   it has been argued that the title Zhouyi might
also be considered anachronistic.   The word zhou        is almost certainly ,
a reference to the Zhou state or people,   akin to its use in the titles
of   such other early texts as the "Zhou song" of the Shiiing.   the "Zhou
shu" of the Shangshu. the Yi Zhou shu. and the Zhouli.   In this sense it
is classically understood to distinguish the divination text of the Zhou
dynasty   or   Zhou people fi^m those of the Xia    |^ ,   the   Lianshan £^
li'  ,   and   the Shang,    the Guizang ffjfrt .     Be cause this use of the
word zhou seems to have no integral relationship with the meaning of the
text,   there is some contention that the text must originally have been
referred to simply as the "Yi."   Despite the logic of this argument, the
fact   remains that the earliest references to the text,   as seen already
3
in the Zuozhuan.   are to the "Zhouyi."     When this historical authority
is   coupled with the continuing practise of referring to the text as the 4
Zhouyi.    I believe there is sufficient justification for retaining this
105
full title throughout this study.
Having determined that we will refer to the text as the Zhouyi. it is next necessary to discuss what this title means. We have already seen that the word "zhou." specifies the text as deriving from the Zhou state or people. The meaning of the word y_i *g , however, presents considerably more difficulty. The most popular definition, first enunciated by Zheng Xuan, is that the word includes three separate but equal meanings:    bianyi $   (changing),   buyi /5X  |5     (unchanging), and
iianyi (easy).     While the all-inclusiveness of this definition
has the virtue of rendering it susceptible of virtually any philosophical interpretation, it is unfortunately n"ot so helpful in terms of philological understanding. Tira other interpretations were also current during the Han dynasty. The graph was popularly analyzed as being comprised of the pictographs for the sun (r_i *3 ) and the moon [(vue Pi    );    i.e.,  >gj     ],   and thus was thought to graphically   depict the
interaction beti/een the forces of light (yang;   i.e., the sun) and dark-
6
ness (yin; i.e., the moon). With sonewhat more etymological credibility, the Shuowen defined the word as the pictograph of a lizard, a reptile characterized by its ability to change colors (Shuowen iiezi Duan-zhu: 9B.30b). Turning to the earliest usages of the word, it occurs   in   oracle-bone inscriptions cost commonly in the compound
7
0 ,   thought to mean that "cloudy weather changes to clear weather." In   both   Shang and Western Zhou bronze inscriptions the graph normally stands   for the more elaborated words xi        or c_i        ,   both of which mean   "to   bestow"    [probably oy extension from   "to   change (hands)"]. Thus,   whatever the original graphic significance,    the idea of "change"
106
does seem in some way to be the original meaning of the word.
As we have seen in Sec. II.2.ii above, this sense of y_i meaning "to change" gave rise to an exegetical tradition whereby one hexagram was interpreted to "change into" a second hexagram, and that the prognostication of the divination was based more or less strictly on this change. Although this functional interpretation of v_i as it is used in the title of the text has enjoyed almost universal currency since it was first propounded, we have seen that the procedural principle on which it is founded has nothing in common with early Zhouvi divination. I would propose instead that the title refers to the "changes" inherent in the systematically differentiated line statements of a single hexagram. For example, "Xu" (5) hexagram:
"Xu" 5/li  f  f <f Xu in the suburbs,
"Xu" 5/2:        -f # Xu in the sand,
"Xu" 5/3:   %  % Ifi Xu in the mud,
"Xu" 5/4: f j& Xu in the blood,
"Xu" 5/5:   % -?#B4.        Xu in the wine and food, obtains its structure from the changing referent of the word   xu. That such   systematic   differentiation   resulted from a   conscious editorial process will be a key point in the following structural analysis.
III.2 The Hexagram Picture
The text itself is structured around eight groupings of three solid or broken lines, the so-called bagua:
107
When combined with each other,   these bacua give sixty-four permutations
of   six   lines each,   in the West generally known as   "hexagrams." The
origin and significance of these symbols remains unclear.     According to
legend,   their creation was occasioned by the sage Fuxi's observation of
8
celestial images and terrestrial patterns. Modern scholars, breaking with tradition, have made various suggestions as to their origin. Among these, three have been particularly noteworthy.
Perhaps the simplest and most plausible explanation of the solid and broken lines of the hexagram pictures is that they are representations   of   genitalia,   the solid line symbolizing the   phallus   and the
9
broken line the vulva. Given the emphatic vin-vang dualism associated with these lines in later times, such a representational interpretation is indeed inviting. And yet, not only does this thesis offer no explanation as to why these symbols are comprised of either three or six lines, but what is more, the evidence of the "baaua numerical symbols" recently deciphered suggests that the lines of the hexagrams were originally   expressed   with numerical symbols and that the broken   and solid
10
lines only later came to be used. It would be difficult to find any sexual significance in any of the nine Chinese numerals.
A   more developed attempt to explain the origin of these bagua was Guo   Moruo's argument that they derived from the archaic graphs for the key   words or concepts associated with each of the trigrams.     For example,   in bagua symbology the trigram (i.e.,   three-lined picture) "Kan" 2^ (£t ) is associated with "water."   Guo notes that the archaic graph
for   water   was   written "\V>  ,   a slight rotation of   which   results in 11
rf • A less obvious instance of this type of relationship is the trigram   "Qian"        (H ),   which Guo suggests derives from the archaic
108
"heaven" (tian ^ / ^ ). A reduction of the bottom strokes to two solid hroizontal lines and the disappearance of any vestige of a vertical stroke would leave the three horizontal lines ( —) of "Qian," which
12
has indeed long been considered the symbol of "heaven."
Long before the significance of the "bagua numerical symbols" had become known, Guo's thesis had already been persuasively refuted by Chen Hengjia. Chen notes that Guo himself was unable to account for two of the eight trigrams ["Gen" ^ (rr ) and "Sun" |2 (~ )]. Moreover, his explanations   of two others l"Zhen" ^ ( 1= ) and "Dui" (=)] are
impressionistic at best, and his two strongest cases ["Kan" "ijs. (~) and "Kun" &f (:5)] are both said to derive from the archaic graph for "water." As Chen argues, if the baeua were to have had any representational   significance,    it   could not have been enhanced   by   having two
13
symbols represent the same notion.
The third attempt to explain the origin of the hexagram pictures was also inspired by the oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty. As pointed out in Sec. Il.l.i, by the reigns of Ci Yi and Di Xin, the final two kings of the Shang dynasty, oracle-bone divination had devolved into little more than pro forma exercises. These were formulai-cally performed on gui ^ days (i.e., the tenth day of the ten-day "week," gui-vou /5)    ,   gui-wei ,   etc.) to ensure that there
would be no misfortune in the coming "week." Since there are sixty days in   the Chinese ganzhi   -f cycle,   six such divinations constituted
one cycle and were often grouped together on a single shell. Comparing these stylized inscriptions with the Zhouvi hexagram pictures, Qu V.'anli notes two important similarities:    first, both by logic and in practise,
109
sequence of the Kui-dav divination inscriptions is usually (for the reigns of Di Yi and Di Xin Qu insists that it is always) from bottom to top. From this he suggests that the cracits associated with these divinations, roughly in the shape of [— , of which the horizontal line presumably was the determining feature, would have given rise to the six-line
hexagram,   which,   as will be demonstrated be-
14
low, was also structured from bottom to top.
Qu's theory would seem to be deserving of
closer   attention.     The   coincidence between
these oracle-bone divination groupings and the
hexagrams,   both being groups of six organized
from bottom to top, is too striking to be easily dismissed.    Indeed, the
evidence of the "bar-ua numerical symbols" does suggest that, contrary to
the   traditional   wisdom which held the "hexagram" to be   a development
from the more primary "trigrai;i," the six-line grouping was the original
15
respresentational unit of the Zhouvi. But a more difficult methodological question is not accounted for by Qu. Although this thesis explains why there would be six lines in a hexagram, it does not explain how or why these hexagrams were differentiated by either solid and broken lines or by differentiated numerals. Examination of neither the actual Shang oracle-bones nor the Han dynasty manual of divination, the "Treatise on Turtle(-shell) and (Milfoil) Stalk Divination," reveals any distinction between solid or broken lines.   Indeed, in my own experience
110
CD r:n->
Oracle—Bon? fii*r»n«4no
of Six Gui-dav Divinations; after Qu Wanli, 1956: 120.
I have never encountered a "broken" line on a Shang oracle bone. What is nore, the only prognostication recorded for these Di Yi-Di Xin divinations is "auspicious" (j_i), so neither would there seem to be any qualitative difference within the Shang inscriptions.
All of this still leaves the origin and the significance of the hexagram pictures open for speculation. This is perhaps as it should be. We have had occasion several times already, both in the discussion immediately above and elsewhere in this study, to mention the "bagua numerical symbols," which were only very recently deciphered by Zhang Zhenglang. As late as 1979 it was possible for an experienced paleographer   to say in print that there was no trace of the trigrams and hexa-
16
grams in Zhou bronze inscriptions.      At just about that time, however,
the   systematic   occurrence   of groups of six numerical symools   in the
Zhouyuan   oracle-bone inscriptions led Zhang to suggest that   they were
the prototype of the Zhouyi hexagram.
As   already demonstrated in Chapter Two,    the Zhouyi hexagrams were
obtained through the process of milfoil divination.   In later historical
periods, we know that the manipulation of the milfoil stalks produced an
arithmetic result.     This presumably was also the case with the milfoil
divination   of   earlier   periods (although the   arithmetic   results had
probably   not yet been systematized).     Studies proceeding from Zhang's
insight   have   begun   to suggest the development by which   the original
numerical   symbols   were replaced by the solid and broken lines   of the
17
traditional   Zhouyi hexagram picture.       It is to be hoped   that future
archaeological discoveries will shed new light on this question.
Ill
For the tine-being, however, we will have to be content with three broad conclusions. First, that Zhouvi "hexagrams" are comprised of six places may well derive from the six ten-day "weeks" in the Chinese calendrical system, and especially from the late Shang practise of formulaically performing one divination for each of these "weeks" and recording the six results together on a single scapula bone. Second, the Zhouvi hexagrams were originally expressed with six numerical symbols, which in turn were undoubtedly the arithmetic results obtained through the divinatory manipulation of milfoil stalks. And finally, at some as yet unknown point in time, solid and broken lines came to be systematically substituted for the six numerals. Apart from their functional significance, these solid and broken lines prooably had some symbolic significance, the most likely explanation of which is their sexual associations. And yet, despite whatever representational significance these broken and solid lines might have had individually, there would seem to be no inherent value to the appearance of their configuration in either the three-line trigram or the six-line hexagram.
II1.3 The Hexagram Name
Having concluded that the composite shape of the hexagrams holds no intrinsic significance, we might then ask why and how the individual hexagrams came to have particular names (guauing %> ) and to be associated with particular concepts.
Ill.j.i    Associations with the Hexagran Picture
In the "Xici zhuan," the so-called "Great Treatise" of the Yiiing.
112
the imagistic significance of thirteen hexagrams is discussed. Of these, only two seem to hold any objective validity. The hexagram picture =2. carries the nane "Yi" ^£ (Increase), which is said Dy the "Xici zhuan" to derive from the resemblance of the hexagram picture to a plow, with a solid wooden superstructure and a solid blade going under the ground symbolized by the three broken lines in the middle. That the plow is instrumental in "increasing" agricultural yields is thus said to be the reason for the hexagram's name. The other of the "Xici's" explanations is more direct, hence more plausible. The hexagram picture ^ is described as the image of a net, with broken lines enclosed by solid lines. This is said to be the reason for this hexagram having the name "Li" (Net),   the graph for which is derived from the archaic graph
, the pictograph of a hand-held net. This association with a net is further   corroborated   by the Mawangdui silk manuscript version   of the
text,   where   the hexagram name is written "Luo" j^L  ,   which,    like li.
19
also means "net." The other eleven explanations of hexagram names given by the "Xici zhuan" are even more impressionistic than these and, in all, can be dismissed as a late philosophical attempt to demonstrate the all-inclusive nature of the Yiiing.
A somewhat analogous explanation has been given by the modern scholar Wen Yiduo for the he::agram picture |S , which is named "Yi" (Jaw). Wen suggests, without substantiation, that yi is synonymous with chi |$| (tooth), and, with somewhat more evidence, that the compounds dianyi JlJ^ 2^ and qiuvi jj[ 5$[ in the second line of the hexagram (apud Wen):
113
"Yi" 27/2: i%  (+$)j&f&$9L &  (-» k > 4
The wisdon teeth, not yet having passed through the stage of the hollowed teeth: (dividing): inauspicious,
be   read   as   zhenya JIM %   (wisdom teeth) and niuva (hollow
20
teeth, said to be characteristic of the teeth of elderly people). In support   of   this interpretation,   Wen notes that the   hexagram picture
|t , turned on its side (i.e.,////// ), resembles the teeth in the mouth (i.e., chi), the oracle-bone graph for which is tE0 and for which the Shuowen gives an archaic form of ftjf (2B.13b). On this point, as on so many others, the level of Wen's philological sophistication is matched only by his awe-inspiring imagination.
It could well be argued that Wen's imagination here is more apparent than that displayed in the Zhouvi. But there is one case in the text where the association between the hexagram picture and the hexagram name is too apparent to be considered imaginary.     The hexagram picture
3§ is named "Ding" 0f (Cauldron). Traditional commentators have seen in the bottom broiten line the legs of the vessel, with the three solid lines in the nidule rsoresenting its solid belly, the broken line in the fifth place its ears (i.e., the usually round handles extending from the vessel's sides presumably used in lifting it), and the solid top line the rod inserted through those ears to lift the vessel. Evidence that these associations derive from the time of the text's composition and are not just later rationalizations can be seen in the line statements of the hexagrrr. (which, in order to retain the representational associations between the hexagram lines and the image of a cauldron are here arranged from bottom to top):
114
50/6:     $ % 4t
The cauldron's jade oar;
50/5:     ff ^
The cauldron's yellow
ears;
50/4:     $f i%
The cauldron's broken leg;
50/3:    jjjf   % %
The cauldron's cars turned;
50/2:     %   H <f
The cauldron has substance;
_  50/1:    ß(   H Ät
The cauldron's upturned feet;
The coincidence of the line statements for 50/1, 50/2, 50/5, and 50/6 with the associated parts of the cauldron suggests that tne composer of
the line statements may indeed have been aware of a graphic significance
21
for the lines of the hexagram picture.
Aside from these examples of concrete representation, traditional Yijina scholarship has seen abstract symbolism in many of the hexagram pictures. To note just two types of the more obvious examples, "Oian" (1) and "Kun" (2) are the best knovn of the Zhouyi hexagrams, Deing comprised exclusively of solid and broken lines respectively.     Since at
least    the Spring and Autumn period,    these hexagrams have   been inter-
22
preted as symbols of heaven and earth,     associations so strong that the
names   of   these hexagrams have since become synonymous with these con-
23
cepts.     While there may be some textual basis for these associations, there    is   no way to objectively demonstrate that the   concept "heaven" should   be represented by all solid lines or vice versa for the concept "earth."   One final example mixes this type of cosmological speculation with   a   symbolism   perceive'd with regard to the   line   positions. The
115
hexagram picture ,   being the "pure" doubled trigram ££  ,    is named
"Zhen" ^ (Thunder). According to traditional Chinese natural science, during the winter thunder is kept trapped underground. At the beginning of Spring it rises through the ground stirring all living things (both plant and animal) to renewed life and growth. As a symbol of Spring rebirth, the "thunder" trigram £i is symbolic in two ways: first, it depicts the thunder (conceived of as vang; i.e., the solid bottom line) trapped under the earth (conceived of as vin; i.e., the two broken lines); and second, recalling that trigrams and hexagrams are composed from bottom to top, it suggests the rebirth of vang and the Deginning of the new growing season.
III.3.ii   Associations with the Hexagram Text
Interesting though such imagistic speculation may be, it is probably foreign to the worldview of the late Western Zhou composer of the Zhouyi. Aside from "Ding" (50) hexagram, there is little or no discernible relationship between the hexagram name and the hexagram picture. Instead, most hexagram names are derived from the dominant word or image of the six line statements. For instance, the hexagram "Lin" (19) takes its   name   from the use of the word lin Sno (to look down) in the hexa-
gram's six
	24	
line statements	> •	
"Lin" 19/1:		Xian looks down;
19/2:	£ U.	Xian looks down;
19/3:		Gan looks down;
19/4:		Zhi looks down;
19/5:		Zhi looks down;
16/6:		Dun looks down.
116
Of the sixty-four hexagrams, in thirteen cases the word used to name the hexagram is found in all six of the line statements, in another thirteen cases it occurs in five line statements, and in fifteen others occurs in four.   On the other hand, with eight hexagrams there is no oc-
Occurrence of Hexagram Name in Line Statements
No. of line statements where name occurs	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
No. of hexagrams	3	3	7	5	15	13	13
currence of the name in the line statements, while there is only one occurrence in three others. These statistics describe a general tendency for the hexagram name to be linked with the general theme of the line statements, with 41 of 64 hexagrams (64%) showing a strong tendency in this direction (four or more lines). Moreover, the eight cases where the hexagram name is not found in the line statements ["Run" (2), "Xiao-chu" (9), "Tai" (11), "Dayou" (14), "Dachu" (26), "Zhong fu" (61), "Jiji" (63), and "Weiji" (64)] are marked either by abstractness (e.g., "Kun" representing "earth" or "Tai" meaning "happiness") or else by the name being understood as a broad characterization of the unifying theme of the line statements. For example, while the word chu ^ (domestic animals) does not occur in any of the line statements of "Dachu," three separate line statements of that hexagram are concerned with "horses" (26/4), "oxen" (26/5), and "pigs" (26/6), all particular evocations of the general theme. To consider one other example, the theme of "Zhong fu" \^ ^ hexagram is found in its third line. "Zhong fu" 61/3:
Obtain an enemy: now drumming, now exhausted; now crying, now singing.
117
Once   again   it   is to the incisive philology of Wen Yiduc that   we are
25
indebted   for   understanding the meaning of this hexagram   name. The
graph fu ^f, is now generally recognized to be the original form of the
26
word fu (war captive). It was Wen, however, who suggested the verbal function of the word zhong , meaning to shoot an arrow and hit the mark. The hexagram name "Zhong fu" can then be seen to mean "Shoot the Captive" (presumably in battle and not in a victory celebration), which then can easily be reconciled with the Topic of line 61/3.
While it is easy enough to document the relationship between the hexagram names and their respective line statements, the question of the primacy of hexagram name vis-a-vis line statement is more difficult to determine. Both Li Jingchi and Gao Heng consider the line statements to be primary, believing that the hexagram names were added at a later point in time for convenience of citation. They both note that in antiquity documents did not have titles, and that only later were titles artificially produced from the documents first words or from its general theme.
Evidence recently discovered together with the "bagua numerical symbols" suggests another approach. In a few cases, the six numerals of the numerical symbol are followed by the word vue V3 (to say) and then by either a word or phrase. Two different theories have been suggested about the significance of these words following vue. Under two of the three numerical symbols on an oracle-bone discovered at Sipanmo M3 ^ are inscribed the words "vue kui" \3 and "vue kui (or wei)" \"=j
• This has led Zhang Zhenglang to suggest that "they could possibly be   the   chapter   headings   of a book on milfoil   stalk   divination," a
118
28
function derived from an initial use as hexagram names.
On the other
hand,   several   scholars have suggested that the inscription "vue ai wen
Hll:85   of   the Zhouyuan oracle-bcnes strongly resembles a   Zhouvi line
statement.
In evaluating these contrasting positions, I would suggest that they are both rather too simplistic. The Sipanmo oracle-bone dates to the late Shang or early Western Zhou. For there to have been "chapter heading"-like hexagram names, it is logically necessary that there also have been chapter-like hexagrams; i.e., something resembling the fully articulated grouping of six line statements known from the extant Zhouvi. But it has been demonstrated auuve t'nac the text piu'uo'ulj not produced until some 250 years later. On the other hand, although the phrase on Hll:85 of the Zhouyuan oracle-bones does resemble a Zhouvi line statement in the terseness of its imagery, it should be noted that no strict identity between this line and any line in the extant text can be demonstrated. Moreover, there is nothing in this inscription to suggest that the phrase was intended to apply to only one of the six numerals of the numerical symbol. All that can be said about these types of inscriptions is that, first, they both follow the "baeua numerical symbols" which are almost certainly the results of milfoil divination, and thus both share some type of affinity with the text of the Zhouvi; and second, they are both introduced by the word vue. presumably signifying the words of the diviner presiding at the divination. I would propose as a working thesis that these two types of inscriptions are   not   functionally   different (although the greater   elaboration on
on
29
119
1211:85 probably signals a more developed usage that nay be the result of a chronological difference, a difference cctween Shang and Zhou milfoil divination, or simply an idiosyncratic divination official). Rather, both are meant to characterize the entire "hexagram," which in the experience of the divination official had presumably come to be associated with that theme. Then, in the late ninth century B.C. when the text of the Zhouvi was put into the form by which we know it today, elaborations were made on these themes with a differentiated form given to each of the six line statements. It was undoubtedly also at this time that the hexagram name was formalized. In most cases, this name was none other than the theme traditionally associated with the hexagram. Thus, the arguments of Li Jingchi and Gao Heng not withstanding, it may be fnir to say that the hexagram name, considered not as any type of "chapter heading," but in its embryonic state as a general theme, was the ground from which the line statements developed.
III.3.iii Association with the Hexagram Statement
Before going on to consider the text of the hexagram, one further point about the hexagram name remains to be considered: the nature or its occurrence in the text of the hexagram. In 60 of the 64 hexagrams (93%), the name occurs simply as a tag beginning for the hexagram statement (guaci        "j^. ); e.g.:
"Qian" (1):  %   *u 1  *1 >\
Qian. Primary receipt: beneficial to divine.
"Kun"   (2):        it* 1  4J Jffe k ^ \
Kun. Primary receipt: beneficial for a r.are's divination.
In   three cases,   however,   the word taken to be the hexagram nane also
120
enters    into   the   syntax of the hexagram statement.     In the   cases of
"Tongren" (13) and "Gen" (52),    it seems likely that this statement was
in   origin a line statement which at some point in time becai:.e misplaced
as the hexagram statement.   The hexagram statement for "Tongren" reads:
"Tongren" (13): /i] >L-f ff      #J 1$ *. J'l M £ Z >%
Gathering people in the fields. Receipt: beneficial to cross the great river; beneficial for the lordling to divine.
Comparing the phrase "tone ren yu ve"       A- *T ^"f   (gathering people in
the   fields) with line statements 13/1:   tons ren yu men       A. -f
(gathering   people at the gate),   13/2:   tons ren yu gong yS|       ^ ^
(gathering   people at the ancestral altar),   and 13/6:   tong ren yu iiao
/*i Vv. "f (gathering people at the suburban sltar)   of   the same
^ 30 hexagram, it is clear that they share a common form.      This commonality
of   form   is   even more evident in the case of   "Gen"   (52),   where the
hexagram statement reads:
"Gen" (52):  fc* # * ft ft tjk* )s.**$
Glare at his back, but do not bag his person: move into his hall, but do not see his man; no harm.
Compared with the Topics of the line statements in this hexagram: "Gen" 52/1:    ^ ^ |jfc.       Glare at his feet;
52/2:    f^^fll        Glare at his calf5
52/3:    ^      -yg^        Glare at his midsection;
52/4:     ^ ^ Glare at his body;
52/5:    -j^ ^ ^        Glare at his cheeks; it is obvious that the first phrase of this hexagram statement,   gen ci bei   ^ ^  jt[    (glare at his back),    is of a piece with the "aen qi X" (where X is a part of the body) pattern of the line statements.   What is
121
more, since the logic of the line statements is indisputably progressive
from bottom to top (i.e., from "feet" to "cheeks"), it seems likely that
the   phrase "glare at his back" must originally have followed "t>lare at
31
his   body   (=torso?)."      Whether this displacement was   inadvertant or
intentional   (perhaps due to the complete rhyming xing-evocation coupled
with the phrase in the hexagram statement) is impossible to say.   But it
is   clear that the hexagram statement of "Gen" is anomalous and   was in
origin a line statement.
The case of "Lit" (10) is similar.   The hexagram statement reads:
"III" (10):  fa/, A -%
Treading on a tiger's tail: (it) does not eat the person. Receipt.
The third line of the same hexagram is nearly identical:
"Lfl" 10/3: /L jk* A> *1A ^
Treading on a tiger's tail: (it) eats the person. Inauspicious.
Since   hexagram statements are not normally repeated in the line state-32
ments, the couplet "treading on a tiger's tail: (it) does not eat the person" of the hexagram statement of "Lfl" is either an intrusion from line statement 10/3 or else is a separate line statement that has been displaced.
The final case of a hexagram name seemingly entering into the syntax of the hexagram statement also seems to involve a corruption in the text.   The hexagram statement for "Pi" (12) reads:
"Pi" (12): &±*0iJs.*MjL*4LAtL.4-&
Pi him: not a man. Not beneficial for the lordling to divine. The great go; the small come.
It   has been suggested,   first by Zhu Xi and more recently by Qu War.li,
122
that   the words "zhi fei ren" -i.     Vv.    are an intrusion frora the third
33
line of "Bi" (8) hexagram.
"Bi" 8/3: tX     jji A
Follow him: not a man.
Such   confusion may have arisen from the similar pronunciations   of ^
p_i/pijg (GSR 999f) and        bi/pi»r (GSR 566g).     Since the words zhi fei
ren   have no apparent structural or syntactic function in this hexagram
statement,   their   deletion here seems justified.     This would leave the
words:
"Pi" (12): A'      *i f, Tr & *v # -J» &
Pi. Mot beneficial for the lordling to divine. The great go; the small come,
which   is an entirely normative hexagram statement.     With the anomalous
nature of this and the other three exceptional cases being explained, it
can   be   asserted with confidence that in the text of   the   Zhouyi. the
standard function of the hexagram name is to serve as an identifying tag
for the text of the hexagram.
III.4 The Hexagram Statement
In   the   above discussion of the hexagram name and   especially its
structural   relationship with the hexagram statement,   some features of
the   hexagram   statement   have already been   introduced.     It   has been
suggested for example that the hexagram statement for "Qian" (1):
"Qian" (1): %        1  M &
Qian. Primary receipt: beneficial to divine,
is normative with regard to the function of the hexagram name.   I should
now like to suggest that the other two syntagmas of this statement, yuan
heng    ^tj (primary   receipt) and .li zhen   $J  ij^      (beneficial to
123
divine), are also normative features of hexagram statements.
III.4.i     Yuan heng: li 2hen
The   two svntagmawvuan heng and 11 zhen occur in exactly   the same manner as in "Qian" in the hexagram statements of "Tun" (3), "Sui" (17), "Lin" (19) and "Uuwang" (24) hexagrams, and with relatively inconsequential variations in "Dui" (58) and "Xiaoguo" [(62);   heng: li zhen \ M k  ) and in "Dun" (33) and "Jiji" [(63);   heng:   xiao li zhen ~f 4- M !§ ].   More generally, the word heng        occurs in the Zhouvi 47 times. Of   these 47 occurrences,   40 are in hexagram statements.     Three of the seven   other occurrences are obviously loans for the cognate word xiang (to make an offering), as for example: "Dayou" 14/3:
The duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven; the small man is not capable.
Of   the remaining four occurrences of the word in line   statements, two
34
can be suspected of being corruptions, so that 40 of 42 "hard" examples occur in hexagram statements. Even without taking into account the fact that there are only 64 hexagram statements as opposed to 386 line statements, this distribution allows one to state with assurance that the term heng is characteristic of hexagram statements, but not of line statements.
The same is true,   I believe, of the phrase .li. zhen.   In this form,
the   phrase occurs in the Zhouyi 23 times,   of which 20 occurrences are
35
found in hexagram statements. In addition to this distribution of the phrase li zhen itself, the use of the word li. ■^•j also confirms that the phrase is normative in hexagram statements rather than line statements. Li     is   the   single   most   common   word   in   hexagram   statements (57
124
occurrences), but its use there is almost invariably linked with formulaic phrases (i.e., phrases that occur in the sane fashion numerous tines throughout the text) such as li she da chuan -^-i J"^, J'\ [beneficial to cross the great river: "Xu" (5), "Tongren" (13), "Gu" (13), "Dachu" (26), "Yi" (42), "Huan" (59), "Zhong fu" (61)] li you you van-1t\ ^ 4X. fl [beneficial to do some travelling: "Ben" (22), "Bo" (23), "Fu" (24), "Wuwang" (25), "Daguo" (28), "Hens" (32), "Sun" (41), "Yi" (42),    "Guai" (43), "Cui" (45), "Sun" (57)] and li iian da ren M &
A. [beneficial to see the great nan:   "Song" (6),   "Jian"   (39), "Cui" 36
(45), "Sheng" (46), "Sun" (57)], in addition to the phrase li zhen. On the other hand, when li. introduces a phrase which is not formulaic, that is, which occurs only once or twice in the text [e.g., "Meng" 4/1: li vong xing ren fa fti J\. (beneficial to use [=sacrifice?] the branded nan),    "Meng"   4/6:    bu li wei Icou A-      % (not beneficial to be a
roooer), "Guan" 20/4: li yonn bin vu wanq •^•1 fa 4 £ (beneficial herewith to have an audience with the king), and "Cui" 45/2 and "Sheng" 46/2:    fu_ nai li. vong vue       71 4i (having nade a capture it is
beneficial therewith to perforra a yue-sacrifice)], it is almost equally invariably found in line statements (18 of 22 cases). Since the phrase li zhen does indeed occur fornulaically, this provides a formal corroboration of its usage in the hexagram statements.
Discerning this distinction between normative hexagram statement language and normative line statement language serves more than just a structural purpose; as mentioned briefly in Sec. II.2.ii, I believe it points to a functional difference between these two types of Zhouyi texts.     Moreover,   the key to understanding this difference lies in the
125
understanding of the two syntagmas(yuan) hong and li zhen.     One of the
stimuli   for   the contextual re-appraisal of the Zhouyi that began some
fifty years ago was, in general, the discovery of the Shang oracle-bones
at Anyang,   but more specifically, it Aay iniheidentification by oracle
37
bone scholars of the formulaic divinatory term Jj^ as zhen ^ . A standard   oracle-bone inscription begins with a preface of the form ^
1' X , where £«. denotes the day in the Chinese cycle of sixty on which the divination was performed, |% is thought to refer to the actual crack-making on the bone or shell, and X represents the diviner's name. In oracle-bone studies, the meaning of the word zhen is understood as defined by Xu Shen in his Shuowen iiezi: "zhen bu wen ve" W P*l [(zhen means to inquire by crack-making); 3B.29a]. Until the discovery of this use of zhen in the oracle-bone inscriptions, this Shuowen definition had long been viewed as an anomaly, the word being paranomastically defined in other traditional dictionaries as "ding ye"
-ti (settled) or "zheng ye" 3t -£i (upright). This latter meaning, found in the Guangya jj^ , in particular, subsequently oecame the standard definition of the word. But rather than being a true dictionary, the Guangya was a compendium of earlier commentarial glosses
and   its   definition of zhen as zhens was almost certainly derived from
39
the "Tuan" ■jJl commentary of the Yiiing. In a broader sense, this gloss is consistent x*ith the Warring States and Han moralistic reinter-pretation of divination in general, and consequently of the Zhouyi (see above, Sec. II.1.5). Of particular importance in this re-interpretation of the word zhen (and, indeed, of all of the words of the normative hexagram statement yuan heng: li zhen) is the Zuozhuan account (9th year
126
of   Duke   Xiang) of Lady Mu Jiang's divination,   which we   have already
discussed in other contexts*     The importance of the text in the Yiiing
tradition merits looking at it again.
Of this diagram it is said in the Zhouyi. "'Sui' indicates being great, penetrating, beneficial, firmly correct (yuan heng li zhen). without blame." Now, that greatness is the lofty distinction of the person; that penetration is the assemblage of excellences; that bene-ficialness is the harmony of all righteousnesses; that firm correctness is the stem of all affairs. The person who is entirely virtuous is sufficient to take the presidency of others; admirable virtue is sufficient to secure an agreement with all propriety; beneficialness to things is sufficient to effect a harmony of all righteousnesses; firm correctness is sufficient to manage all affairs. But these things must not be in semblance merely.
As already noted, this interpretation is quoted nearly verbatim in the "Wenyan zhuan" of the Yiiing and the status enjoyed by that commentary ensured that the reading would not be challenged by succeeding generations of Chinese classicists.
But it is now widely recognized that this "four virtues" interpretation of the words yuan heng li zhen misconstrues their grammatical structure, which rather than four independent nouns should be read as two independent (although probably related) syntagmas. For instance, the word yuan -y^j , though interpreted by Lady Mu Jiang as the noun "greatness, " commonly serves in archaic Chinese as an adjective meaning "great" or "primary." Compare its usage in the following poems of the Shiiing.
"Liu yue"       /h   :   *j # ~T jk
(Mao 177) The great war chariots, ten pieces.
"Cai qi"   &        x $ 4K 9L ¥i
(Mao 178) Fangshu, the great senior.
40
Moreover,   in   the   Zuozhuan   (12th year of Duke Zhao),   this   sense is
127
explicitly credited to the word as it is usea in the Zhouyi.
Nan Kuai divined by milfoil about it, and net "Kun" zhi "Si" (i.e., "Kun" 2/5), which reads, "Yellow skirts: yuan auspicious."   He considered it to be greatly auspicious.
As in the case of "yuan auspicious" (yuan ii   7c1        ) here,   so too in
the case of yuan heng should yuan be understood as a modifier and not as
any sort of abstract noun.   Similarly, as already noted, the word li.
serves   in   the Zhouyi as a modal auxilliary with the sense "it will be
41
beneficial to Verb." Since zhen is understood in archaic Chinese as a verb (see below, p. 131), the words li zhen should also be grammatically linked.
The parsing yuan heng: .li zhen is agreed on by nearly all context critics of the Zhouyi. Such unanimity does not extend, however, to the understanding of the meanings of the respective syntagmas. The word heng. for instance, has traditionally been glossed as tone (penetrating). Gao heng has argued, however, that since heng occurs three times as a loan for the cognate word xiang. it should in all cases be read as xiang. His understanding of the word's function was originally stated to be that divinations were performed upon the occasion of sacrifices, so that the words yuan heng. understood by Gao as "a great sacrifice," denoted the context of the divination. In his latest work, Gao has refined this interpretation,   now arguing that yuan heng is a prognosti-
catory result obtained in the divination and counselling the performance
42
of "a great sacrifice."
This interpretation fails on two points. First and foremost, it does not take into account heng's normative function in hexagram statements   as indicated above.     The three cases where heng is   certainly a
128
loan for xiang are all found in line statements. This usage ueing a priori distinct from its normative usage, one is therefore not justified in extending the reading to those normative occurrences. Second, there is internal evidence in the text that hen-; should be considered as a near synonym for ±i ^£ (auspicious). Compare the following hexagram statements:
"Dui" (53):      "\ $} ^ Hens: beneficial to divine.
"Cui" (45):      ^ %\ ^ Heng.: beneficial to divine.
"Xiaoguo" (62):     %\ ij^ Henr^: beneficial to divine.
"Jian" (53):     %. Auspicious: beneficial to divine.
This similarity can also be seen in one of the non-normative occurrences of heng in a line statement.
"Jie" 60/4:   £ % \     Peaceful moderation: hen-;. "Jie" 60/5:        ^7 Sweet moderation: auspicious.
And if, as I believe, there is any inherent relationship between the Prognostication and the line statement Topic (for which, see Sec. III.5.ii.3), the final line of "Jie" (60), by offering a nariced contrast, may also be instructive with regard to the meaning of hen:;.
"Jie" 60/6:    S Z? «    Bitter roderation: inauspicious.
43
Finally, the oracle-bone inscriptional form of henp. , would seem to
be too similar to that for jjl, ^ , for the two words not to be related. This similarity in meaning and usage with j_i corroborates to a degree the traditional gloss of tons: (penetrating). I would suggest that the meaning as the word is used in the hexagram statements is that the divination has reached spirits (i.e., torn;) and that the spirits have cor.ur.unicated their response to the diviner,   who has "received" it.
129
The translation "receipt," though perhaps an unhappy compromise, aoes have the virtue of reconciling hen^'s three n-.eanings, "penetrating," "auspicious," and "to offer." It perhaps also has the advantage of signalling the role heng plays in the divination process. As I understand it, heng was the first prognostication reached in the performance of Zhouyi divination, and provided the opportunity for further, more specific, prognostications.
Support for this interpretation is found in the second syntagma of the   normative hexagram statement,   li zhen.     While the linkage between
these two words has been recognized by virtually all context critics, I
44
would contend that all have misinterpreted the meaning. To single ">ut Gao Heng's translation, though others agree with him, li zhen is construed to be synonymous with zhen ii   A  ^   (divining: auspicious), and
45 "
to mean "a beneficial divination."      It seems to me, however, that this
forces   a linguistically unjustifiable meaning on the phrase.     We have
seen that li. occurs in hexagram statements in conjunction with formulaic
phrases   and   in line statements with ad hoc phrases.     The one notable
linguistic   feature   about all of these examples is that   li.   is always
followed by a verb.
"Song" (6):    M % ^ ^
Beneficial to see the great man.
"Meng" (3):    M 3&
Beneficial to establish a lord.
"Xu" (5):        M   V$ ■?< J»|
Beneficial to cross the great river.
"Ben" (22): % ^ &
Beneficial to do some travelling. "Shihe" (21):       jfl jfo;
Beneficial herewith to prosecute.
130
"Meng" 4/1:    %\ ft M A
Beneficial to use (3sacrifice?) the branded nan.
"Mens" 4/6:     fa\  % fa
Beneficial to ward off robbers.
"Mens" 4/6:    & M  % fa
Not beneficial to be a robber.
"Xu" 5/1:       4-J ft it
Beneficial to use perseverence.
"Shi" 7/5: fa -*
Beneficial to shackle captives.
"Qian" 15/5:   ^ ft fa ft.
Beneficial herewith to invade and attack.
"Qian" 15/6:   %\ ft \% jty
Beneficial herewith to raove troops.
"Guan" 20/4:   M  if\       % X
Beneficial herewith to have an audience with the king.
"Yi" 42/1: J|\ %
Beneficial herewith to undertake a great project.
"Yi" 42/4:      M Jf{ jk*.
Beneficial herewith to have the (Yi-) Yin nove their state.
"Cui" 45/2:    4 71 M j&
Raving raade a capture it is beneficial therewith to perform a yue-sacrifice.
"Kun" 47/2:    4j  fi[ %
Beneficial herewith to make an offering.
"Kun" 47/5:   %\ /?) ft
Beneficial herewith to make a sacrifice.
"Ding" 50/1: M  iH A
Beneficial to expel the bad.
Turning   to   the word zhen.    although its grammatical usage in the
46
Zhouyi is not unambiguous, oracle-bone scholars interpret it to be a verb.     This is in part derived from the Shuowen definition "zl.e;; means
131
to   inquire fay crack-male ins," but there are also clear precedents in its
archaic   usage for this grammatical interpretation.     To cite   just one
example from the transmitted literature, in the "Lo gao" j4c \% chapter
of the Shannshu the word occurs in the sentence, wo er ren ^onp, zhen
sz*       ^ jjj   (we two people together zhen).     V/hatever nuance the word
carries   in   this   usage,   grammatically it must be considered   a verb.
Therefore,   since   in   the Zhouvi li always acts as a   modal auxilliary
introducing a verb,   and since the function of zhen elsewhere in archaic
Chinese is demonstrably as a verb, it seems to me that the only possible
interpretation   for the phrase H, zhen is "it is/will be   beneficial to 47
divine."
Before too quickly accepting this deduction, it should be emphasized again that it runs counter to the current wisdom regarding the manner in which the text was composed. This holds that the hexagram and line statements were results obtained in divinations. A reading of "it is beneficial to divine" logically would be tantamount to putting the horse behind the cart; i.e., to have obtained the prognostication "li zhen."   it would have been necessary for the divination to have already
been performed,   and if the divination had already been performed, what
48
v<i?ue could a counsel to perform a divination have had? I am confident that the basic fallacy of this position has been demonstrated already in the preceding chapter. But even if the type of historical evidence analyzed there were not available, I would still be reluctant to adopt a reading so as to comport with what we think we know about something (i.e., Zhouvi divination) at the expense of something about which we do know (i.e.,    linguistic usage).   In this case the linguistic
132
usage of archaic Chinese definitely requires that H. zhen be interpreted as "it is/will be beneficial to divine." And this interpretation, combined with the pattern of li zhen's virtually exclusive usage in the hexagram statements, in turn requires that Zhouyi divination be interpreted as a two-stage procedure.
III.4.ii   Other Constituents of the Hexagram Statement
To leave off for the moment x*ith the implications for the compositional process of the phrase yuan heng. li zhen and return to the structural analysis of the hexagram statement, it has already been mentioned that in addition to its occurrence with zhen. the word li. also acts as a modal auxilliary for a series of formulaic verbs. These have been characterized as normative components of a hexagram statement, and a statistical analysis of all phrases in hexagram statements demonstrates that they account for well over 50 percent of those phrases. Another 23 percent of the phrases in hexagratr statements are comprised of technical divination terms (either Prognostication or Verification), which I would suggest represent either incursions from line statements or else incidences where the first stage of divination could also have been the final stage; i.e., if the Prognostications and especially the Verifications do in some way owe their existence to the notation of random divination results (for a discussion of which, see Sec. III.5.ii.3), it may have occurred that the second stage of divination, which, according to the thesis presented here, would have resulted in a line statement, was not performed, and the Prognostication or Verification normally attached to the line statement was instead appended to the hexagram statement.     The final roughly 20 percent of the phrases in the hexagram
133
statements   appear   to be either misplaced line statements   [e.g., "LU" (10),   "Tongren" (13),   and "Gen" (52) noted above! or topicalizers for the   entire hexagram.     For instance,   the hexagram statement for "Jing" (48) reads:
"Jing" (48):  IX 23^**,^*. ft &
% t &   it n fa&ih &
If you change the city but do not change the well, there will be neither loss nor gain. Going and coming slowly-slowly, after having arrived they still do not dig out the well. Breaking the pitcher: inauspicious.
I   might   suggest that this list of   proverb-like   statements regarding
"wells"   is   not the result of a divination or divinations,   but rather
found its place at the head of this hexagram because the line statements
of the hexagram present variations on the theme of line. 4\   (well). As
another   example   of this type of   topicalyzer,   consider   the hexagram
statement for "Jin"        (35) hexagram.
"Jin" (35):   & 4L A        & % j* , ^ 1 JL *
The Archer-lord of Kang herewith bestows horses in great number; in the daytime, three victories.
49
One can only speculate as to why this reportorial notation occurs in this hexagram, especially considering that the word iin ^| around which the line statements are structured has no apparent relationship with this hexagram statement, but it might be significant that the Archer-lord cf Ki"» was the first Zhou governor of the territory which later became the state of Jin .
To summarize our conclusions about hexagram statements, the normative statement includes the word heng "j (receipt) and any of a series of   formulaic   Injunctions   advising   various   types   of   action. Most
134
important among these is the performance of divination (zhen ^ ), which is understood to refer to the second stage of Zhouyi divination, and which would result in one of the six line statements.
III.5 The Line Statement
This brings us to consideration of the line statement, which, essential though a proper understanding of the hexagram statement is, comprises the bulk of the text and includes many if not mcst of its most interesting features* It is these features, often poetic and always enigmatic, that became the canvas on which later commentators could paint their wondrous metaphysical interpretations of the text. What is more important for our purposes here, it is also that portion of the text that is most instructive regarding the process of composition undergone by the Zhouyi. and is therefore deserving of a detailed structural analysis. The following discussion will treat first the structure of the individual line before proceeding to discuss the individual line*8 relationship with the other lines of the same hexagram and finally to possible relationships with other hexagram".
III.5.i    The Numerical Tag
Each line statement is introduced by a two-word tag which systematically changes depending on the line's position in the hexagram and its nature (i.e., whether it is solid or broken). The bottom line is called chu fy[ (first), the top line shane ^t, (top), and the intervening lines er   ^   (2),   san .2. (3),   s_i  i£J (4),   and wu (5), respectively.
Solid   lines   (vane)   are uniformly referred to as iiu   Ai    (nine) and
135
broken    lines    (yin) as liu   fs. (six).     The combination   of   these two
features gives the tags chu i_iu  ftfl A   or chu liu  fa -A.  ,    iiu er Ai
-~ or liu er   -f^        ,    iiu san  il or liu san *j-2»   , iiu si A»
\Q or liu si ^v tf3    ,    Hu wu   tl, 3-   or liu wu ^v 2. , and shang iiu
-k.   A.   or shang liu  J; .     In addition,   the first two hexagrams,
"Qian"   (1)   and "Kun" (2),   each contain one additional line   which is
51
termed yong iiu /ft  7X1   and vong liu Jfa /\ respectively.
The mechanical manner in which these tags occur gives them no hermeneutic interest. Moreover, as described already in Sec. II.2.ii, they are a late accretion to the text, presumably dating no earlier than the mid to late Warring States period. For this reason, throughout this study no attention is paid to these tags' when discussing the line statements .
III.5.ii   The Constituents of the Line Statement Proper
The line staten»nt proper can be as simple as:
"Dui" 58/6:   31 &
Shoot the Dui.
"Kun" 2/7:    <k\ & \
Beneficial to perform a permanent divination.
"Heng" 32/2: *ft £
Problems gone,
or as complex as:
"Fu" 24/6:        fl^i *j 4 % ft . /ft * ft, jfc * ^ ^
Lost return: inauspicious; there is disastrous harm. If herewith you set troops in motion, in the end there will be a great defeat. For the lord of the state: inauspicious; for up to ten years it will not be possible to campaign.
136
But in general, any line can be reduced to four constituent parts: the Topic (shici   :f, ), often referred to as the "Omen," which formulai-
cally introduces the line; the Injunction (gaoci /Ijf ), similar to the Injunction of the hexagram statement but considerably more ad hoc; and two different types of technical divination determination, the Prognostication (duanci ^Jj fj$f ), one of four words, ji •* (auspicious), xiong ^ (inauspicious), li_ (danger), and lin ^ (trouble), often following the word zhen (divining), and determining the portentiousness of the line's Topic, and a Verification (vanci ), one of a different group of terns, wu vou li ^b^JL^J (nothing beneficial),   wu to li jt, A (nothing not beneficial),   wu jiu
(no harm),   hui ffi   (problems) and hui wane  j% (problems gone),
which   must have been added to indicate the final disposition of a divi-52
nation. As seen from the examples above, these features may occur independently [Topic only: "Dui" (58/6), Injunction only: "Kun" (2/7), and divination determination only: "Heng" (32/2)]," or may occur in any combination. Diagramming statements in the following manner often helps to clarify the structure of the line and the relationships of these features.
Line	Topic	Injunction	Prognostication	Verification
"Meng" 4/6	Hit the meng	AM & 35. M %? 35, . not beneficial to be a robber; beneficial to ward off robbers		
				
"Meng" 4/4	® * Bundle the neng		trouble	
137
Line	Topic	Injunction	Prognostication	Verification
"Yu" 16/5		>&fr ft If perseverent, he will not die	divining: auspicious	
"Sun" 57/6	There are sun under the bed	ft use scribes and shamans in great numbers	auspicious	no harm
Most often, the features follow the order
Topic - Injunction - Prognostication - Verification
but   in a relatively small number of cases the order is inverted in one
way or another.
"Kui" 38/5:    ft t f t *&.jk *
Problems gone.   Ascend tne ancestral temple and eat the flesh. In travelling, what harm?
"Dun" 33/6:    i$ ^ ^ ft >M <fll ft
Piglet's tail:   danger;   do not herewith do any travelling.
"Shi" 7/5:     X* toft* JL$
In the hunt there is a catch:   beneficial to
shackle   captives;   no harm.     The elder son
leads the troops,   the younger son carts the corpses: inauspicious.
In a much larger number of lines there is no Injunction at all (a preliminary count suggests that only 170 of the 386 lines contain language that can be construed as an Injunction), and usually only one of the two kinds of divination determinations is present in a given line. Simple though this structural analysis may seem, in practise the line statements are rarely so straightforward. Below we will examine in turn each of the constituent features.
138
III.5.ii.l        The Topic
Many of the Topics are descriptions of natural phenomena. Because
of   the   prevalence   of this type of Topic,   this feature   of   the line
53
statement   is   often referred to as the "Omen."      In his   article "The
Book   of Changes," Arthur Waley made use of cross-cultural parallels as
54
an approach to understand the meaning of many of these natural omens. For example, "Xian" (31/2): "xian qi mu f£ ^ ^} [apud Waley: a feeling in the big toe (with xian fa* understood as gan jdi )] suggests to Waley the common English expression "to have a feeling in one's bones" as a harbinger of coming events. Noting that the finding of objects in one's food is considered either lucky or unlucky in various parts of Europe, Waley finds "Shihe" 21/3:
Biting dried meat on a bone: getting a yellow arrowhead
remarkably similar. Me also finds vestiges of an ancient scapegoat ritual in the third line of "Wuwang:"
"Wuwang" 25/3:        i ^ ft,      % A * ;
The pestilence of the wuwang: someone fastens it to an ox; the gain of the traveller is the pestilence of the village people.
From the fifth line of the same hexagram:
"Wuwang" 25/5:  & % ^ #v : » % ft \
The   wuwang sickness:   there is no medicine (but) there is joy,
it can be seen that the "wuwang" is some type of plague-like affliction.
Waley   interprets the line statement "someone fastens it to an ox" as a
ritual attempt to banish the plague from the city.
There are numerous other omens, such as the various gu. J^t (worms?)
139
of "Gun (18) hexagram, the piglets of "Dun" (\j$ -»)/&«• (33), and the "hornbrace of the young oxen" [tongniu zhi gu % % ("Dachu" 26/4)] and the "teeth of the baby piglet" [fenshi zhi ya 3^ & J* ("Dachu" 26/5)], that derive fron observations of the animal world. Other omens are taken from man-made objects such as the "sagging ridgepole" (dong nao fa. #u ) of the third line of "Daguo" (28/3), the various conditions of the "well" in "Jing" (48) [48/1: "the well is muddied"   (jing ni # $    ),   48/2:   "the well is vallied" (iing *u #
/£), 48/3: "the well is drained" (iinn xie # \% ) 48/4: "the well is tiled" (Ung zhou       i£    ), and 48/5: "the well is clear" (iing lie #
'fX )], and the description of the parts of a cauldron already mentioned above (Sec. III.3.i). Not to be neglected are those omens which deal with climatological or stellar phenomena. The lines of "Zhen" (51) hexagram onomatopoeically describe the different rumblings of thunder: xi-xi/xiak-xiak (GSS 787d), su-su/so-so (GSR 67a), and suo-suo/sak-sak (GSR 770a); those of "Qian" (1) the seasonal appearances tf th;j "eastern dragon," the constellations "Jiao" y$| , "Gang" A , "Di" & , "Fang" , "Xin" ^ and "Wei" jit of the Chinese firmament (i.e., from the star Spica through the constellation Scorpius), while the lines huang li
^ &jl   and ri ze zhi li 4 £ of "Li" (30) hexagram ("Li' 30/2
and 30/3) have been interpreted to refer to a halo sometimes observable 55
around   the sun.      The terseness and obliqueness of these omens in many cases   lends   them to misinterpretation,   perhaps nowhere with quite so devestating results as in the top line of "Kui" (38) hexagram. "Kui" 38/6:  0%.        ti % ifc        $ % -
140
Observe the fox; see the swine shouldering mud; carrying ghosts one cart; the bow first drawn and later released.
It is easy to imagine the associations a cartful of ghosts could conjure up in the minds of a Chinese reader. The line loses some of its mystery, if not its interest, when it is realized that all of these images refer to celestial bodies: the "fox" probably is another name for Sirius, the "cartful of ghosts" certainly refers to the constellation "Yu   gui" (Carted Ghosts;   determinative star of 9 Cancri) and
the "swine" refers to the "Heavenly Swine" (tianshi   ^ 5S»>   »   ^ Andro-56
madae). What these celestial omens might mean and why they are found grouped together in this line statement is a problem to which we will return in the next chapter (Sec. IV.2.iii); for now it will have to suffice simply to note their nature.
Related to these omens are two other genre of Topics: independent lines of poetry and proverbs. It has already been noted that roughly one-third of the text contains rhyme (either within the line or in conjunction with the other lines of the hexagram). Indeed, we have contended that the line statement probably grew out of the same associative intellect as produced the xing-evocation form of the Shijing. In most cases in the Zhouyi. only the xing is present, with the poetic rejoinder left unexpressed. But there are a few cases where the poetic form is complete. In the discussion in Sec. II.2.iii regarding this point, the third line of "Jian" (53) hexagram
"Jian" 53/3:   Vi W[ 1 f&      & * H. M 3- t
The wild goose advances to the land: the husband is on campaign but does not return; the wife is pregnant but does not give birth
was singiad out as an excellent example of this type.     For nox;, we will
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have to be content to raise just two further examples (several more will be discussed in context in Chapter Four).
The xinn-evocation in the second line of "Zhong fu" (61/2) is perhaps the most eloquent and consequently the most frequently cited poetic image in the text.
"Zhong fu" 61/2: % ,
* A a % , * m M *
A calling crane in the shadows, Its child harmonizes with it; We have a fine tankard, I will share it with you.
The association between the two lines of the couplet is readily evident,
even   if   the reason for the line's inclusion in "Zhong fu" hexagram is
not so evident.     In the only line in the text,   however,   that presents
57
anything more complex than simple end-rhyme,     the function of the poem
in the overall unit is quite important.
"Gueimei" 54/6: -* ,h %    (k'iwang) fu % (a'iet)
-* i'i *f      (ziang)  & M. (xiwet)
The lady holds the basket: no fruit The man stabs the sheep: no blood.
In   addition   to the added feature of internal rhyme,   this   couplet is
notable for its vivid evocation of an unfulfilled marriage,   which as we
will see in the next chapter (Sec.   IV.3.iv) is the general theme of the
entire hexagram.
Similar to these developed poetic usages, but seemingly owing more to folk maxims than to conscious literary creativity are the following pair of lines from "Daguo" (28) hexagram.
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"Daguo" 28/2: & [d'i*r   (GSR 591g)]
^kKi%4^%  [ts'iier (GSR 592a)]
The withered willow bears shoots, The old man gets his wife.
"Daguo" 28/5:     M       £. %     [g'va   (GSR 44a)]
44 Ipiwo ^SR 101a)]
The withered willow bears flowers, The old maid gets her man.
Even more characteristically proverbial lines exist.
"Tai" 11/3:   fu^^JjL, 3L fr* 1t
There is no flatness without slopes, There is no going without a return.
"Sun" 41/3: X K ft tf| "fc -K, - K ft *] &
When three men travel then they will
lose one man; Wne one man travels then he will
gain a friend.
It   probably is not coincidental that these moralistic maxims are found
in the most consciously abstract hexagrams of the text, "Tai" sjj*. [(11),
Happiness]   which   couples   with "Pi"        [(12),   Negation]   to   give a
positive-negative   duality,   and "Sun" ^   [(41),   Decrease],   which is
paired with "Yi"        [(42), Increase].
Straddling   the boundary between proverb and history is   the brief
statement in the top line of "La"' (56) hexagram:
"Lti" 56/6:     3L } % %
Losing an ox in Yi.
This   line has gained a type of celebrity since Gu Jiegang associated it
with   the   legend of Wang Hai,   one of the high ancestors of   the Shang
people and the docesticator of oxen,   who,   it is said, while sojourning
in   the land of Yi %   [or Youyi f\ f)     (or Yi fej  ),   was   killed and
58
robbed of his herd.
143
Gu   also   pointed   out four other "historical" vignettes   that are
referred to in the Zhouvi.   Two of these offer little more than a name.
"Jin" (35):   $ ft )% 4$ A % p% £ « *~ &
The Archer-lord of Kang herewith bestov.'s horses in great number; in the daytime, three victories.
"Mingyi" 36/5:    £ Zr ^ ^ %.
Jizi's calling pheasant.
Jizi    ^ ?r ,   minister of the final Shang king Di   Xin,   is renowned
first for his remonstrances against Di Xin,   and then for his refusal to
serve King Wu of Zhou,   who he viewed as a usurper.     The Archer-lord of
Kang   refers to Kangshu Feng fa »   a younger brother of King Uu.
It   has   been noted in Sec.   I.l.i how these lines proved   important in
initially   disproving the tradition that King Wen authored the    text of
the   Zhouvi.     Still,   there   is nothing in either of these   lines that
59
allows them to be linked with any known historical event. Rather more historical are the vignettes regarding the two Shang kings Wu Ding and Di Yi.
"Tai" 11/5:   ^  L  % I'kM
Di Yi marries off his daughter with happiness.
"Gueimei" 54/5: %Z -i^R ^ M
Di Yi marries off his daughter: the primary bride's sleeves are not as fine as the secondary bride's.
"Jiji" 63/3: fa%&'%1>t2-%%±-
Gaozong attacks the Guifang:    in three years he defeats them.
"Weiji" 64/4: % ft # ^ft»?>, ^ 4     t * #
Zhen herewith attacks the Guifang:    in three years he is rewarded by the Great State.
Among   context critics these are perhaps the most well-studied lines in
144
the Zhouvi.   We also will have occasion to return to then in nore detail
in the next chapter (Sees. IV.3.iv and IV.4.iii).
Besides these vignettes first noted by Gu Jiegang,   there are other
lines   which,   though not mentioning personal names,   do give hints of a
historical background.     Perhaps the most important of these in terms of
historical value is the third line of "Yi" (42) hexagram.
"Yi" 42/3: *to ft £ £ ft £, ft. M ft fc^fc.^ /£)
Zhonghang reported to the duke using a jade tessera; thereafter it was beneficial therewith to have the (Yi-) Yin move their state.
60
This line has been cited as evidence of a post-conquest forced migration
of   the Shang people from their concentration in the vicinity of Anyang
61
to   the newly built Zhou eastern capital at Luoyang.        Also sometimes
interpreted   to refer to events that transpired at the time of the Zhou
conquest are the lines:
"Sui" 17/6: #3 M f& AjL-^S * ft i 1" *
Grasp and tie him, and then guard him: the king herewith sacrifices on the western mountain.
"Sheng" 46/4:   j. /fl 1 -j *L Jl
The king herewith sacrifices on Qishan.
While it is tempting to relate this (human) sacrifice to the one conducted by King Wu upon his return to Zhou immediately after the Shang conquest, the lack of specificity in either statement leaves open the possibility that any of the Zhou kings could be the referent. There is no greater specificity in the top line of "Li" (30) hexagram:
"Li" 30/6:    £/M4M&, "fif*>fll£itifa.
The king herewith goes out to campaign at Jia: he cuts off heads and bags their leader,
but   as already discussed in Chapter One,   linguistic   features suggest
145
that   this   line   is   a product of the   late   Western   Zhou.     Owing to
comparable   language in bronze inscriptions from the reign of King Xuan,
it is not unlikely that the "king" referred to here is in fact King Xuan
and   that the campaign was against the Xianyun ffifojffos  .     In   the same
manner,   the   phrase   "huan   wang   iu Jfc. (departs   the royal
residence) in the fifth line of "Huan" (59/5) gives no proper reference,
but   the   allusion   to leaving the royal   residence,   coupled   with the
evocation of this hexagram text,   suggests that King Li,   noted for his
retreat into exile in 842 B.C., is intended.
Besides   these   "historical" lines,   there are any number   of line
statement   Topics which refer,   either in a general or specific way, to
various human actions.   A partial listing might include:
"Shi" 7/5:      tf> H\ A » M 3ft 1; ff fo, % 3r 4% j1
In the hunt there is a catch: the elder son leads the troops, the younger son carts the corpses.
"Dayou" 14/3: A /fl 1 <f KA-
The   duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven.
"Kan" 29/6: /» fll &, % 3
Bound   using small cords;   placed among the thicket of thorns.
"Heng" 32/4:   \% 3t»
In the hunt there is no catch.
"Jie" 40/4:    fa ft %, fll\ 1 %
Severing their thumbs, a friend arrives and captures them.
*****
Having made a capture it is beneficial therewith to perform a yue-sacrifice.
146
"Zhong fu" 61/3:   ft jl^
Obtain an enemy.
"Jiji" 63/5: & ft <* |7 # ^
The eastern neighbor kills an oxen, (but) it is not as good as the western neighbor's yue-sacrifice in really receiving its good fortune.
Examples like this could be multiplied.     Indeed, when context criticism
of the Zhouvi first came into vogue,   scholars delighted in dividing the
text into such categories as warfare,   sacrifices,   eating and drinking,
and so on,   comparing these topics with those found in the Shang oracle-
62
bone inscriptions, then first being studied.
Difficult as it is to understand the meaning of many of these Topics, to at least arrive at an understanding of their function is fundamental in understanding how the Zhouvi was composed and originally used. It has already been demonstrated in Chapter Two that previous attempts to compare the Topic of the line statements with the "charges" of the oracle-bone inscriptions were misguided. A new way of interpreting the function of the Topic was recently discussed by Richard 63
Kunst.      He compares the Topic,   especially those which can properly be
described   as omens,   to the xing-evocation motif so ubiquitous    in the
poems   of   the Shijing,   citing as a particularly clear example of this
analogy the third line of "Jian" (53) hexagram.
"Jian" 53/3: J$ W * 7£ *. 1** fll    2 ^> 3
The wild goose advances to the land: the husband is on campaign but does not return, the wife is pregnant but does not give birth.
The Topic here,   hong Han yu lu   :f£ iflf ^        (the wild goose advances
to   the land) represent just one variation on the pattern "hong iian yu
X,"   with X being filled in the other lines of the hexagram by   gan ^
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(mountain   stream),   ban (large rock),   mu yfc-   (tree),   ling "j^j^
(hillock), and e. "JUJ (hill). Kunst notes that the symbol of the wild goose also appears in a pair of poems in the Shiiing.
(Mao 159) The wild goose flies along the land:
You will go back and not return.
The wild goose in flight, Flap-flapping his wings: This gentleman on campaign, Toiling in the wilds.
From this he suggests that the image of a wild goose flying over land automatically evoked the association of soldiers on the march, and consequently of women left alone. Thus, the two resultative clauses "fu zheng   bu fu   ^ ^f^/tne husband campaigns but does   not return)
and "fu yun bu yu"       3» (the wife is pregnant but does not give
birth) are associations inherent to the omen. Even in the great majority of cases where the rejoinder associating the xing-evocation with affairs in the human realm is not explicitly present in the line statement, we should probably assume with Kunst that the divination officials of the Western Zhou knew these associations implicitly, and the fact that the Topic is unelaborated does not mean that it was not content-laden. For example, in the fifth line of "Kun" (2) hexagram, there is only a Topic and Prognostication.
"Kun" 2/5: 55» *
Yellow skirts: primary suspiciousness.
But   it   can be imagined (and,    indeed,   will be   demonstrated   in Sec.
IV.A.iv)     that     the   image   of   "yellow   skirts"   was   pregnant with
148
associations of ritual celebration. It is in this way that Kunst's demonstration of the veiled symbolism of the Topic represents an important step forward in understanding how the text was composed. But before pursuing this initiative any further, we should first examine the other constituent parts of the line statement.
III.5.ii.2       The Injunction
It has been demonstrated above that formulaic injunctions are one of the normative features of the hexagram statement. Injunctions play a similar role in line statements but with two important qualifications: first, they appear in much reduced quantity [only 170 of the 386 line statements (44Z) can possibly be construed as containing any kind of Injunction, as opposed to 40 of 64 hexagram statements (632)]; and second, the Injunctions are generally not formulaic in nature. Whereas the hexagram statements regularly, and virtually exclusively, employ formulaic   Injunctions like li jian da ren J w(benef icial to
see   the great man),
(beneficial to cross
the   great river),
(beneficial to do
some   travelling),   injunctions   in   the   line   statements,   even while
employing the same "li-verb" structure, are quite varied.
"Meng" 4/1:    ^4 % A
Benficial to use (=sacrifice?) the branded man.
•Meng" 4/6:    M.   % &
Beneficial to ward off robbers.
"Meng" 4/6:   > M &
Not beneficial to be a robber.
"Xu" 5/1:      fa   $ fa
Beneficial to use perseverence.
149
"Shi" 7/5: ?A -*
Beneficial to shackle captives.
"Qian" 15/5:   4>\ ft #
Beneficial herewith to invade and attack.
"Qian" 15/6: /f] ft fa
Beneficial herewith to move troops.
"Guan" 20/4:   M ft £ ^ £
Beneficial herewith to have an audience with the king.
"Yi" 42/1:      4\ /fl fa
Beneficial herewith to undertake a great project.
"Yi" 42/4:      *J       Jfe #t & #
Beneficial herewith to have the (Yi-) Yin move their state.
"Cui" 45/2:     %  T>   4j  ft J4h
Having made a capture it is beneficial therewith to perform a yue-sacrifice.
"Kun" 47/2:     #j  Jf[  1 M
Beneficial herewith to make an offering.
"Kun" 47/5:     M &   % 4&
Beneficial herewith to make a sacrifice.
"Ding" 50/1:   #| 2 4i
Beneficial to expel the bad.
Also noteworthy is a different usage in the formula li_ zhen (beneficial to divine). In 20 occurrences in hexagram statements an unadorned li zhen is employed, while in five other cases the type of zhen is specified as "li pinma zhi zhen" 1* iS -i. /j^ [beneficial for a mare's divination; ("Kun" 2)] "buli iunzi zhen"^. 4j % 3t ^ (not beneficial for the lordling to divine; ("Pi" 12, "Tongren" 13)], "li jian zhen [beneficial to perform a difficulty divination; ("Mingyi 36)], and "li nW. zhen <k tf{ (beneficial for a woman to divine; ("Jiaren" 37)]. On the other hand, the simple li zhen occurs in only 2 of   13 line statement examples,   with the other instances including "li
150
yong zhen" -^J jjt fjl^ [beneficial to perform a permanent divination; ("Kan" 2/7, "Gen" 52/1)], "li iu zhen" #J ft. 'j\ [beneficial to perform a residential divination; "Tun" 3/1, "Sui" 17/3)], "li yu, bu xi zhi zhen" Jfc\ ^      jf,        ij^ [beneficial for   an   unending divination;
"Sheng" 46/6)],   "li youren zhi zhen" 1^ ^    [beneficial for a
dark man's divination;    ("Guimei" 54/2)], and "li wuren zhi zhen" -$t
^ l|l [beneficial for a warrior's divination; ("Sun" 57/1)], in addition to the "li nfl zhen" [beneficial for a woman to divine; ("Guan" 20/2)] and "li iian zhen" [beneficial to perform a difficulty divination; ("Shihe" 21/4, "Dachu" 26/3)] also seen in hexagram statements.
It is difficult to know what implications to draw from these tendencies, but they are too striking to be ignored. I would suggest, albeit tentatively, that this supports my above-stated thesis of a multi-stage divination process. According to this thesis, a preliminary divination resulted in the hexagram statement. Often, perhaps normally, a second divination, somehow reduced in scope, was required. It was this divination that resulted in the line statements. What is more, if my basic reading of li zhen as "beneficial to divine" is correct, then the elaborated forms li. yong zhen (beneficial to perform a permanent divination), li ntf zhen (beneficial for a woman to divine), and so on in the line statements would suggest occasions where one final and even further specified divination was required. I must admit, however, that if this were indeed the case, there is no record either of how the Zhouyi was consulted during this stage of the divination (or even if it were) or what the results might have been.
151
Ill.5.ii.3        The Prognostication and Verification
The technical divination language of the Prognostication and Verification has already been introduced brief'y above. The interpretation of these terms provokes little controversy. "Ji" l£ (auspicious) and "xiona" & (inauspicious) are known from other divination sources as the paradigmatic good and bad prognostications. In the oracle-bone inscriptions gradations in the determinations are expressed by way of the qualifiers xiao 'J*  (small,   slightly), da        (large, greatly), vin
>)|  (extended),   and shang Jh.   (top,   supreme).     While these qualifiers
64
are   also   used   occasionally in the Zhouvi.     there   are   two standard
Prognostications   that   fall between ji and xiong:   li        ,   which has
always   been glossed,   probably accurately,   as "danger," and lin  ^ ,
generally   taken to be a prognostication of "lesser harm."   What I will
here   term   Verifications are the terms wu you li ^'1 (nothing
beneficial) and wu bu li ^ ^- 4'J   (nothing not beneficial),   which are
self-explanatory,   wu iiu  fu        (no harm),   which is thought to derive
65
from   the ubiquitous oracle-bone inscriptional form wane, huo        ity* ,
and   hui        (problems) and hui wane (problems gone).     In sub-
66
stance, these terms present no philological difficulties. There are however two fundamental questions involved in understanding their use: first, is there a functional difference between what I have termed Prognostications and Verifications? and second, is there any intrinsic relationship between these divination determinations and the Topics and Injunctions which constitute the basis of a line statement? The two questions are related and will be discussed together.
I   should point out at the outset that,    to my knowledge,   no other
152
student of the Zhouyi. contextual or otherwise, nas perceived a functional distinction in these divinatory determinations. Generally, the terns are all interpreted as prognostications. Fron this, some context critics have suggested that cases of compound determinations (i.e., where more than one of these terms occurs in a single line statement) require that these "prognostications" were strictly ad hoc decisicns made at various points in time by various divination officials, each with his own standards for determining the result of the divination. Two lines in particular serve as evidence for this.
"Jin" 35/6:        £ Jk 4jL/fl«2iftt^*4*
Advance his horns: herewith attack the city; danger, auspicious, no harm, divining: trouble.
"Jiaren" 37/3: W 4 ~- ty** n&"$ &i %
The family members, stern-stern: problems, danger, auspicious. The wife and children, hee-hee: in the end, trouble.
The juxtaposition of four such contradictory determinations as "danger," "auspicious," "no harm," and "trouble" as found in the top line of "Jin" certainly does suggest that there could be no intrinsic value attached to the Topic "advance his horns." But closer scrutiny of the way in which these determinations occur elsewhere in the text suggests that these examples are anomalous. With the exception of these two lines, there are no other examples where two Prognostications [i.e., ji. (auspicious), xiong (inauspicious), li (danger) and lin (trouble)] refer to the same Topic. Every case of a compound determination, 28 in all, involves the coupling of one of the Prognostications with one of the terms that I have styled Verifications. To cite just the pertinent texts:
153
"Shi" 7/2: Auspicious; no harm.
(Cf. "Lin" 19/6, "Yi" 42/1, "Cui" 45/2, 45/4, "Sheng" 46/4, "Ge" 49/2,    "Sun" 57/2)
"Tun" 3/4:     %. ru A 4'l       Auspicious; nothing not beneficial.
(Cf. "Dayou" 14/6, "Lin 19/2)
"Xian" 31/4:   ^ -*  $j Divining:   auspicious; prob-
lems gone.
(Cf. "Dazhuang" 34/6, "Sun" 57/1, "Dui" 58/2, "Weiji" 64/4)
"Daguo" 28/6:     £i  2  fa        Inauspicious: no harm.
**■ (Cf. "Guai" 43/3, "Kun" 47/2,
"Zhen" 51/6)
"Yi" 27/3: ^.fcjfXA'l  Divinin8:   inauspicious; ...
nothing beneficial. (Cf. "Heng" 32/1)
"Qian" 1/3:     jj| fu & Danger: no harm.
(Cf. "Fu" 24/3, "Kui" 38/4)
"Shihe" 21/3: fa Q     Divining: danger; no harm.
"Shihe" 21/3:     <4 *  -ftfc        Trouble: no harm.
* (Cf. "Dazhuang" 44/6)
Before   suggesting any interpretation it is necessary to note one other
feature   regarding the pattern of these terms' occurrence in the Zhouvi.
Whereas the terms ji.,   xiong.   li.   and lin are commonly linked with the
word zhen (62 cases), the expressions wu bu. li, (nothing not beneficial),
wu   vou   li^ (nothing beneficial),   and hui (problems) never   occur with
zhen.   and wu iiu (no harm) occurs so only once in 84 cases and hui wang
67
(problems gone) only once in 18 cases. Since the latter group is not linked with the word zhen. one is almost forced to consider the possibility that they are not prognostications at all. And if they are not prognostications in the same sense as the terms ji,, xiong. li. and lin. then   even though,   for example,    the term wu iiu occurs in conjunction
154
with all four of the Prognostications, none of these compounds could necessarily be considered contradictory. Rather, it would seer, that the tirsc term (i.e., the Prognoscication), whethex explicitly linked with the word zhen or not, should be construed as the determination made by the divination official, on the basis of the Topic, at the time of the divination (or perhaps better, made by the editor of the Zhouvi at the time of the text's composition). It would then be a reasonable deduction that the second term refers to the final disposition of the divination (or, again perhaps better, to a later accretion to the text added on the basis of some user's divination experience).
There is some textual evidence that this is indeed the case. In the   "Yiwen   zhi"   ^  -j^ bibliographical   essay   of   the Hanshu
(30.1704), it is noted that the guwen -3 ^» (old text) versions of the Zhouvi differed from the text of the Shi /QiL , Meng Jfc, and Liangqiu & schools, on which the received text is based, only in that the terms wu iiu and hui wanu do not occur. Thus, it is quite posrible that these terms (and by extension, the other three terms of the same group) were not constituents originally intrinsic to the text.
In addition to this textual evidence, there is considerable other historical evidence in support of the practise of appending verifications to the record of a divination. For example, in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions, we find:
ft 235:      2. ft*. £ : * . * »H * »*»  # 4 5
£ f JL fa .
Crack on ii-nao. Que divining: "It will rain." The king read the crack an^ said, "It will rain, and it will be a ren day." On ren-wu it really did rain.
155
The result is recorded immediately after the icing's prognostication. Literary substantiation is also found in classical accounts of divination practise, as in the "Zong bo" '-^ T*a section of the Zhouli (24.10b):
In all divinations by turtle-shell and milfoil, after the affair has taken place one then appends a silken-record) in order to compare with the charge, and at the end of the year one then calculates whether the prognostications were correct or not.
It is important here to point out the ramifications of the above argument. If there were multiple Prognostications appended to the line statements, and if these Prognostications could be contradictory, then there could be nothing intrinsically auspicious or inauspicious about any of the line statement Topics. If, on the other hand, a normative line statement included only one Prognostication, this could mean that something in the Topic required that particular Prognostication. To test which of these two possibilities holds greatest promise for understanding the internal structure of the line statements, the Dest methodology is to compare similar lines in a single hexagram that have resulted in the contrasting Prognostications ji (auspicious) and xions (inauspicious), terms about which there is no ambiguity. In some cases, while there is no ambiguity about the Prognostication, the Topic itself is an omen the significance of which has long since been lost. "Daguo" 28/3:
The ridgepole sags: inauspicious.
"Daguo" 28/4: l£ *
The ridgepole bows upward: auspicious.
Since   the significance the bow in a ridgepole had in antiquity   can no
longer be known,   it would be speculative to specify any intrinsic value
156
for   either of these Topics.     But other Topic onens are not necessarily
so obscure.
"Fu" 24/2: H
Munificent return: auspicious.
"Fu" 24/6: 11. *
Lost return: inauspicious.
"Jie" 60/5:     * $ X
Sweet moderation: auspicious.
"Jie" 60/6:     # %
Bitter moderation: inauspicious.
"Ding" 50/2:   $ ^ ^ 1
The cauldron has substance: auspicious.
"Ding" 50/4:    $  1% £|
The cauldron's broken leg: inauspicious.
Both xiu (munificent) and ni £^ (lost) and gan (sweet) and ku (bitter) are value-laden pairs of words contrasting good fortune with bad fortune. Viewed in this light, it would seem that the Prognostications must be required by the Topics of these line statements. The same is true of the two lines from "Ding" (50) hexagram. Whatever it might mean for a cauldron "to have substance," there is no doubt that this type of cauldron is preferable to one with a broken leg, so again the Prognostications seem to be required by the Topics. In another pair of examples, with somewhat more context, the pattern remains the same.
"Jian" 53/2:   ifc W * %*4- *1 %1 ; ^
The wild goose advances to the large rock: drinking and eating, happily-happily; auspicious .
"Jian" 53/3:   pfc      * ft; £ fcA ft, JL 3. * ti *
The wild goose advances to the land: the husband campaigns but does not return, the wife is pregnant but does not give birth; inauspicious.
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As was the case with the sagging ridgepoles of "Daguo" (28) hexagram, the significance of the wild goose's roosting perches, despite the comparative material in the Shiiinn, remains rather obscure today. Still, the fact that the Prognostications in these lines are consistent with the rejoinders to the Topics, a joyful meal coupled with the Prognostication "auspicious" and an unreturned soldier and mother of a child who dies at birth coupled with the Prognostication "inauspicious," strongly suggests that the Topics did indeed possess an intrinsic value. A sample of other lines containing the Prognostication xiong (inauspicious) further corroborates this thesis.
"Shi" 7/3:      fa £ $k T ■ ■'
The troops now carting corpses: inauspicious.
"Lti" 56/6:      ^ 4 * *«
Losing an ox in Yi: inauspicious.
"Xiaoguo" 62/3: *lgl?7^,iic.£/&^»«*»
If   you   do not go over to defend   it, then perhaps they will cut it: inauspicious.
From this, we can conclude that, while it is true that the Verification has no intrinsic value, the Prognostication is implicitly related to the Topic. Used carefully this insight can be a helpful clue in interpreting the meaning of otherwise obscure line statements.
III.6 Intra-Hexagrammatic Relationships
Having now individually considered the constituent parts of the text, it is necessary to determine how these parts relate first to each other and then to the whole. Our consideration of these various features has suggested several ways in which the text may have been used within   the context of Western Zhou divination.   We have also suggested
158
the way in which a single line statement may have been fashioned out of the divination experience. But we have yet to come to grips with one fundamental   question:   how did the text as a whole come to be written?
This is not to suggest that scholars have heretofore neglected this question. Numerous moralistic and metaphysical constructs have been fashioned by traditional interpreters of the text. Interesting and deserving of attention though many of these are, they will not concern us here because, by and large, they are more informative of the context of their own creation than they are about that of the Zhouvi's. As has been demonstrated throughout this study, Chinese scholars of the past fifty years have contented themselves with the more prosaic task of trying to understand the text on its own merits. Out of this fifty years of scholarship has come two distinct conceptions of the text's creation.
The first, and perhaps best known, is that of Gao Heng.   The thesis
which   underlies all of Gao's textual interpretation is that the Zhouvi
as   we have it today is the result of a compilation of random divination
results.     This   was   stated in its clearest and most succinct   form in
Gao's most recent writing on the text.
The Yiiine was created in the early stage of the Western Zhou as a book of divination; how could the six line statements have any so-called "internal logic?"
69
For Gao, the text's compilation occurred in the following manner: an unusual omen or action intrigued a certain individual who then performed a milfoil divination in an attempt to determine its significance. Having performed the requisite manipulations of the milfoil stalks and obtained a hexagracmatic result,   he prognosticated on the basis of the
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hexagram configuration, bagua symbology, or whatever other pertinent information he might have had at hand. Finally, he made a written record of first the omen that had prompted the divination and then the prognostication and or injunction that had resulted, and appended the whole to the place in the text which had been indicated by the divination.
On the other side of this issue stands Li Jingchi, the other great context critic of the Zhouyi. While Li's views on the text evolved over the more than thirty years during which he published his research, there is never any question that he basically agrees that the origin of the Zhouyi lay in divination. Indeed, he began his studies by comparing the line statements to the oracle-bone inscriptions. Later, however, he concluded that the text as we now have it was not simply a compilation of actual records of divinations, but rather that it bears the unmistakable imprint of an editor. This insight became the overriding concern of Li's final writings on the Zhouyi.
The Zhouyi was culled from many different materials and then, through a process of analysis and organization, was edited into this type of divination text. Within this redaction, the editor brought together historical experiences, life experiences, and based on many past and contemporary facts, consciously appended other materials, composing them into the hexagram and line statements. In this selection and organization is included the thoughts of the editor.
70
Which of these two approaches is correct? The answer to this question will be our final concern in this structural analysis of he Zhouyi.
At the beginning of this chapter, in the discussion of hexagram names,    "Ding"   (50)   hexagram was singled out as an example   where the
160
hexagram picture, hexagram name, and the line statements all converged in a single system of symbolism. Let us here review this hexagram (once ngain, in order to illustrate the graphic associations, presented from bottom to top).
50/6:    $  £ £t
The cauldron's jade bar.
A * %
The cauldron's yellow ears. The cauldron's broken leg.
The cauldron's ears turned.
50/2:     ft   * 4t
The cauldron has substance.
50/1:     ft M
The cauldron's upturned feet.
Directly linking the line statement with its solid or broken line picture in this way graphically suggests several associations. The broken line at the bottom has been interpreted as a two-dimensional depiction of the legs of the cauldron, an association reiterated in the corresponding line statement. The three solid lines in the second through fourth positions are interpreted as representing the solid belly of the cauldron, a theme which the statement "the cauldron has substance" also suggests. The third and fourth line statements (50/3, 50/4), however, are inconsistent with this association. The broken line in the fifth position is considered to represent the two "ears" of the cauldron, through which a pole, represented by the solid top line, could be inserted either to lift the cauldron or to suspend it over a fire. The Topics   for these two lines (50/5 and 50/6) correspond exactly with this
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system of symbolism.
It was concluded in the section on the hexagram name (Sec. III,3.i) that this hexagram i«* unique in its correspondence between the hexagram picture and the Topics of the line statements. Unique though it may be in this respect, the organization of "Ding" is replicated to a greater or lesser extent in a number of other hexagrams. As we see here with a bottom-to-top progression in the Topics, so too do the line statements of other hexagrams display a bottom-to-top organization. The clearest examples of this pattern are "Xian" (31) and "Gen" (52) hexagrams.
"Xian" 31/6:  & £ ^
Cut his cheeks and tongue.
31/5:
Cut his back.
31/3: /£ H fa
Cut his thigh.
31/2: & & fifo Cut his calf.
31/1: & H
Cut his toe.
"Gen" 52/5:   & # M
Glare at his cheeks.
52/4:  ft. & f
Glare at his body (torso?),
52/3: £
Glare at his midsection.
52/2:  ?<_ m
Glare at his calf.
52/1: &k
Glare at his foot.
In both of these hexagrams only one statement falls out of the structure
162
71
and progression of the hexagram organization. Furthermore, it has also been noted above (Sec. III.3.iii) that the hexagram statement of "Gen,"
"Gen" (52):       < ft & & *C ^; #L
Glare at his back, but do not bag his person; move in his hall, but do not see his man: no harm,
is anomalous for several reasons as a hexagram statement and is undoubtedly a misplaced line statement. Given the bottom-to-top organizing principle of the line statements of this hexagram, both simple induction and   a   comparison   with the fifth and sixth lines of "Xian"   (31/5 and
31/6)   suggests   that "gen qi bei" (glare at his back)   belongs   in the
72
fifth place, moving "gen qi fu (glare at his cheeks) to the top line.
While no other hexagram exhibits such total bottom-to-top organization, the principle is partially operative in a number of other hexagrams. That the bottom line is normatively associated with the foot is seen in the fact that all occurrences of the word zhi fttv (toe, foot) are found in bottom lines.
"Shihe" 21/1:    /j^H^l/ft &k
Treading in shackles, amputate the toes.
"Ben" 22/1: \
Ornament the toes.
"Guai" 43/1:   ft, %   jfr £*.
Cut on the forward toe.
Other bottom lines consistent with this pedestrian symbolism are:
"Kun" 2/1:     J?^ %
Treading on frost.
"Li" 30/1:      & 4$ t£
Treading hesitantly.
"Bo" 23/1:      £1 fa L'k ft.
Hit the bed with the foot.
73
163
Similarly, the top line is associated with the head or its features.
"Qian" 1/7:     % ft % *L fa
See the flock of dragons without heads.
"Bi" 8/6:        <•'<-' ^» 2L, %
Follow him: without a head.
"Jin" 35/6: # Ř
Advances his horns.
"Gou" 44/6:     4£ Ř
Lock their horns.
"Jiji" 63/6: . "Weiji" 64/6:   »S tl
Wets his head.
That   the bottom-to-top organizing principle operates even beyond Topics
concerned with human or animal anatomy can be seen from the distribution
74
of the word tian        (heaven, sky).
"Qian" 1/5:    % fit A ?x
Flying dragon in the skies.
"Dachu" 26/6:    \*\  K W
What is heaven's road?
"Mingyi" 36/6:   fa % -f K,       A =í ^
At first rising into heaven, later entering into earth.
"Gou" 44/5:    ft ^ % K
There are things falling from heaven.
"Zhong fu" 61/6: % 4 %  1 7v
The quill-sound rises to heaven.
All told, at least sixteen different hexagrams, one-fourth of the text, contain at least one feature of this organizing principle.
The bottom-to-top structure is not the only principle by which the line statement Topics are related. In Chapter Four twenty hexagrams will be examined in detail and will be shown to exhibit several variations   on   this   type   of   organization.     Although I   do   not   wish to
164
anticipate the discussion in that chapter, before closing our structural
analysis of this organizational principle,   one other hexagram should be
mentioned.     Perhaps the best known image of the Zhouvi is the "dragon"
of   "Qian" (1) hexagram.     We will have occasion in the next chapter to
study   this hexagram in consideraoly more detail,   but for our purposes
here   it will suffice to note first the basic structure of the lines and
then to suggest what the nature of their relationship might be.
"Qian" 1/1: ^fc
Submerged dragon,
1/2:      % %i fa ®
See the dragon in the fields,
1/4: i'll/i^
Now jumping in the depths,
1/5:     % "
Flying dragon in the skies,
1/6.'     A U
Throated dragon,
1/7:     & Pi % %
See the flo~k of dragons without heads.
It can be seen at a glance that the dragon image is common to lines 1/1,
1/2, 1/5, 1/6, and 1/7.   Moreover, the rhyme between /2   tian/d'ien (GSR
362a),   JJfjf    vuan/iwen   (GSR 367a),   and        tian/t'ien (GSR   361a) and
Shiiing parallels between yuan        and tian   7\» suggest that the fourth
line (1/4), "now jumping in the depths," also shares in the basic struc-75
ture. The question of immediate importance is, do the dragon images of these lines display any "internal logic?" Interpreted literally, it would seem that they do not. They begin with a "submerged dragon" who is next visible "in the fields." Then he is back "jumping in the watery depths," before "flying in the sky."   Finally,    he is somehow "throated"
165
and then an entire flock of dragons appears as if beheaded.
The omens of the Zhouyi.   obscure though many of them are, all seem
to be firmly grounded in the natural world.     Dragons,   however,   do not
exist   in   nature.     This has caused these dragons to be allegorized by
later   commentators as symbols of the emperor or of the Confucian sage,
allegorizations   certainly   anachronistic for the   Zhouyi*   More recent
scholars have insisted on understanding the image literally,   Gao Ueng,
for   one,   suggesting   that the reason that the dragons of the top line
76
(1/7)   appeared headless is that their heads were covered   by clouds. This   interpretation   has been even more rationalistically   rejected by Richard Kunst.
Gao*s concern with explaining how dragons could appear to lack heads is ingenious but scholastic and unnecessary. If there can be dragons, then there can be headless dragons *
77
It   is   perhaps   conceivable that these dragons represent   a widespread
hallucination among the people of antiquity.   But I think that we should
not   treat   the intellects of the ancients so lightly.     Wen   Yiduo has
proposed   a naturalistic interpretation of the image whereby the dragon
is associated with the stellar dragon the Chinese have long seen in the 78
heavens. This association marks, I believe, a great step in the contextual etudy of the Zhouyi. But, precisely because he failed to recognize any "internal logic1 among the'se line statements, Wen fell one step short of understanding the hexagram. As soon as the progressive nature of the Zhouyi"s line statements is recognized, it becomes immediately apparent that these lines represent the disposition of the celestial   dragon   at   various   times in the course of   the   year,   from his
166
"submergence" under the eastern horizon during the winter, through his Spring appearance just above that horizon, to his full extension across the sky in summer, and finally to his head-first descent beneath the western horizon at the autumn equinox.
Recognition of this "internal logic" in the line statements does more than resolve the meaning of the "dragon" symbolism in "Qian" hexagram. Quite apart from our discussion of divination procedures in Sec. II.2, it makes virtually untenable the thesis that the line statements are simple notations of divination results, and that the text as we now have it resulted from nothing more than a compilation of such results from various places and times. Certainly Gao Heng's concept that a divination was performed on the occasion of the appearance of a particular omen, and that that omen together with its prognostication was noted alongside the line obtained through divination is statistically impossible. It is improbable that divinations conducted at different times about similar omens would result in adjacent lines of a single hexagram. It is impossible that six similar, though slightly differentiated, omens would result in the lines of one hexagram. Faced with hexagrams such as "Ding" (50), "Gen" (52) and "Qian" (1), there can be no conclusion but that the Zhouyi. at least in some measure, was indeed composed. I would submit that when the text was put into writing in the late ninth century B.C., the topical precedents around which each hexagram was structured were systematically and consciously elaborated upon by an editor or editors, thereby producing the six related line statements. And I also believe that further contextual study of the Zhouyi must take into account Li Jingchi's admonition that "in this selection and organization
167
is included the thoughts of the editor."
III.7 Intra-Hexagrammatic Relationships
Having demonstrated a definite "internal logic" within the line statements of individual hexagrams, the only structural question still before us is whether the sequence of the hexagrams is based on any discernible principles. This question, though a topic of inquiry since at least the time of the composition of the "Xugua" fa (Sequence of
Hexagrams) treatise during the Han dynasty, has taken on added significance since the discovery in 1973 of the silk manuscript version of the Yi-iing at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan. The definitive report on this manuscript has not yet been published but preliminary reports inform us that   the most significant difference between this manuscript,   which is
now the oldest extant version of the text, and the received text lies in
79
the sequence of the hexagrams. The ordering of the manuscript version is according to strictly mechanical combinations of the bagua. arranged in the following two sequences:
A. "Qian" =       "Gen" =T       "Kan"   Z-Z     "Zhen" ZZ "Kun"    I!       "Dui" —       "Li" ="Z "Sun" ZZZ
B. "Qian" ZZZ       "Kun" ZZ       "Gen" ~       "Dui" — "Kan"   —       "Li"   Z~=       "Zhen" ZZ      "Sun" Z=Z
Each of the trigrams of Group A, serving as the upper or "outer" tri-gram, combines in turn with each of the trigrams of Group B (with the exception that each of the trigrams first combines with itself and then goes   on   to   follow   the prescribed   order),   giving   the   sequence of
168
Mavangdui Manuscript Hexagram Sequence
1
4st
2
4
3
4
5
6 Ah
7
8
(1)
(12)
(33) (10
(6)
(13)
(25)
(44)
8
10 41
11 ♦J
12 "ft
13
14
15
16
(52)
(26)
(23)
(4)
(2
351 (27)
(IS)
17
18 fa
19
20 21
22
23
4
24
(29)
(5)        (8)        (39)      (60)       (63)      (3) (48)
25
A.
26
27
28 29 30
31
32 IS.
(51)
(34)
(16)
?62^ (if) (W)
(32)
169
33
34 35 4t ^
36
37
38
39
1L
40
(11)       (15) (19)
ink
(36)
ft
A)
(24
(46)
42 1ft
43
44
45
4*1 19
46 47 48
* 71       4'A
$L      A     f      Ä     tí      3 fô
(58)      (43)       (45)      (31)       (47)      (49)       (17) (28)
49
50
51
52 ML
53
54
55
56
A
(30)
(14)
(35)
56)
(38)
(64)
(21)
#1
(50)
57
58
60
61
•Mt
62
63
64
4
(57)
(9)
(M)
#1
(53)
(61)
(59)
(37)
A. (42)
170
hexagrims on pages 169-170. The number in parentheses beneath each hexagram picture on those pages is that of its placement in the transmitted sequence of the text, and these show that the two sequences differ radically. Presented with these opposing orders, we must ask which, if either, was the original order of the text. To answer this question requires examination of one final feature of hexagrammatic structure.
We must first note that the only organizing principle operative in the received text is that hexagrams are paired by inverting the hexagram picture; e.g., "Tun" (3) H inverts to become "Meng" (4) H , "Xu" (5) if inverts to become "Song" (6) =£ , or in the case of the eight hexagrams that remain identical when inverted [i.e., "Qian" (1) 35 , "Kun" (2) If , "Yi" (27) H , "Daguo" (28) P. , "Kan" (29) tl , "Li" (30) H , "Zhong fu" (61) S , and "Xiaoguo (62) ft ], the sequence is determined by a conversion of all solid lines to broKen lines and vice versa [e.g., "Qian" (1) I| is paired with "Kun" (2) %| J. Ho other pattern is apparent in the sequence, which makes this structural affinity between the thirty-two pairs of hexagrams all the more striking.
Since   at least the time of the "Uenyan" commentary's incorporation into the text of the Yiiing.    "Qian" and "Kun" hexagrams, the only hexagrams discussed by this commentary,   have been considered two nalves of 80
one whole. This interpretation of the complementarity of "Qian" and "Kun" has continued to the present, the names of these two hexagrams having entered into the common language as polar complements. Is this complementarity intrinsic in the hexagrams, or is it, like so much other
171
Yiiing philosophy, born of later metaphysical concerns?
.There is no obvious connection between "Oian" and "Kun" hexagrams (but see Sec*. IV.4.iv below). Although the names of the two hexagrams have since become complements, they do not occur elsewhere in archaic Chinese and it is thus impossible to say whether such complementarity characterized the words at the time of the text's composition. With a few other hexagram names, however, we can be assured that a contrast in names was conscious. The most obvious examples of this feature are "Jiji" 13L #T l(63); Already Across/Completed] and "Weiji" ^s. #r [(64);   Not Yet Across/Completed],   "Sun"        [(41);   Decrease] and "Yi"
[(42);   Increase],   and   "Tai"        [(11);   Happiness] and "Pi" £± [(12); Negation].   Hexagram names perhaps related in a complementary way are "Qian" ifv [(15);   Modesty] and "Yu" f& 1(16);   Prudence] and "Lin" •£! [(19); To Look Down] and "Guan" 3ffl] 1(20); To Look Up].
If we examine the line statements of these hexagrams, we discover other features of complementarity. It has already been noted that the dragon is the dominant image of "Oian" (1). Is it a coincidence that the image recurs in the top line of "Kun" (2)?
"Kun" 2/6:   fa H£ * ft, H $L % f>
The dragon battles in the wilds: his blood is black and yellow.
Comparing this case with the examples below, I think that the answer would have to be "no."
"Jiji" (63) and "Weiji" (64) 63/1:        "J^S^fe tftiijh DraSs ic wheel, wets its tail. 64/1:     ^      fa Wets its tail.
64/2:     ^ ljiK^ Drags its wheel.
172
63/3:        ^t fa tya,ý»       Gaozong attacks the Guifang. 64/4: &     ft Zhen herewith attacks the Guifang.
63/6: ^ fa Wets his head.
64/6:    y% $L % Wets his head.
"Sun" (41) and "Yi" (42)
41/5: ^      -f     ±^ Someone gives him a turtle-(shell)
42/5: a        worth ten strands (of cowries); it
gi; & cannot disobey.
"Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12) 11:       'h ÍL The small go, the great come.
12:      -ýv ^i. 4-» ^ The great go, the small come.
11/1: jtj." 3      i*) -ii Jb    Pluck the nao-grass and madder 12/1: "^A*    with its
H/2:   &  %     (xmwáhg)   Bundle the dried grass. 12/2:   &  &     (Siang)     Bundle the offering.
"Lin" (19) and "Guan" (20) 19/1:     j^H 2Íl Xian looks do\m.
20/1:      ^ fifc The youth looks up.
"Qian" (15) and "Yu" (16)
15/2:      fit -i^ Call out "modesty."
15/6:
16/1:      *Ž Call out "prudence."
The structure is too similar, in many cases even being identical, to dismissed as coincidence.
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In the next chapter, Sec. IV.4, hexagran pairs will be treated as test cases and studied in nore detail. Again without wishing to anticipate that argument, I think it is fair to conclude that certainly "Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12), "Sun" (41) and "Yi" (42), "Jiji" (63) and "Weiji" (64) were placed side-by-side with some conscious intent. If this is indeed the case, it suggests two important conclusions: first, since the mechanical ordering of the Mawangdui manuscript obscures these hexagram pairs (and study of the Mawangdui sequence reveals no comparable internal   cohesion),   the   order of the received text would seem to   be more
81
authentic and should be retained; and second, if a portion of the text is organized on the basis of a certain principle, we should be open to the possibility that the same principle underlies other portions of the text. In the next chapter, in addition to the pairs already noted, I will also discuss other hexagram pairs which, when read together, coalesce   into   an integral literary unit.     It could well be   that future
linguistic studies and greater familiarity with the text will eventually
82
extend the number of hexagrams that can be so understood.
To briefly summarize the conclusions of this chapter,   I can do no
better   than   to   quote   Li Jingchi,   a man „'ho though   working   in the
relative obscurity of Canton's Huanan Shiyuan   ^       ffi ffi anticipated
many of the central concerns of modern literary criticism.
Due to the difficulty of the Zhouvi's archaic language, formerly there were many relationships between the hexagram names and the hexagram and line statements that I did not notice. Recently however, ... I have come to understand that these features are all related. In most cases, a hexagram has a central idea (which is to say that it is related in content) and the hexagram name is its trademark. In a minority of the hexagrams, the only relationship is one of linguistic structure. But whether of content or structure, when the redactor of the Zhouyi selected his materials, he did his utmost to give each hexagram or even each pair of hexagrams a relationship and a structure.
83 17^
CHAPTER FOUR THE COMPOSITIONS OF THE ZHOUYI
In the preceding chapter we have concluded that the Zhouvi represents the conscious composition of an editor or editors. Evidence of this was found in the structure of such hexagrams as "Ding" (50), "Gen" (52), and "Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12). Important though these structural paradigms are in pointing the way to this conclusion, the thesis must be shown to be operative throughout the text, including also those hexagrams for which no organizing structure is readily evident. This I will attempt to do in the present chapter.
The chapter is comprised of case studies of twenty different hexagrams, roughly one-third of the entire text. These studies are grouped into four separate sub-sections: the first, structurally paradigmatic examples of the type already discussed in the preceding chapter; the second and third, developed omen texts and developed narratives, intended to demonstrate other ways in which hexagrams may be organized; and finally, consideration of four possible "hexagram pairs." Each study begins with a structurally analytical translation of the complete hexagram text. The vehicle of the structural analysis is the tripartite division of line statements [i.e., Topic, Injunction, and determination (including both Prognostication and Verification)], pioneered by Li Jingchi and introduced in the preceding chapter (Sec. III.5.i). This is followed by a literary and thematic analysis, which includes both the philological   apparatus   behind the translations (questions of a purely
175
textual nature, however, are explained in the notes at the end of the chapter), and a discussion of the text's conceptual development. Special attention is given to this last facet in the sub-section dealing with "hexagram pairs."
The first three chapters of this study have been more or less historical in scope. While there are not a few points in those chapters that are frankly speculative, on the whole the theses presented there are objectively demonstrable. This chapter, on the other hand, while hopefully bearing historical interest in several different senses, is rather more literary (or, perhaps, subjective) in nature. I expect that certain of the analyses presented here will be more persuasive than others, just as I expect some of them to be of more interest than others. I make no apology for this. I am not insensitive to the danger of wangwen shengyi ^jfc.      »   especially in dealing with texts such
as the Zhouyi. but I know that unless the text is approached with a degree of imagination, there is little hope of ever comprehending the creative spirit that was responsible for its composition. And this, after all, is the ultimate purpose of context criticism.
176
IV.1     Structural Paradigms
Iv.l.i "Ding"  f<{ (50)
fu 00 1 Primary receipt. 1		
ft ft It The cauldron's upturned feet	M ± ^ ft i m * * beneficial to expel the bad; gain a consort and her child	ft. Q no harm
A *n * The cauldron (has substance") is full	& 1/1A ft. A & fa my mate/enemy has an illness; it cannot reach me	auspicious
ft  * * The cauldron's ears turned	its motion is stopped: the pheasant fat is not eaten;   the borderland rains diminish	problems, (but) in the end auspicious
The cauldron s broken leg	overturns the duke's stew; his punishment is execution 2	inauspicious
The cauldron s yellow ears and metal bar	M A beneficial to divine	
If * . The cauldron s jade bar		greatly auspicious; nothing not beneficial
The cauldron's upturned feet,
The cauldron is full,
The cauldron's ears turned,
The cauldron's broken leg,
The cauldron's yellow ears and metal bar,
The cauldron's jade bar.
177
This hexagram has already been discussed in the preceding chapter (Sec. I11.2.i, III.6) as a unique example where the hexagram picture, §s , graphically resembles the physical appearance of a cauldron, with the bottom broken line representing the legs of the cauldron, the solid second through fourth lines the cauldron's solid belly, the broken line above these the ears (i.e., the handles), and the solid top line the lifting rod of the cauldron. Even more interesting, it was further noted that the Topics "the cauldron's upturned feet" (50/1), "the cauldron is full" (50/2), "the cauldron's yellow ears" (50/5), and "the cauldron's jade bar" (50/6) correspond exactly to this system of imagery, strongly suggesting that these line statements represent the cons-.ious composition of an editor. It is not my intention here to belabor this correspondence, but by recognizing the structure of a hexagram such as this it is hoped that we will be better able to discern less obvious organizing principles in other hexagrams.
Aside from this bottom-to-top structure of "Ding's" Topics, the hexagram text does not seem to develop any sort of moral or central theme. For our purposes in this chapter, this discussion of "Ding" could begin and end with pointing out the progressive associations of the various Topics. But, since the text of the hexagram can be seen to include much more than just the six Topics, this is perhaps a good opportunity to test some of the other structural principles, especially the principle of internal consistency of a line's constituent parts, suggested in the preceding chapter.
In the first line, the "upturned feet" of the cauldron have suggested   to traditional comnentators the overturning of a cauldron, whether
178
to empty it of residue or to remove something gone bad. The Injunction "beneficial to expel the bad" thus gains context and can be seen to be an appropriate rejoinder to the Topic. A further association, impressionistic but interesting nonetheless, has been suggested by Kong Yingda for this phrase; on the basis of the following phrase "gain a consort and her child," Kong suggests that the fou 7}'x [(bad); Kong defines it as   bu shan zhi wu       ^       ^Jj   (something bad)] of the Injunction must
refer to a primary wife who,   unable to produce a son,   must be replaced
3
by a more fertile secondary wife. Phonetic justification for such an association can be found in the shared rhyme of zhi/ti*g (GSR 961g), ^ fou/piug (GSR 999e), and zi/tsi*g (GSR 964a). As pointed out in Sec. II.2.iii, the lines of divinatory zhou. which as here seem to be composed of one line serving as a xing-evocation follox;ed by a couplet relating that evocation to the human realm, are characterized by a shared rhyme in the final word of each line.
The resumption of the second line is similar, both in its structure and its perplexity. As in the first line statement, the Topic here ("the cauldron is full") serves as the xinr.-evocation for a rhyming [ ^ shi/d'iet (GSR 398a), fa ii/dz'iat (GSR 494a), and $J ji/tsiet (GSR 399a)] couplet of four-character lines that relates the omen of the Topic to the human sphere. Whatever the symbolism of the cauldron may have been in ancient China, we can presumably be safe in saying that a cauldron described as being "full" must have indicated the cauldron in its ideal state, and would consequently evoke a positive association. This is indeed what we find in the rejoinder here. Although the first line   of   the   couplet ("my mate/enemy has   an   illness")   introduces a
179
IV.l.i: "Dins" (50)
problem, that "it (i.e., the illness) cannot reach me" is consistent with the ideal state evoked by the Topic. The one problematic feature of the resultative couplet is the word chou j-fo , which can mean either "mate" or "enemy." While enemy would seem to be the logical reading here, there are interesting implications to be explored with the reading "mate" as well. Given the context of the resultative couplet of the first line, which seems to indicate some fault with the primary wife, an interpretation here that the "illness" (barrenness?) of the wife cannot affect the husband would mark a possible relationship between the two lines. However, it should also be noted that while there is a definite correspondence among the Topics of a single hexagram throughout the Zhouyi. there does not seem to be a similar relationship among their rejoinders and Injunctions. Perhaps this is due to the paucity of such rejoinders, but the other two rejoinders of this hexagram (50/3, 50/4) also suggest that the rejoinders of even this hexagram are not all related. For these reasons I see no means of deciding between the two meanings of this word. Finally, this line statement also includes the Prognostication "auspicious," which again is entirely consistent not only with the Topic of this line statement but also with the rejoinder.
The rejoinder of the third line, "its motion is stopped; the pheasant fat is not eaten; the borderland rains diminish," is perhaps even more obscure; just what the symbolic associations of pheasant fat and borderland rains were can no longer be known. Li Jingchi offers the following fanciful explanation:
Could it be that this implies some impediment to going out on a hunt? It is just about to rain so that you are unable   to   go out on a hunt and (because   of   this) you
180
IV.l.i: "Ding" (50)
cannot   eat   all   of the game that you have at   hone but instead must save sone.
4
Although this explanation is unnecessarily rationalistic, it nay point the way to a correct interpretation. First of all, it is likely that the phrase fang vu kui 7$ ^% (the borderland rains diminish) is here an intrusion since it is the only phrase of any of this hexagram's rejoinders which falls out of the intra-linear rhyme-scheme [here ^ ge/k«k (GSR 913a), '|£ se/s»k (GSR 908a), and ^ shi/d' i?k (GSR 921a), as opposed to jjj^ kui/k'wia (GSR 23a)]. As for the remainder, it is possible that because the "ears" of a cauldron were the means by which it could be moved (by passing a pole through them), since the ears are here said to be damaged ("turned"?), the Topic acts as a xing-motif evoking a person's inability to move about and thus to be able to cat the game that would be the prize of a hunt. The Prognostication "problems" is consistent with this type of interpretation. (The resultative "in the end auspicious," on the other hand, acts as a Verification and has no intrinsic correlation with the other constituent parts of the line text.)
This type of correlation between xing-evocation and rejoinder is easier to discern in the fourth line, "the cauldron's broken leg: overturns the duke's stew, his punishment is execution; inauspicious." It is easy to imagine that the breaking of one of a cauldron's three legs (i.e., "the cauldron's broken leg") would cause its contents to spill out ("overturns the duke's stew"). To see a direct relationship between the Topic and this first phrase of the Injunction in this way does not imply that the "execution" of the second phrase need be related as direct   cause and effect.     But,    the "broken leg" of a   cauldron would
181
certainly be interpreted as an inauspicious omen (note the Prognostication to this liae), which in the catalogues of Western Zhou symbolism could certainly have betokened such inauspiciousness as executions.
Difficult though it may be to know what associations the people of the Western Zhou attached to cauldrons and especially to their various states of disrepair, and impressionistic though our attempts to elucidate those processes of symbolic association necessarily will be, we are safe at least in asserting that these six Topics of "Ding" did serve as xing evocations and that the divination officials of the time of the Zhouyi's composition must have understood them implicitly. We will have occasion to reconsider this important technique of textual interpretation in the final study of this section, the hexagram "Jian" (53), where adequate comparative materials will more firmly demonstrate the dynamics of this relationship. As a preliminary conclusion to our discussion here however, the principle of consistency has been upheld in all four cases that provide sufficient text for interpretation. This once again testifies to the composed nature of the Zhouvi hexagram texts.
162
IV.l.ii "Xian" (31)
Receipt: beneficial to divine; to take a woman would be auspicious.		
Cut hl& toe		
Cut his calf		& A a Inauspicious; to reside   is auspicious
At At Cut his thigh	Grasp his flesh	To go: troubles
	j	Aims* Divining: auspicious; problems gone
Cut his back		no problems
Alt*'*** Cut his cheeks and tongue 6		
Cut his toe, Cut his calf, Cut his thigh, Cut his back, Cut his cheeks
and tongue.
183
As the structurally analytical translation on the preceding page shows, unlike the case of "Ding" (50), the hexagram text of "Xian" (31) consists almost exclusively of the five Topics (discounting the determinations which, lacking any context, cannot be analyzed). But like "Ding," the Topics here are clearly organized in a bottora-to-top fashion, keyed to the various parts of a whole, in this case the human anatomy. There is movement from the foot [with regard to the word mu ^ ,   the   Zhouvi vinvi f\ % $i of Lu Deming flft cites the
Han scholiasts Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan in support of defining mu as zu da zhi -fs, (the big toe) and notes that the textual tradition of Zi Xia Jj- ^ read the graph as mu (142.24)], up the leg [from the "calf" (31/2) to the "thigh" (31/3)] to the "back" (31/5) and finally to the face (31/6).
There are really only two problems of interpretation with regard to
this hexagram.     The first is the meaning of the word xian itself. The
"Tuan"   commentary glosses it as gan        (to feel) and this reading has
been   followed by most traditional commentators.     In the   West, Arthur
Waley   has relied on this gloss to elaborate a natural omen interpreta-
7
tion (of the sort "a feeling in the bones"). Zhouvi context critics, on the other hand, note that xian fyt is a composite graph with signifies kou \3   (mouth) and xu        (to injure), with an original meaning of
8
"to   bite"   and   extended meanings of "to cut" or   "to   injure." Some textual   support   is found in the hexagram for this   latter   view. The Injunction of the third line, "grasp his flesh" [with sui "j^ understood as   sui        ,   defined by the Shuowen (4B.21a) as lie rou ye |£J_ j^J (rent   flesh)],   is best understood as the result of having suffered or
184
inflicted a wound.     But regardless of the meaning of the word xian. the
key   to   the   composition of this hexagram is found   in   its anatomical
terms, which are quite unambiguous in their progressive disposition.
The   other   textual question is occasioned by what is not found in
this hexagram.     The fourth line contains neither Topic nor Injunction,
but   merely the Prognostication and Verification "divining: auspicious;
problems   gone."   According to the theory of Kaizuka Shigeki   5?^ -t%. jfc
, five-line hexagrammatic organization as found here is normative in 9
the Zhouyi. But an alternative explanation is that an anatomical part, such as the waist or abdomen, has for some unknown reason been deleted from this line. Corroboration of this hypothesis can be found in the hexagram "Gen" (52), which due to its virtually identical structure will be considered together with "Xian."
185
IV.l.iii
Gen" (52)
Glare at his oack,   but do not baa his person;   move in his hall but do not see his man: no harm.		
At Glare at his feet	beneficial to perform a permanent divination	no harm
Glare at his calf'	not helping his rent flesh,   his heart is unhappy	
*. A IK Glare at his midsection	H A £   4 y° rip the small   of his back; smoke the heart	danger
Glare at his body		*. % no harm
Glare at his cheeks	the words have order	proolems gone
Intensely stare		-* auspicious
Glare	at	his	feet,
Glare	at	his	calf,
Glare	at	his	midsection,
Glare	at	his	body,
Glare	at	his	back,
Glare	at	his	cheeks.
186
In addition to their structural similarities, "Gen" (52) and "Xian" (31) share one other trait: the obscurity of the hexagram name. While "Gen" is clearly derived from the verb common to the six Topics cf the line statements, its usage in those Topics unfortunately does not indicate any definite meaning. The traditional gloss of "to stop, to still" is based not on philological evidence but ratner on the bap.ua association of the trigram "Gen" ss with "mountain" (shan tM ), a stationary force. More convincing is the graphemic analysis of Gao Heng who notes that in oracle-bone and bronze inscriptions gen ^/ ^ is constitutive-ly equivalent to Han ^ / ^ , both being comprised of "eye" ^ and "man" /» signifies. But whereas the "man" component of Han is oriented in the same direction as the "eye," in the case of gen the "eye" is invariably turned onto the back of the "man." This suggests to Gao a meaning of "to look back" (gu). While I find Gao's graphic analysis illuminating, his definition strikes me as somewhat lacking in nuance.     The   Shuowen (8A.29a) definition of gen as hen ye <£j (to
malign, oppose), and such other words in the same family as hen *|£J^ (to hate), hen jf^(scar), yin (raised border), and xian (obstacle, limit) suggest a nuance of "to turn away from, to turn against." Correlating this probable nuance with the graphic suggestion of "to look," and for the lack of any better translation, gen is here rendered as "to look with malice;" i.e., "to glare at."
Regardless of the meaning of gen however, important here again is the anatomical organization of the topics. Once again the bottom line begins with the "foot," with the imagery then moving up the body through the "calf" (52/2), "midsection" [(52/3); for xian fg^ understood as  
187
"midsection," the Zhouvi vinvi (142.40) cites Ma Rong, Zheng Xuan, Xun Shuang, and Yu Fan as all providing the gloss vao ve ffi -^j » i.e., vao /*)^ (waist); Wang 3i (Zhouvi zhu 2.111) defines xian as shen zhi zhonq ve ^       ^ (the middle of the body)],    "body" [(52/4); presumably
the torso], until finally reaching the face [i.e., "cheeks" (52/5)]. In addition to these Topics, the hexagram statement also includes the phrase "glare at his back," which as noted in Sec. III.3.iii is not a normative hexagram statement but is instead a thoroughly normative line statement. Since the top line of the hexagram, "intensely stare," is inconsistent with the hexagrammatic structure, it quite possibly is an intrusion into the text that has forced the line "glare at his cheeks" out of its normative position in the top line (for which, compare the top line of "Xian" 31/6), and since the fifth line of the structurally similar "Xian" reads "cut his back," it is reasonable that this Topic found in the hexagram statement belongs instead in the place of the fifth line, giving the revised sequence seen beneath the analytical translation.
The line beginning with "glare at his back" is also interesting as a complete evocative couplet [note especially the rhyme between ^ shen/s'ien (GSR 386a) and A ren/nien (GSR 388a)]. But as was the case in the discussion of "Ding" above, there is neither the context here nor adequate comparative evidence to illustrate how the association between this evocation and rejoinder functions. Once again we can but postpone this discussion until our consideration of "Jian" (53), which, happily, follows immediately.
188
IV.l.iv Mian" (53)
1       *J i The woman returns: auspicious; beneficial to divine.		
The wild goose advances to the mountain stream	the little child has difficulties	fk danger; no harm
The wild goose advances to the large rock	4& ^ m drinking and eating happily	auspicious
The wild goose advances to   the land	A,** ft. M the husband is on campaign but does not return, the x;ife is pregnant but does not give birth	*i 4* % & inauspicious; beneficial to ward off robbers
The wild goose advances to the tree	and now gains its perch	JL % no harm
The wild goose advances to the hillocit	the wife for three years is not pregnant,   in the end nothing succeeds	•a auspicious
The wild goose advances to the hill 13	its feathers can be used as (dance) insignia	auspicious
The wild goose advances to the mountain stream, The wild goose advances to the large rock, The wild goose advances to the land, The wild goose advances to the tree, The wild goose advances to the hillock, The wild goose advances to the hill.
189
In analyzing this hexagram, several avenues of comparison with Shiiing poetry present themselves. Compare its structure, for instance, with that of the poem "Fuyi" ^ ^   (Mao 248):
11A tt
The wild ducks are on the Jing (river), ...
The wild ducks are on the sands, ...
The wild ducks are on the island, ...
The wild ducks are at the junction of the river, ...
2>       2£     , ...      The   wild ducks are in
the gorge, ...
As Richard Kunst has demonstrated, "incremental repetition" is a common literary technique in both the Shiiing and Zhouvi. Although the parallelism between "Fuyi" and "Jian" here seems to be more apparent than real [for instance, the "wild ducks" of "Fuyi" evoke an image of success and satisfaction while the "wild goose" of "Jian" has an association of separation and sorrow (see below, p. 193). More important, the progression of the five stanzas in "Fuyi" is unclear; as we will see below, structuxal progression is an important key to understanding "Jian"], Kunst is certainly correct that this "incremental repetition" may provide an important clue to the way in which Zhouyi hexagram texts were 14
composed.
As in the cases of "Ding" (50), "Xian" (31), and "Gen" (52) previously analyzed, the Topics of "Jian" can also be seen to be organized in a bottom-to-top or, more properly here, low-to-high progression. The word gan ^ in the bottom line has two possible meanings.   The Mao Zhuan
190
^, 1$    commentary to the line zhi zhi he zhi gan xjL ^jf 4^     i«* ■? ^> in   the Shiiing poen "Fa tan" (Mao 112) glosses the word as yai
}J£,   (bank of a stream).     On the other hand,"  according to the Jinndian
shiwen  45L      & ^»    ,    the line kao pan zai i ian ^  ^JJ- fa        ^n the
Shiiing   poem "Kao pan"      f%    (Mao 56) reads in the Han Ying ft %
textual tradition kao pan zai gan *3£       /6- ^     »   suggesting an equiva-
15
lence between iian lfS[ (mountain stream) and gan Jf- .      Moreover, while
gan/kSn   (GSR   139a)   is obviously cognate with    jj.'    an/ngan (GSR
139e'),    it is also phonetically interchangeable with  }j8ll rian/kan (GSR
191i).     Although   either   of   these readings is   logically acceptable,
further comparison with the poem "Kao pan,"
% $J "M. , We   achieve our joy by
the mountain stream,
% *J£ fa , We achieve our joy on
the hill,
-a 41« > ^e achieve our joy on
% Is. the land>
wherein iian is linked with e. ~y\ (hill) and hi f^, (land) as is ",an in this hexagram, suggests that "mountain stream" is the better translation here. Further confirmation of this meaning is found with the Wei dynasty scholiasts Wang Su JL ^ and Yu Fan, who, according to the Zhouvi iiiie  f\ § ^ of Li Dingzuo £ $ ftf    (10.535), define the
word as "xiao shui cong shan xia liu cheng gan" «1* »h itt* J' 7* -ftf^ ■f (a small stream flowing down from a mountain is called a gan). Thus, the wild goose moves from the water level, the lowest point mentioned in the hexagram's Topics, to a "large rock" (53/2), presumably in the stream. His movement from there is to the "land" (53/3) and then to a "tree" (53/4), again getting progressively highe_", until coning in the
191
fifth line to the top of a ling "j^ , which is defined as a "high uound."
In the received text the top line repeats the Topic of the third line, "the wild goose advances to the land." Not only is such repetition atypical of the structure already analyzed, but since "land" has already been determined to be lower than the "hillock" of line five, it also contradicts the logical progression of the hexagram. This suggests that the received text is corrupt at this point. Two linguistic features demonstrate that this is indeed true, and that the position of the
wild   goose   in   this top line should instead be on a "hill"   (e, )•
16
First, as many scholars have noted, whereas the lines of the hexagram uniformly display end-rhyme between the xing-evocation and its rejoinder 153/2: ban/b'wan (GSR 182g) - fa kan/k'an (GSR   139p);   53/3: f£
lu/liok   (GSR 1032f) -  ft  fu/b'iok (GSR 1034d);    53/4:        . nu/nuk (GSR 1212a) - A   Uao/kuk (GSR 1225a); and 53/5:        Un-/li?ng (GSR S9Sc) -fifo sheng/si«ng (GSR 893p)], f£ lu/li6k does not rhyme with 4%: yi/ngia (GSR 2a). e/a- (GSR lm), on the other hand, is a perfect rhyme. To
emend an archaic text solely on the basis of rhyme night seem unwarranted,   but   corroborating   evidence for this emendation has been brought
17
forward by the Qing scholiast Yu Yue £\ . He notes that progressions similar to those employed in the line statements of this hexagram also occur in the xing-evocations of two different poems. The first of these, "Kao pan," we have already had occasion to comment on with regard to the meaning of the bottom line of this hexagram; for convenience, let us here reproduce it:
192
tyfcltJh-')ri\ » We   achieve our joy on
the hill,
1sHL^L'7& » We   achieve our joy on
Che land,
Compare also the following Cwo lines of Che poem "Jingjimj zhe e" /jj %  & (Mao 176):
/ft.       ^ 7^  » •••       *n   tne of that
hill, ...
?fr \lL *f 7?L ' *•*       In   tlie niddle °f that
hillock, ...
In   these cases e_        (hill) is contrasted with hi        (land)   and lin;;
(hillock) respectively. That these two words are also found in the third and fifth lines of "Jian" would seem too coincidental not to suggest an intrinsic relationship among the words. This is another corroboration for the emendation e, for lu. The importance of this emendation for the structural analysis of this hexagram and especially for the logical progression of the wild goose from the ling (hillock) of line five is strikingly manifested in the Shuowen (14B.lb) and Erva jf& (Erya yishu      M $, &  : 9.11a) definitions of e_: "da 1 ing yue e."
va ^ (a large ling is called an e). Just as the proposed normative hexagrammatic structure would suggest, the wild goose's position in the top line is indeed the highest point to which his advances take him.
Comparisons with the Shijing can help with more than just clarifying the meaning of individual words; they can also serve to illustrate the association between the hexagram's Topics and the resunpcive Injunc-Cions. As has been poinCed ouc Cwice already (Sees. II.2.ii and III.S.ii.D,    Che   clearesC   example of chis is seen in Che Chird line,
193
"the   wild goose advances to the land:   the husband is on   campaign but does   not return,   the wife is pregnant but does not give birth." That the   wild goose's advance to the "land" somehow evokes the two images of marital   separation in the Injunction is signalled by the rhyme   of "j^. lu/liok,   ^1^  fu/b'iok,   and ^   yu/diok.   In our previous discussion of
this image,   it was noted that Kunst has concluded that the "wild goose"
18
is   more generally "a symbol for an absent husband."      That it is this
marital separation that is signalled by the appearance of the wild goose
on the "land" is confirmed in the poem "Jiu Yu" iL (Kao 159).
The fishes in the fine-meshed net are rudd and bream; I see (meet) this young person, He has a blazoned jacket and an embroidered skirt.
The wild geese fly along the island; When the prince goes back, We shall have no (meeting) place; I will stay with you one more night.
The wild geese fly along the land; When the prince goes back, we cannot come here again; I will pass one more night with you.
Therefore,   you with the blazoned jacket,   Do not go back with our prince, Do not make my heart grieve.
19
Here   it   is interesting that the xing-evocation of a   "wild   goose" is
contrasted   with that of a fish,   the "bream" in particular,   in ancient
20
China the evocation par excellence of sexual union. This then explains why the wife in the resultative couplet of this third line of "Jian" is "pregnant but does not give birth."
Although this imagery is not specifically developed in the other lines of this hexagram, the theme of marital separation possibly characterizes the hexagram a» a whole, especially when it is considered in the context of its correlative hexagram "Guimei" (54). As we will have occasion   to   discuss   in more detail   below   (Sec.   IV.3.iv), "Guimei"
194
develops the narrative of King Wen's marriage to and eventual estrangement from a Shang princess, the "daughter" of King Di Yi. Can such juxtaposition of evocation and narrative be mere coincidence?
In this section we have analyzed the structures of four different hexagrams. While these hexagrams are not uninteresting considered individually, indeed the associations between the line statements of "Ding" and its hexagram picture and the symbolism evoked by the "wild goose" of "Jian" are quite exciting, our real purpose in studying these hexagrams has been to use them as a foundation, as markpoints, from which to proceed to analyses of other hexagrams, including especially those which are not so obviously structured. For if the editor of the Zhouyi were capable of this sort of structural integrity in some of his hexagrams, we should be open to the possibility that something of the same organization animates his other compositions as well.
195
IV.2:     Developed Omens
IV.2.i "V/uwang"*, £ (25)
* 1 M *l * » * ft % * M #j 1\ it Primary receipt: beneficial to divine.   If he is not upright, there will be harm;     not beneficial to do any travelling.		
*>$ ft The wut/ang goes		n auspicious
Not planting or harvesting, not in the first or second year of cultivation	£4 M 4\ iX a then it is beneficial to do some travelling	
A. < # , & A ^ % The pestilence of the wuwang. someone fastens it to an ox: the gain of the traveller is the pestilence of the city people."		
	One may divine	*, # no harm
The wuwang sickness	there is no medicine but there is joy it	
* % ft The wuwang moves about		there is harm; there is nothing beneficial
The wuwang goes: auspicious,
Not planting or harvesting, not in the
first or second year of cultivation, The pestilence of the wuwang. someone fastens
it to an ox; the gain of the traveller
is the pestilence of the city people, The wuwang sickness: there is no medicine
but there is joy, The wuwang moves about: there is harm.
196
In this section we will be considering a ^roup of hexagrams organized around themes of natural phenomena or omens. This is one aspect of the Zhouvi that has attracted serious scholarly attention in the West. In a stimulating essay published in 1933, Arthur Waley tuade use of folklore from such disparate sources as ancient Mesopotauia, Melanesia and Eastern Europe in an attempt to explain the popular derivation
23
of many of the Zhouvi's images. Although we will insist in this section, as indeed throughout this study, that the Zhouyi be interpreted within the context of its own composition, at least in the case of one hexagram, "Wuwang" (25), the sort of fresh insight brought about by comparative evidence not only need not violate the concerns of context criticism but may in fact better indicate the context.
The name of this hexagram, "Wuwang" % , can be rendered literally as "without stupidity, without recklessness," as it has indeed been interpreted by virtually all Chinese commentators. This interpretation is well expressed by Richard Wilhelm:
"Qian," heaven is above; "Zhen," movement, is below. The lower trigram "Zhen" is under the influence of the strong line it has received from above, from heaven. When, in accord with this, movement follows the law of heaven, ran is innocent and without guile. His mind is natural and true, unshadowed by reflection or ulterior designs. For wherever conscious purpose is to be seen, there the truth and innocence of nature have been lost. Mature that is not directed by the spirit is not true but degenerate nature. Starting out with the idea of the natural, the train of thought in part goes somewhat further and thus the hexagram includes also the idea of the unintentional or unexpected.
24
Despite the massed comnentarial weight behind this interpretation, it leads to such unsatisfying results as Wilhelm*s translation of the fifth line,    "Use   no medicine in an illness incurred through no fault of your
197
25
(Mm.     It will pass of itself."      But the characterization of wuwang in
this line as being a "sickness" (ji *Jf^ ),   and also in line three as a
"pestilence" (2ai   *js  ), suggests that the nane does not refer to such a
happy condition as "innocence" but instead,   as pointed out by Ualey, is
"the   name of the disease as well as the name of the spirit which causes 26
it." Understood in this sense, not only do these two lines suddenly make good sense, but each of the line statements of the hexagram can then be seen to partake in the common theme.
The bottom line, "the wuwang goes: auspicious," must be contrasted with the top line, "the wuwang moves about: there is harm; there is nothing beneficial." The contrast in the Prognostications, "auspicious" (i i ) as opposed to "there is harm" (you sheng ^ % '), to these two seemingly synonymous Topics suggests a difference in nuance between wang $L (to go) and xing ^ (to move). As the common expression wan.g lai ^ (to go and come) shows, wang indicates a departure from the point of reference. Xing, on the other hand, originally meant simply "to walk, to move," and early on came to have such extended meanings as "to act" and "to put into practice." In describing the actions of a pestilential agent such as the wuwang. these two verbs become nearly antonyms, xing indicating the pestilence in full bloom and wan^ suggesting the end of the plague.
Although the second line lacks any explicit reference to the wuwang . it is a necessary description of the condition of an agricultural community plagued by a pestilence. The line reads, "bu geng huo. bu zi vu. fa #t i vS % '~ot planting or harvesting, not in the first or second year of cultivation).   Zi       means "to break soil;" as for yu.
198
<| , Han sources are divided as to whether it refers to fields in their "second" (Shuowen; 13B.29b) or "third" (Erva: 9.12a) year of cultivation. Whichever of these meanings is ultimately correct, the evocation of   the image is that the damage done by the pestilence has been severe;
for a long time (two or three years?) the agricultural work has not been 27
done.
Of course,   the interpretation of this hexagram as a description of
an agricultural community beset with a pestilence is inconclusive based
on   these lines alone.     Confirmation is found however in the third line
(25/3),   "the pestilence of the wuwang. someone fastens it tc an ox; the
traveller's   gain   is the pestilence of the village   people,"   in which
Waley sees the vestige of an ancient scapegoat ritual.
The Golden Bough devotes of course a very long section to rites of the scapegoat kind. How does one tie a disease to a bull? By attaching to it objects (such as herbs or the like) which symbolize the disease. "They take a goat or a buffalo, tie some grain, cloves and red lead in a yellow-cloth on its back and turn it out of the village," quotes Sir James Frazer. The suggestion that passers-by will pick up the disease and so disburden the villagers of it seems to us callous; but it is constantly found in connection with such rites.
28
The fifth line continues this image.     Walpy translates it. "the disease
wuwang.   needs   no   medicine for its cure."   My own translation   of the
second phrase,   wu vao vou xi   $] ^ ^ %   ,   "there is no medicine but
there   is   a   cure," assumes that the imperative negative wu   ^0     is a
29
mistake for the indicative negative wu j£l •      This assumption is based on   two linguistic features:   first,   in all of its other occurrences in the   Zhouyi,   wu ^J")   is followed by a verb,   as indeed is   normative in eaily archaic Chinese grammar.     While it is not impossible that vao jfc here may act as a verb, its common usage is as a noun [e.g., the Shuowen
199
(lB.29b)   defines   it   as   zhi bing cao vje   >fj $\ (a medicinal
plant)].     More important is the negative-positive parallelism found in
the phrase,   a pattern which occurs elsewhere in the Zhouyi.   but always
with wu  fa and you j\ .
"Kun" 2/3:     &      M ift.      Without completion but
with an end.
"Kui" 38/3:   fa      £ 1%       Without   a beginning
but with an end.
"Zhen" 51/5: ^ ^ ^ £       There   is no loss but
there is activity.
Although there is no Prognostication in this line confirming that it is an auspicious image, the line probably can be seen as a successful conclusion to the scapegoat ritual of the third line. The pestilence has been eradicated, not through a medicinal cure, but by way of a ritual.
The top line, "the wuwang moves about: there is harm; there is nothing beneficial," upsets any attempt to see development within the hexagram. Based on the structural paradigms analyzed in Sec. IV.l.i, wherein the top line culminated a progressive development, we might expect here to find a final resolution of the pestilence. Indeed, I am tempted to suggest that this was originally true of this hexagram as well. If we could be certain that such development does characterize normative hexagrams, then I believe we would be justified in suggesting that the bottom and top lines have somehow been interchanged. An inversion of the structurally identical "wuwang wang (the wuwang goes) of the bottom line with "wuwang xing" (the wuwang moves about) would serve to impart a definite logic to the text. The bottom line would then announce the pestilence,   the second line would describe its ravages, the
200
third the people's attempt to eradicate it, the fifth their success in that attempt, and finally the top line would didactically announce the departure of the pestilence. Unfortunately, lacking any textual justification, such a reordering of the text can be presented only as a heuristic suggestion.
201
IV.2.ii
Zhen" 'jl^ (51)
-f. % * %        * 1 *       & f M %t*      « * Receipt. Thunder comes crackling-crackling: laughter and talk va-va: thunder arouses a hundred l_i: do not lose the ladle and fragrant wine.		
£ * & 41 Thunder comes crackling-crackling	<L *. 1 * * afterwards laughter and talk va-va	a auspicious
Thuncer comes forcefully	4t flj.J*?*' "ft., 3& * « *S lost cowrie; rising in the nine hillocks; do not chase   and in seven days you will get it	
Thunder su-su (regenerates; thunder moves		there is no harr.:
Thunder and then mud		
% Thunder goes and comes forcefully	& *K % there is no loss but there is activity	
It Thunder suo-suo (drawn-out); look about anxiously	the (thunder-) stirrings are not in his person, but in his neighbor; sexual relations have difficulties 32	to campaign vould be inauspicious; no harm
Thunder arouses a hundred li. Thunder comes crackling-crackling, Thunder comes forcefully, Thunder su-su (regenerates), Thunder and then mud, Thunder goes and comes forcefully, Thunder suo-suo (drawn-out).
202
In the case of "Wuwang" hexagram above, we were able tnrough the commonality of the human experience to overcome a misleading linguistic obscurity. In the case of "Zhen" (51) hexagram, on the other rand, the name of the hexagram is readily understood; all commentators agree that 2hen means "thunder."   And yet,   despite this agreement,   I believe
that these same commentators have consistently misinterpreted the hexagram. This is because the response evoked in people by the natural omen of thunder is not necessarily universal or timeless. On the basis of the canonical commentaries, the "Tuan" [kong zhi fu ye 2/^ "Qf^Z-ft -tti (fear brings about good fortune)! and the "Xiang" $L [iunzi vi kon~iu xiuxing   & 3r  ^> *i'ft &    (the   gentleman   internally stengthens
himself through anxiety)], nearly all commentators have moralized thunder into an awe-inspiring, virtue-inducing agent. This has necessitated a creative rationalization to reconcile the "laughter and talk" and the Prognostication "auspicious" with the coming of thunder in the hexagram statement and in the first line statement (51/1).
The function of thunder is to rectify the lazy through the wrath of heaven. Therefore, on account of a clap of thunder and a gale of wind the gentleman changes his demeanor, and putting this into effect in the affairs of men then the teachings of solemnity are practiced throughout the world. Therefore, with the coming of thunder there is none who is not afraid and therefore it states, "Thunder comes crackling, crackling." If things are afraid, they will not dare to do wrong but will protect their good fortune and this will then lead to the prosperity of "laughter and talk."33
One   commentator   however   suggests a different   approach.     Zheng Xuan
remarks:
Zhen is thunder and thunder is the force that animates things. The resounding of thunder is similar to the commands and instructions of the leader in moving the people of the middle kingdom.
34
203
Here thunder is seen not as a phenomenon to be feared Dut rather as a refructifying and revivifying force. There is little doubt that the imndeiate source of Zheng's comment lay in contemporary vin-yan^: cosmo-logical theories.
The vin and van?, rub each other and being "moved" this produces thunder.
35
But the word-family that has developed around "thunder" suggests that this animating or generational quality was ascribed to thunder much earlier than the Warring States philosphers. Consider the following Shuowen definitions of zhen and related words.
i.  A. It **. * H % 4L *» * ^       *• *- 4
Chen is zhen. In the third month the vang force moves and thunder and lightning shake; this is the agricultural season of the people and all things come to life. (14B.21a)
II. *B-ti.
Zhen: to bili (onomatopoeia for the sound of thunder) arouse (zhen) things. (llB.7b)
III. VL -  «3» %
Zhen; ... one says "to arouse." (12.B28a)
Ilia. tL-)\^*>'. % %. JA
>1 : U- 1th -€i
The   hibernating   insects   begin to zhen. Conn: Zhen is to move.
(Liii: 5.2a)
IV. *  <** £ £ft -6
Shen: a woman conceives and becomes pregnant. (12B.4a)
%% ».
Thunder is that which the rubbing motion of yin and yang gives birth to things. Its signific is "rain" and        resembles a revolving shape.
204
Va.    3 ... 11 *$J?
t* & * i q %% & fi    ® t & n *-A n & % %.M, &
& K       ff < # ; # *
Bo ... means to rub against. Yin and yang rub against each other and this is what is called thunder. "To rub against each other" is what is below called "revolving;" it regenerates the ten-thousand things. In the second month yang is dominant and the sound of thunder issues forth; therefore $9 is used to symbolize its revolving image; this is not three "fields" (tian 0 ).
(Shuowen iiezi Duan-zhu: llB.7a)
In   all   of   these definitions there is no notion of   thunder   as being
something fearful;    instead,   as a revivifying agent the first sounds of
thunder in the Spring are to be welcomed.     Indeed, in Shang oracle-bone
inscriptions   divined   in the first months of Spring,   thunder   is also
36
referred to as an auspicious It ) omen. This attitude is evident in the following series of inscriptions found on a single turtle plastron dating to the reign of King Wu Ding.
65.1:   4 * ]« * A • 4 * ®#
Crack on ren-shen (day 9), Zhong divining: "Di is to command rain."
65.4:   i'- >k.4 - A %
Divining: "Coming to this the second month there will be thunder."
66.1:   i: % * #<a.
Divining:     "Di   is   not   expected   to command (rain)."
66.4:   k - * Aft
Divining: "It is not expected in this the second month to thunder."
38
205
66.5: A     re: 4? it A - A 4 % Hi ft * A & H
The kins prognosticated, saying, "Di will in this the second month command thunder; if it be a bing day, (he) will not command snow, and if it be a geng day it will be auspicious."
39
66.6:  3, /£) VIM  -* ^ % ,
The   king prognosticated,   saying, "Auspicious; there will be thunder."
Considering the climatological condition of northern China, it is easy to understand why this appearance of thunder in the second month would be considered auspicious. Winter, beginning in the tenth month and continuing until after the vernal equinox is in China the dry season, a time when the frozen condition of the earth necessarily brings agricultural production to a halt. But with the coming of the Spring thunder and its attendant rains (note especially 65.1 and 66.1), agricultural work once again begins.
In ancient times, before the work in the fields did begin ceremonies were held, both to celebrate the survival through the winter and to
ritually   ensure   the fertility of the soil for the coming growing sea-40
son.      Marcel Granet,   combining mythological sources and literary evidence,   has demonstrated the initiating role played by thunder in these 41
Spring   festivals.      Correlating   the shared meanings of the chen
word-family   presented above,   Granet summarizes in his   otm inimitable
style the efficacy of thunder.
According to the Shuowen. chen (from the duodenary series) denotes the shaking (zhen) that thunder produces. Six.a Qian says that it shows the females of the ten-thousand things at the moment of conception (shen). These are complementary images because another sign (itself also pronounced zhen) impartially evokes a woman moved by fertility or the earth shaken by thunder.
206
The values attributed to these iraages are notable because they demonstrate an intimate correspondence between the actions of nature and human behavior. Due to this, it is easy to imagine that they could be used as calendrical signs. And by logical extension, they should also admit of a topographical indication. Chen in fact is the emblem of E-S-E as well as the third month of Spring; it is only after the equinox has passed that the first rumblings of thunder should be heard. The thunder then opening and shaking the soil escapes from the subterranean retreat where winter had confined it: men hereafter would be able to open the ground and cultivate it through fructitious labor.
42
Recognition of this refructifying nature of thunder makes the otherwise obscure images of "Zhen" hexagram cohere. The hexagram statement, "thunder comes crackling, crackling: laughter and talk va-va; thunder arouses a hundred li: do not lose the ladle and fragrant wine," can easily be understood as an evocation of the Spring fertility festival. The "laughter and talk" which greets the coming of thunder is not due to any fear-inspired moral rectitude, but instead implies the sexual
relationships   which   were   an important part of   the   primitive Spring 43
festival. Thunder's role in "arousing" the countryside, already alluded to in the Shuowen definition of zhen ^k., was institutionalized in the agricultural almanac by naming the period of thunder's first sounding as Hngzhi (arousing the hibernating).     And the "ladle
and fragrant wine" are of course also obvious symbols of a festival celebration. Moreover, the joy that naturally belonged to these Spring festivals is consistent with the Prognostication "auspicious" in the first line.
Further corroboration of the auspiciousness of thunder is found in the third line (51/3), which provides an interesting contrast with a line already considered in "Wuwang".
207
"Wuwang" 25/6:  &  £ ' fa t
The wuwang moves: there is harm.
"Zhen" 51/3:      % ^ ' & $
Thunder moves: there is no harm.
The   parallel but opposite nature of the Prognostications in   these two
lines   signals the similarly parallel but opposite nature of the omens.
The   wuwang.   as we saw in Sec.   IV.2.i,   was inauspicious;   thunder was
auspicious.
Among the Topics of "Zhen," only the fourth line   (51/4), "thunder
and then mud," seems to contain any real content.     The value of thunder
lay   in   its rendering the earth susceptible of cultivation.     This was
possible only when the frozen earth of winter had thawed into the "mud"
of Spring.   But while the reduplicatives used throughout the rest of the
hexagram   to characterize the sound of thunder are undoubtedly basically
onomatopoeic,   the   words   may also have been choten in part   for their
etymological content.   As pointed out by Granet, the first effect of the
revivifying   role played by thunder was the cracking open of the earth,
which had been frozen through the winter.   This released the life forces
44
which had been trapped below. Something of this cracking function may be seen in the first reduplicative used to characterize thunder. Although xi ijffii itself is defined as "fear" and the reduplicative xi-xi as
45
"the appearance of fear," this meaning is almost certainly based on the moralized interpretation of the word's use in this hexagram (the word does not occur elsewhere in archaic Chinese texts). The etymological content of the word is carried in the component xi » defined by the Shuowen (7B.40a) as "light seen through a crack" iian zhi bai ye f$>  $b   -4^ ^3 -(2i ).     This is the same root as found in the word xi Jft .
208
which means a "crack" or "crevice." To ne, this hints of a meaning "to crack," which is precisely what thunder is said to do to the frozen earth.
The   reduplicative su-su ^\       in line three (51/3) is a similar
case   in point.     Once again glossed in this usage as   "anxious, uncom-46
fortable," in usage elsewhere the word is defined as "to be reborn." It   occurs in the line su. er. fu shangzhe san ^ _fc, ik 2* (there
are three who su. and rise again) in the Zuozhuan (tenth year of Duke Xiang), to which the sub-commentary of Kong Yingda provides the explanation "su is the name for those who have died and been reborn" (suzhe si
47
er   geng sheng zhi ming ye .^J^ •jfeftiifo'^.-t.-i^&.-'&J   ).      Even more interesting   is an occurrence of the word in the "Seasonal Norms" (Shize %\ ) chapter of the Huainanzi ijl 1% (5.3a):   zhi chong shi zhen
SL ^? IjjMthe hibernating insects begin to move and come back
to life), which marks an elaboration on the passage zhi chong shi zhen (the hibernating insects begin to move) from the "Monthly Commands" (Yue ling f\ ^ ) chapter of the Liji ^ jjjx quoted above (p. 204, Ilia). On several occasions, we have remarked on the revivifying force of thunder. That the sound of thunder is here characterized by the word for "regeneration, rebirth" cannot be mere coincidence.
To be sure,- there is still much in the text of this hexagram that defies my best efforts at interpretation (particularly obscure is the resumption of the second line, "lost cowries; rising in the nine hillocks; do not chase and in seven days you will get it.") The impregnating quality of thunder might not be irrelevant in explaining the Injunction of the top line (51/6),   "the (thunder-) stirrings are not in
209
his person (but) in his neighbor." Likewise, from what we know of ancient Chinese society, the beginning of Spring planting marked the end of both the time for marriage and for warfare, an anthropological note which might help to explain the phrases "sexual relations have difficulty" and "to campaign would be inauspicious." But it would be premature to draw any definite interpretations from such a fleeting association. .The important thing to notice here is that the natural phenomenon of thunder serves throughout the entire text of the hexagram first as a portent of the beginning of Spring, and more important, as a symbol of the rebirth of all things.
210
IV.2.iii
'Kui" (38)
>1» ? t Minor affairs: auspicious.		
Lost horses	a** ft; a*** do not chase, they will return   of themselves; see an evil man	problems gone; no harm
Meet the master in an alley		#i # no harm
See the wagon being dragged,    its oxen leading	the man is branded on the forehead   and has his nose cut off	there is no beginning but   there is an end
Observe the fox and meet the primary man	exchange prisoners	4* danger; no harm
Ascend the ancestral tem pie and eat the flesh	a % in travelling, what harm	problems gone
«*! H^OJ^jSfc*^ *• 50 It ^ - *; A**. ?A, fcSJU Ufc Observe the fox; see the swine   shouldering mud; carrying     ghosts, one cart;     the   bow first drawn and later released	it is not bandits with marriage proposals; if in going you meet rain then it will be ausi-picious 51	
Lost horses: do not chase, they will return of themselves,
See the wagon being dragged, its oxen leading,
Observe the fox and meet the primary nan,
Observe the fox; see the swine shouldering mud; carrying
ghosts, one cart; the bow first drawn and later released.
211
This hexagram is deserving of a more detailed study than I am at present prepared to pursue. But the images found in the hexagram text are both so intrinsically interesting and so important within the context of Zhouyi omen symbolism that at least a preliminary discussion is required here.
It is perhaps best to begin with the top line (38/6), a line whose potentialities for allegorical interpretation have not been lost on commentators. Richard Wilhelra's translation and explanation are representative.
Isolated through opposition,
One sees one's companion as a pig
covered with dirt,
As a wagon full of devils,
First one draws a bow against him,
Then one lays the bow aside.
He is not a robber; he will woo at
the right time.
As one goes, rain falls; then good fortune comes.
Here the isolation is due to misunderstanding; it is brought about not by outer circumstances but by inner conditions. A man misjudges his best friends, taking them to be as unclean as a dirty pig and as dangerous as a wagon full of devils. He adopts an attitude of defense. But in the end, realizing his mistake, he lays aside the bow, perceiving that the other is approaching with the best intention for the purpose of close union. Thus the tension is relieved. The union resolves the tension, just as falling rain relieves the sultriness preceding a thunderstorm. All goes well, for just when opposition reaches its climax it changes over to its antithesis.
52
Certainly seeing pigs covered with mud and ghosts riding in carts would
not necessarily be foreign to the cultural milieu of ancient China, but
Wen Yiduo has demonstrated that while not without correlative effects on
53
the ground, these are basically images to be seen in the sky. For example, the image "carrying ghosts, one cart" can readily be associated
212
with the lunar lodge "Yu gui" (Carting Ghosts), corresponding to
the stars V , / , y , and -^ Cancri. Immediately to the south of this constellation the Chinese see one of the clearest images of the sky: a bow and arrow (comprised of stars in Canis Major and Puppis and seen in the bottom-middle of the illustration below), pointed directly at the famous star Sirius, in Chinese the "Heavenly Wolf" (tian lang It is this constellation which would seem to be evoked by the phrase "the   bow   first   drawn and later released."   Seeing   these   phrases as
Chinese Star-Chart   Centering on the   Extension from Gui to Bi, Including the Bow and Arrow Constellation; after de Santillana and Dechend, 1977: 216 (overleaf)
astronomical images suggests that the meaning of the other image in this line,    "the   swine shouldering mud," might also be found in   the stars.
213
Again, Wen Yiduo has demonstrated the astronomical nature of this image.
As seen in the Shijin<; poem "Jianjian zhi shi" -i* A     (hao 232):
There are swine with white legs, in great numbers they wade through the waves; the moon (is attached to=) dwells in (the constellation) Bi ("fork," i.e., stars in the Hyades), it causes a great flow (of rain),
54
the   "Heavenly Swine" (tian shi   J-^ %    ) is another name for the lunar
lodge   "Kui"  ^   .     Wen further suggests that the appearance   of this
"Heavenly Swine" was regarded in ancient China as an omen of rain. For
this he finds literary evidence in the Shuyj fi "xZi *
When at midnight there are in the Milky Way black nebulae (hei (j_i %. %* ) linked together, this is popularly called   "the black pig fording the river" (hei zhu du he
%. ^rin  $1 »*i     );   he is the "Lord of Rain" (vu. hou  fa ■
IK).
55
and in Zhang Shoujie's  ^ *^ $f     Shiii zhenevi  ^"ttt j£ commentary
to the "Tian guan" chapter of the Shiii:
Kui       ...    is called in one source the "Heavenly Swine" (tian   shj) and in another the "Feng Swine" (fens shi ii SO.     It controls water-courses ... when it is occluded by   Mercury,   then there will be a flood which will last for three years.
56
There   is   also natural evidence for this association of   the "Heavenly
Swine" with rain.     The first appearance of the constellation "Kui" took
place,   allowing for precession, in the first month of autumn, about the
beginning of August.     This is precisely the time when, according to the
57
ancient almanacs, the rainy season began in China. An interesting anthropological note further explains v/hy this constellation should be associated with swine. This time of the autumn rains was also the time when swine were turned loose into the already harvested fields. Hot only would they eat the weeds left from the harvest,   but by rootia„ in
214
the   soil   they effectively tilled it for the coning planting   of rice.
This   practice   was still observable late in the nineteenth   century in 58
Anoy.
On the basis of this association between the "swine" and rain, Wen Yiduo moreover proposes a slight reordering of the text to this line. He proposes that the Injunction "if in going you neet rain then it will be auspicious" should follow immediately upon the phrase "see the swine shouldering the mud." In addition to the conceptual link between these two phrases, this emendation is also supported by the rhyme between ^ tu/do (GSR 82d') and #P yu/giwo (GSR 100a). While this seems acceptable, it should be pointed out on tae other hand that this rhyme is also shared by the other phrases in this line statement I i£ che/kio (GSR 74a) and ^ hu/gwo (GSR 4lh)].
Given   this background,   it is now possible to consider   the final
image   of   this line statement.     The two words kui gu /3jj^ jAv are also
found in the fourth line (38/4),   where they evoKe the Injunction "meet
the primary father" [note the rhyme between }M gu/kwo (GSR 41c) and
59
fu/piwo   (GSR   102a)].        As seen above in the translation   of Richard
Wilhelm, "isolated through opposition," the phrase is not readily expla-
nable on the basis of traditional glosses.   The word kui        is virtual-
60
ly always glossed paronomastically as guai (queer). But it would seem that this gloss is based more on the queer images found in the text of this hexagram, x«?hich of course bears the name "Kui," than on any etymological reasoning. The Shuowen (4A.4b) defines the word cryptically as "the eyes do not regard each other" (nu bu xianr, ting ye l3 A ^ Jijffc. -"fej ).     It is perhaps more helpful to consider the other words in
215
kui's immediate word-family.     Two are relevant.   The word kui "P£ neans "to measure" and in the Shining poem "Ding zhi Fang zhong"        "*-»^ xl* Olac 50) is used particularly to measure astronomical images.
V£ < i-K a, -fr * *t t
When (the constellation) Ding was at the zenith he started work on the Chu palace; When he had measured it by the sun, he started work on the Chu mansion.
61
The same word, written with the signific "grass" ('ft ), i.e., kui 7£ , raeaiis "sunflower," the plant that always "faces the sun" (xiang ri kui ). The astronomical implications of these two related words suggest that kui , elaborated with an "eye" ( A ) signific as it is might refer to astronomical observation.
In this phrase, it is a verb with the word £u "}Ji\ (orphan) as its object. I can find no astronomical phenomenon associated with "orphans" in China. But, by a change of signific, two different constellations, both closely related to the other images of the top line, are suggested. Perhaps the easiest emendation would be to read j^V. hu/g'wo (GSR 41h) for gu/kwo (GSR 41c), since this word appears two other times in the same line statement and has been shown to refer to the important constellation Bow and Arrow. I suspect, however, that this emendation is rather too easy. Although by the time the text cane to be transcribed into   kaishu ^    ,   the original meaning of the word was no longer
understood, I think that the fact that this occurrence was given a signific ( 3r~ ) distinct from that of the "bow" ( ^ ) is significant; there   must have been a tradition that the two words were not identical.
216
Unfortunately, it would seem that the transmitters elaDorated the word with the wrong signific. I suspect that it should instead read hu/g'wo (GSR 41i), meaning "fox." As noted above briefly, the celestial Bow and Arrow of the phrase "the box; first drawn and later released" is perpetually aimed directly at one target, Sirius, known in such widespread ancient cultures as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and perhaps Mexico as the "Dog-star." Although the Chinese name for this star is "Wolf" (Ian?.) rather than "Fox" (hu). the intra-genus variation would be appropriate here for the sake of rhyme [ i£ tu/do (GSR 82d'), i£ che/kio (GSR 74a), hu/g'wo (GSR 41h)     yu/givo (GSR 100a),   and also ix;o (GSR
1 *\ ——
102a) and Jj^ fu/pliwo (GSR 69g)]. Moreover, there is also some literary evidence in support of such variation. In the "heavenly Questions" (Tian wen   "f^      ) chapter of the Chuci ^ |>|^    , we read;
God sent down Yi Yi to overcome the calamities of the people below. How did he shoot the River Lord and take to wife the Lady of Luo? He bent his bow to the full and made good use of his thimble, and Feng the Swine was shot.
And in the "Li sao" :
Yi loved idle roaming and hunting to distraction, And took delight in shooting at the mighty fox.
63
There is no doubt that this mythological archer, Yi, has an astronomical origin. That his targets here are variously stated to be the "Heavenly Swine" and the "mighty fox" seems to me to oe strong circumstancial evidence that this "fox" is indeed Sirius, which again is situatec immediately to the south of "Kui"        , the "heavenly swine."
Whether the proper emendation for the word £u        is indeed hu (fox; i.e., Sirius) or if it is instead hu foy, (box;; i.e., the celestial Bow and Arrow), there is little doubt that like the other images in this
217
Depiction of Archer Yi Drawing Bow Against Sirius (the Fox?); after De Santillana and Dechend, 1977: 216 (overleaf)
line   statement   and   as implied by the word kui IV%^ [to   observe (the
heavens)], its referent must be a heavenly body.   Thus, in this one line
statement   there   are   three and possibly   four   different astronomical
images.     This should lead us to ask whether other lines of the hexagram
do   not   also contain astronomical images.     The references are   not as
clear but I think that they are present nonetheless.
One of the lunar-lodges referred to in the top line is "Yu gui"
(Carted   Ghosts).     It   is possible that the Topic   of   line three
218
IV.2.iii: "Uui" (33)
(38/3), "see the wagon being dragged," is also a reference to this constellation. We might note that the lunar-lodge diametrically opposite "Yu gui" in the sky is termed "Ox" (Kiu -4 )» or "Led 0::" (Oian niu ^ ). Although I have found no literary evidence to support a relationship between the two lodges, it is a curious and indubitable fact that the setting of the "Ox" (the determinative star is /I Capri-cornis)   is   simultaneous with the rising of the   "Cart" (determinative
star of 9 Cancri).   It is easy to imagine that this phenomenon could oe
64
mythologically explained as the "ox" pulling the "cart" into view. If this association has any merit, it provides the context with which to understand the Injunction "the man is branded on the forehead and has his nose cut off," which on the basis of the n'ear rhyme [ \Jj£ y_i/ziad (GSR 338a), ^ zhi/tiad (GSR 331c), and 5'J vi_/ngi*d (GSR 537a)] should belong to the same image. Gustav Schlegel, on the basis of characterizations found in the "Star Classic" (Xing Hny, % Ji!L ), describes the portentiousness of "Yu gui."
As the shades of the ancestors weve deemed to exercise a surveillance over the living and always to have their eyes on them, it was said that the square of Cancer (i.e., "Yu gui") was the Eye of the Sky which presided over the inspection of miscreants. And as it was believed that the ancestors punished the miscreants by means of maladies, this asterism was also given the name of "Tian song" ?xx& , the "Heavenly Punisher," and it presided over sickness and death and over executions.
65
The final line to consider, the bottom line (38/1), "lost horses: do not chase; they will return of themselves," appears to have no immediate relationship to the system of imagery outlined above. But if cows and swine and foxes can be found in the skies, we might also expect to find   a horse or horses there.     Hot only is this the case,   but what is
219
more, the "Heavenly Horses" (tian aa J$j ) just happens to be a paranatellon of the lunar-lodge "Kui," the "Heavenly Swine," and is situated just to its north ( c^- , p , >» , ^ , and Cassiopia). This location suggests a possible association between this image and the image "see the swine shouldering mud" of the top line. To push this astronomical interpretation to its furthest extent, it may also provide an explanation as to why the Injunction to this line counsels that there is no need to "chase" the horses. The "Heavenly Horses," as indeed all of the celestial phenomena, were regularly rendered invisible, whether by the break of day, by their movement beyond the arc of vision, or simply by a cloudy occlusion. But the observers of the sky who contributed to this hexagram of the Zhouvi knew from experience that the disappearance of the "Heavenly Horses" would not be permanent; given the proper celestial conditions they would indeed "return of themselves."
Most of the foregoing interpretations are unabashedly speculative, but they are all possible and, what is more important, they are all plausible. They depict a society of sky-x/atchers who invested the noctournal luminaries with earthly qualities. By observing this ideal environment, they thought it possible to know what lay ahead in their own less than ideal environment. This, of course, is the essence of divination.
220
IV.2.iv
"Mingyi" tiftjk (36)
to 4 Beneficial to perform a difficulty divination.		
The mingyi in fli2ht drops his left wing	2*1 ft, x the lordling in travel, three days does not eat	in his   travels, the master has difficulty
The mingyi wounds in the left thigh	ft ik & using a saving horse	strongly auspicious
The mingyi in the southern hunt	get its great head; one may not perform an illness divination	
Entering into the left abdomen,   bagging the mingyi*s heart	in going out of the door and court	
£ 4 ± jjri & The mingyi of Jizi	beneficial to divine	
> Oft Hot bright or dark	first rising into the SKy and then entering into the earth	
The ningyi in flight drops his left wing, The mingyi wounds in the left thigh, The mingyi in the southern hunt, Entering into the left abdomen, bagging the
mingyi's heart, The mingyi of Jizi.
221
The final example of a developed onen to be considered is similar to the first (i.e., "Wuwang," Sec. IV.2.i) in that it has long been misunderstood because of the obscurity of its name. Yiiing scholars from the time of the "Tuan" commentary on have interpreted the name "Mingyi" ity«J ^ on the basis of the bagua symbolism of the hexagram picture (&£ ). One of the associations of the trigram "Li" ^ which comprises the bottom three lines of this hexagram picture is "brightness," which also happens to be the literal meaning of the word ming Hj\ . And since this trigram is situated under the trigram "Kun" ~-which symbolizes "earth," the hexagram picture is seen to be a depiction of the sun (i.e., "brightness") entering into the earth (according to the "Tuan" commentary, ming ru di zhong rt/!j A ^ ^ ) • Anthropomorphizing the sun, the word yjL ^ is then given an uncommon meaning of "injured, wounded," whence Richard Wilhelm's translation "the darkening of the light." Whatever the merit of this bagua symbolism in the later history of Chinese thought, that it has little to do with the original meaning   of this hexagram can be seen in Wilhelm's fanciful rendering of
the second line (36/2),   "darkening of the light injures him in the left 67
thigh."      Clearly there must be a better alternative.
It   was   only in 1931 when Li Jingchi published his   "Zhouvi shici
kao" that a convincing solution,    in retrospect quite obvious,   was pro-68
posed.      He noted that the first line,
"Mingyi" 36/1:   tif[ ^ of ^ 4fc £ &) J[
The mingyi in flight, drops his left wing;
The lordling in travel, three days does not eat,
is very reminiscent, both in form and symbolism, of the xing-evocation -
222
human activity rejoinder linked couplet form of the Shiiing. Li further noted that eight poems in the Shiiing employ the phrase "A B yu, fei" ^
ffi. , which is formally identical with this bottom line of "Ilingyi" (ming yi yu fei lifl <f ), and in each case the "A B" represents the name or description of a bird [e.g., "huang niao" ^ ^ [yellow bird; (Mao 2)1, "shi gene" ^ ff^ [oriole; (Mao 156)], "zhen lu"^A. ^ [shaking egrets; (Mao 278)]. From this Li reasonably surmised that the words ming yi must indicate an avian referent. That this can but be correct is evident from a close comparsion of this bottom line of "Ming-yi" with the Shiiing poem "Hongyan" \% j%   (Mao 181).
The wild geese in flight The minevi in flight
" # ^   Igiwo (98a)] [gi k (954d)]
Beating, beating their Drops his left wing, wings.
This man on campaign The lordling in travel
ty) $fr f 2t [dia (831a)]       *~ '* A ^ [d'fck (921a)] Toils in the wilds. Three days does not eat.
Finally,   relying on the time-honored methodology of phoentic loans, Li
suggested a meaning of "calling pelican" for mingvi. with Aft ming/niang
(GSR 760a) standing for       roing/nieng (GSR 827a),   and yj.        being the
unelaborated form of yi        , which according to the Shuowen (4A.35a) is
graphically interchangeable with ti,jj»^ .   In a slight refinement of this
phonetic   loan,   Gao Heng has noted that in archaic Chinese   ^ vi/diar
(GSR   551a) and        zhi/d'i^r (GSR 560e),   "pheasant," were phonetically
interchangeable,   so   that   the   image   is   more   plausibly   a "calling 69
pheasant."
223
Brilliant as this analysis of Li's is, and I personally consider it
to   be the most lucid and convincing demonstration of context criticism
yet applied to the Zhouvi.   it gives us only the literal meaning of the
image mingyi;   just as important for a complete understanding of how the
image   functions in the hexagram is its symbolic meaning.     As we saw in
the case of "Jian" (53) hexagram,   where the "wild geese" had both there
and in the Shiiing the intrinsic association of marital   separation, it
is   likely   that   the image of a "calling pheasant"   also   possessed an
intrinsic evocation.   There are three examples of the "calling pheasant"
xing-evocation   in   the Shiiing.   all of which are tied to the theme of
separation   and grief.     Consider,   for instance,   its use in   the poem
"Xiong zhi"       &l   (Mao 33):
The male pheasant goes flying, Falling and rising is his voice; Truly, my lord,
You do indeed inflict my heart.
70
But this image of a "calling pheasant" had a wider currency in ancient China than just its appearances as a xing-evocation in the Shiiing. Perhaps the locus classicus for it as a symbol of ill-fortune is found at the beginning of the "Gaozong yongri" Jfij l£« fl) li chapter of the Shangshu.
On the day of Gaozong's second-day sacrifice, there was a singing pheasant. Zu Ji said: We shall come forward and go to the king and correct his (sacrificial) performance.
71
This   anecdote is repeated in slightly different words in the "Annals of
Yin" (Yin benji   ^ JfiZi  ) chapter of the Shiii.
The emperor Wu Ding sacrificed to Cheng Tang; on the next day a flying pheasant alighted on the ear of a cauldron and called out; Wu Ding feared.
72
224
Whatever the origin of this legend, contemporary evidence that a "calling pheasant" was indeed considered to be an inauspicious portent can be found in the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions.
* & ft lUSL, * -A Mi , fi      & £.
The king prognosticated, saying, "There will be misfortune." ... On vi-mao (day 52), there was a defeat ... bad news. On geng-shen (day 57), there was also a defeat. There was a calling pheasant: You defended against the Qiang military.
73
There   is another legend that not only corroborates this symbolism
of   the pheasant but moreover may be directly related to the composition
of this hexagram.
When King Mu was hunting there was a black bird like a pigeon which fluttered about and then perched on the yoke (of his chariot). The driver lashed at it with the reins, whereupon the horse ran out of control and could not be stopped, tipping the chariot and injuring the king's left thigh (shang wang zuo ju       i ^ )•
74
Although   this legend is found in a rather late source,    [Li Shan's %. ^   commentary to Yan Ting's       -J$    prose-poem "Zhe bai ma fu" *3 5j fisC in the Wenxuan). there is reason to believe that it is considerably older.     Li Shan attributes this quotation to an "old text Zhou shu" (guwen   Zhoushu   t?       Jfi\ ^     ).     Since there is no parallel   to this passage   in the extant (Yi) Zhou shu   .fe /i)        ,   Huang Peirong ^ 4$"» has suggested that this "guwen Zhoushu." no longer extant,   was none other   than the "Zhoushu" listed in inventories of the texts found written on bamboo strips when the tomb of King Xiang  at   of Wei        (d. 296
75
B.C.) in Ji tfk- county, Henan, was rifled in 280 A.D. If this is indeed the case, this legend dates from at least the fourth century B.C. and definitely preserves the flavor of the ancient symbolism. Although
225
the bird here is described as "a black bird like a pigeon" (hei niao ruo
Ujj )> c'ie vocation that the king was "injured in the left thigh" is such a peculiar image that to find it repeated in virtually identical words in the second line of "Kingyi" (36/2), "the mingyi wounds in the left thigh," may not be mere coincidence. I would suggest that with this passage we may well have found the historical locus for this line. At the very least, it further confirms that this avian omen portended imminent danger.
An interesting question in the contextual interpretation of the Zhouvi concerns whether the fifth line (36/5), "Jizi's mingyi." is evidence that already during the Western Zhou period human beings or activity could be metaphorically characterized in terms of natural omens (certainly the remonstrances of Jizi did prove ominous for the Shang King Zhou ). While there is no reason why this is not possible [in our discussion of "Kui" (38) hexagram above, we saw the reverse of this process wherein astronomical phenomena were invested with animal or human qualities), if so it would-be an exceptional case in the Zhouvi.
It is equally exceptional to be able to find the historical source for a line image, such as we did for line two; despite this, 1 am tempted to propose a historical source for the image of line three (36/3) as well. The Topic "the mingyi in the southern hunt" evokes the rejoinder "get its great head," which at first reading appears to be nothing more than the report of a successful hunt. But, relating what we now know to be the significance of the "calling pheasant" with the "southern   expedition" of greatest importance in Western   Zhou history,
) and there is no mention of it "calling out" (ming
226
the disastrous campaign of King Zhao /?/L (r. 977-957 B.C.), it is possible that the phrase "get its great head" refers instead to the death of King Zhao. Needless to say, this interpretation requires a certain degree of imagination on the part of the reader, but it is a reading not entirely without literary support. In the "Heavenly Questions" chapter of the Chuci, we find the following rhetorical question:
Lord Zhao did much travelling. He went to the South Land. What did it profit him to meet that white pheasant?
■76
With regard to this hexagram, as in this section at large, I believe I have demonstrated the consistent use within individual hexagrams to which natural omens were put. By their very nature these omens are susceptible of symbolic interpretation; indeed, their very function is as symbols. But if we are to understand the way in which these hexagrams were composed, we must determine the significance of the omen within its own cultural context; i.e., the Western Zhou dynasty. Whether literally interpreting the originally popular name of a pestilence, or emphasizing the fear-inducing aspect of thunder over its life-inducing aspect, or re-anthropomorphizing originally astronomical images, or using the philosophized bagua concept to explain an otherwise inexplicable compound, past attempts to elaborate the themes of these hexagrams have been found anachronistic. It is possible, even probable, that many of the interpretations suggested here will also prove lacking in some way. But there can be no question that the interpretation which ultimately ties these omens together, if ever it be found, will be that consistent with the worldview of the Western Zhou.
227
r.3» Developed Narratives *„
.3.1 "Jie"$f (40)
Beneficial to the southwest; there is no place to go; he comes and returns:   auspicious;   there is some travelling; early auspicious.		
		*■ # No harm
In the fields bag three foxes	HA get a yellow arrow	divining: auspicious
Portering and hauling	causing robbers to come	divining: trouble
Severing their- thumbs77	mi Unit a friend arrives and captures them	
The lordling has been rescued	he offers a captive for   the   small man	auspicious
The duke herewith shoots a hawk   on the   top of a high wall	oags it	*L A M nothing not beneficial
In the fields bag three foxes and get
a yellow arrow, Portering and hauling: causing robbers to come, Severing their thumbs, a friend arrives
and captures them, The lordling has been rescued, The duke herewith shoots a hawk on the top
of a high wall: bags it*
228
In the preceding two sections I believe it has been demonstrated that hexagram texts do indeed cohere around particular themes. Moreover, several hexagrams have displayed a definite development in the sequence of their line statements. This should lead us to ask whether the line statements of a single hexagram were ever coordinated to achieve a narrative effect. In this section we will consider four more hexagrams which I think do indeed tell stories.
Needless   to   say,   the concision of the hexagram texts allows for
only the barest outline of a story to emerge.     Moreover, whether due to
78
a conscious disregard for historical specifity, or because of some interruption in the transmission of the story, it is generally impossible to reconcile these stories with any historical events. But this does not preclude broad comparisons between the content of the stories and what we know of Western Zhou society. And in the one example studied here where a proper name is furnished, the hexagram "Guimei" (54; Sec. IV.3.iv), it is not only possible to determine the historical referent but, by using the narrative information of the Zhouvi. we can gain new insight into an important event in the history of ancient China.
Narrative is generally constituted of setting, problem, complication, climax, and resolution. The line statements of "Jie" (40) seem to me to correspond individually with each of these facets of the genre. The second line (40/2), "in the fields bag three foxes," which includes the first Topic of the hexagram text, sets the scene as a hunting expedition, apparently already successful. Despite the Prognostication of   auspiciousness (zhen ii    $  *    )»    the phrase "get a yellow arrow"
229
perhaps   serves   as an omen of impending danger.     Analogous   omens are
recorded in "Shihe" (21) hexagram,   in both cases evoking a troublesome
situation which is eventually resolved.
"Shihe" 21/4: n&      M> ft 4      M       i ^
Eat the dried meat with bone and get a bronze arrow: beneficial to perform a difficulty divination; auspicious.
"Shihe" 21/5: $b ft 1? # 4 4 & & &
Eat the dried meat and get yellow metal: divining: danger; no harm.
The third line (40/3),   "portering and hauling:   causing bandits to
come," introduces the problem:   a band of bandits takes advantage of the
hunting   party's being encumbered with its catch and attacks.     At this
point   an   ally   comes to the rescue and captures the   bandits [(40/4):
"Severing their thumbs:   a friend arrives and captures   them"). Arthur
Waley   perceptively remarks that the phrase "severing their thumbs" (tie
SJL EE        &       % "may refer to the well-known practice of removing the
79
thumbs of prisoners of war." This crisis reaches an auspicious climax in the fifth line (40/5), "the lordling has been rescued: offer a captive   for   the   small man," where a human sacrfice   (presumably   of the
80
captured bandits) is held to celebrate the lordling's rescue. The top line (40/6), "the duke herewith shoots a hawk on the top of a high wall," then serves as an allegorical flourish, resuming as it does the hunting imagery of the setting and finally and definitively resolving the expedition.
There is no anecdote that I know of from ancient China that would allow us to precisely situate this event. But the story does illuminate to a degree the relationship between otherwise unconnected observations regarding   the   role of hunting in   ancient   China.     Shang oracle-bone
230
inscriptions   of the ubiquitous form wang tian:   wanglai wang zai Ifl
ri   [the king is to take to the fields (i.e., hunts): going and
coming there will be no disaster), allude to the dangers inherent in the
hunt.   One of these dangers was undoubtedly from "robbers."   And in this
light   it is interesting to note that during the Shang dynasty captives
brought   back   from hunting expeditions constituted one of   the primary
81
sources of victims for human sacrifice. Finally, the practical as well as ritual relationship recorded in "Jie" between the "lordling" and his ally is consistent with the geo-political ramifications scholars posit for Shang hunting expeditions. Thus, despite the lack of specificity in this story, it can still be used to illustrate historical . as well as literary trends.
231
IV.3.ii	"Sui" 7it^ (17)	
& 1 M k *> * Primary receipt: beneficial to divine; no harm.		
There is a change in office	# Pi ^tf in Going out the door to make an exchange has merit	divining: auspicious
Tie the little boy but   lose the man		
Tie the man but lose the little boy	fi* # 18; M/tii In the chase there is an attempt to capture; beneficial to perform a residential divination	
There is a captive in the road, with an alliance   what harm is there	71 A it In the chase there is a capture	* * divining: inauspicious
82 A* * . A capture at Jia		auspicious
Grasp and tie him, and then guard him	the king herewith sacrifices   on   the western mountain 83	
Tie the little boy but lose the man, Tie the man but lose the little boy, In the chase there is a capture, A capture at Jia,
Grasp and tie him and then guard him; the king herewith sacrifices on the western mountain*
232
"Sui" (17) hexagram is similar to "Jie" in presenting a general scenario with virtually no allusions allowing it to be reconciled with a specific historical event. Still, it also contains historical as well as literary interest in the way it develops the pursuit, capture, and eventual sacrifice by the king himself of some person or persons. The identity of these persons is never specified beyond "little boy" (xiao zi 'J- 4- ) and "man" lahane fu" < , (17/2, 17/3)], but the nature of the Topics in these lines, "tie the little boy but lose the man" and "tie the man but lose the little boy," combined with the emphatic insistence that their (re-)capture is the result of a pursuit or chase [(17/3): "in the chase there is an attempt to capture;" (17/4): "in the chase   there is a capture"],   leads one to suspect that this hexagram is
concerned   with run-away slaves,   or other persons under the bondage of
84
higher authorities.
The relationship of the bottom line (17/1), "there is a change in office: going out the door to make an exchange has merit," with the theme of the hexagram is not clear. Perhaps the "change in office" is an analogy evoking the escape of the slaves, or more probably, it sets the scene as a time of social upheaval which the slaves might take advantage of to escape. Either of these interpretations, of course, can but be forced. Lines two and three introduce the theme proper, with the purpose of the chase announced in the Injunction of the third line, "in the chase there is an attempt to capture." The meaning of the fourth line's Topic (17/4), there is a captive on the road: with an alliance what harm is there," is certainly not beyond debate. In addition to the problematic emendation of meng        (alliance) for ming df\ (brightness),
233
there is also a problem with the terra you fu ^ ^»   .     The term occurs
throughout   the   Zhouvi   with the technical sense of "to   offer   a cap-85
tive," but in this case the rhyme between dao/d'og (GSR 1048e) and $ i iu/&i6g (GSR 1068a) suggests that we are here concerned with a couplet of four-character phrases, as part of which you fu need not carry *» special, technical sense. If both of these readings are not mistaken, the line may be understood to attest to reciprocal agreements among families and states for the return of run-away slaves. Less ambiguous is the resumption of this line, "in the chase there is a capture." This positively develops the intent of the chase expressed in the preceding line. All of this comes to a climactic resolution in the human sacrifice of the top line (17/6), "grasp and tie him and then guard him; the king herewith sacrifices on the western mountain," where the   zhi -is. of ju, xi zhi ^ ana Rai cong wei zhi
certainly refers to the "little boy" and "man" who were the objects of the chase.
There has been an inclination on the part of certain context critics to identify the "king" of the top line with King Wu. Qu Wanli, for instance, noting that the setting for the line, the "western mountain" (xi shan i*3 J>' ), undoubtedly refers to Qishan ^' , the homeland of the Zhou [cf. "Sneng" -ft (46/4): "wang vong xiang yu Qishan" JL jf\ ^   i"^ di   (the king herewith sacrifices on Qishan),   relates this human
sacrifice with that performed by King Wu in "Zhou" after his conquest of 86
the Shang. However, since it is known that human sacrifice continued in China until well into the Spring and Autumn period, and since there is   nothing in this hexagram to relate it to the conquest   campaign, it
23A
would seem that Qu's textual comparison is overly forced. Despite this, there is historical information to be gained from this narrative. First, if the supposition that the object of the chase was run-away slaves is correct, it provides a modest supplement to the meager evidence of slavery during the Western Zhou. And second, explicitly linking the king with the sacrifice of the captive(s) does in fact corroborate the "Shifu" depiction of royal ritual activity.
235
IV.3.iii	"Shi" fa (7)	•
Divining: auspicious for the old man; no harm.		
The troops go out   in ranks	it is not good	inauspicious
A ft+ In   the   midst of the troops the king thrice bestows commands	£7	rx   /I* vx auspicious: no harm
The troops now carting corpses		inauspicious
H & * The troops encamp on the left		no harm
In the fields there is a catch; the elder son leads the troops, the younger son carts the corpses	beneficial to shackle captive?	no harm divining: inauspicious
The great lord has a (command-) mandate: open   the   state and maintain the family	* A* 9 /fl the small man is not to be used	
The troops go out in ranks, In the midst of the troops the
king thrice bestows commands The troops now carting corpses, The troops encamp on the left, In the fields there is a catch, The elder son leads the troops,
the younger son carts the corpses, The great lord has a mandate: open
the state and maintain the family.
236
The discussions of the first two hexagrams in this section have necessarily focused on a literary analysis of the narrative form. In the case of "Shi" (7) the narrative development is equally strong, but what is more, the theme of the hexagram, a military campaign, is so well known from other ancient sources that each of its lines can be correlated with a particular aspect of the campaign.
As in the other examples of narrative,   the first line (7/1), "the
troops go out in ranks," with its evocation of troops setting out on the
march,   serves to introduce and set the scene of the campaign. Although
the Injunction of this line,   bu zang /l» (it is not good),   is not
unworthy of discussion,   such discussion would unfortunately distract us
90
from the narrative development of the hexagram. The commands bestowed by the king in the second line (7/2), "in the midst of the troops the king thrice bestows commands," are not specified, but given the military context of this hexagram, it is easy to imagine that it refers to the naming of commanders, certainly one of the most important preparations for any battle. If this interpretation is correct, that the number of commanders is enumerated as "three" may reflect the ancient Chinese military custom of dividing an army into three sections, "left," "right," and "center." This then naturally leads to the third line (7/3), where the "carting of corpses" is a vivid evocation of the aftermath of a battle. The fourth line (7/4), shi zuo ci |5f ^ (the troops encamp on the left) is also indicative of events after the battle, but in this case of a rather longer time-frame. That this encampment is of a semi-permanent nature can be seen from the well-known definition given in the Zuozhuan (3rd year of Duke Zhuang):    "fan shi su
237
wei zhe.   zai su wei xin.   guo xin wei ci" ft jff1 -~ $ fa & , fib fe>
« fa. & >^\. (whenever troops encamp one night it is called she. two nights is called xin. and more than two nights is called ci). With the battle already fought and won, it would have been necessary to g*T"r*«on troops in the conquered area in order to secure the peace. The fifth line (7/5), "in the fields there is a catch," is also descriptive of the aftermath of battle in ancient China. From the detailed descriptions of Shang King Di Xin's campaign against the Renfang A. yft and King Wu's campaign against Di Xin,    it is clear that the conducting of a
hunt   after   a battle was a well-established ritual at the time   of the
91
Zhouvi's composition. Finally, the top line (7/6), "the great lord has a mandate: open the country and maintain the family," provokes an even more specific comparison with the conquest campaign of King Wu. The first to draw the parallel explicitly was Gan Bao (c. 320). Commenting on this line, he remarked:
Therefore the Yi posits it so as to show King Wu personally on campaign and bivouacing in the wilds together with his troops.
92
This is indeed inviting, with the "you ming" ^tj Aj    (to have a mandate)
referring to the receipt of the mandate by the Zhou people and "kai guo"
jJQ   (open the state) easily understood as referring to the estab-
93
lishment of the dynasty. Even if this association cannot be proven beyond doubt, the line certainly stands as a conclusive climax to the victorious campaign described throughout the hexagram.
238
IV.3.iv
"Guimei" j$ 4^- (54)
Campaigning would be inauspicious; nothing beneficial.		
1*  & <^ The marrying maiden with her younger sisters	SjLttA the lame is able to walk	is- t to campaign would be auspicious
nf At fa the blind is able to see	beneficial for a dark person's divination	
The marrying maiden with her older sisters	fK% J* returns with the youngers sisters	
if * a in The marry; :g maiden misses her time	she slowly returns to wait	
Di Yi   marries off his daughter:   the primary bride's sleeves are not as   fine as the secondary bride's	it is nearly the full moon	-* auspicious
•* t\ The lady holds the basket: no fruit, The man stabs the sheep: no blood 94		nothing beneficial
The marrying maiden with her younger sisters, The marrying maiden with her older sisters, The marrying maiden misses her tine, The primary bride's sleeves are not as fine
as the secondary bride's The lady holds the basket: no fruit, The man stabs the sheep: no blood.
239
Ever since Gu Jiegang,   writing in 1929, included the fifth line of
"Guimei"   (54/5),   Di   Yi £ui mei ^ Z fe*f (Di Yi marries   off his
daughter),   among   the five historically identifiable vignettes   in the
Zhouyi.   virtually   every context critic of the   2houyi has refetred to
95
Gu's interpretation as authoritative.      And yet,   it seems that none of
them   has actually realized the thrust of Gu's remarks.     These scholars
seem content just to accept that this line, and the hexagram in general,
is   a   description of the marriage of Di Yi's daughter to   King   Uen of
Zhou.   While this is true insofar as it goes, it misses the implications
of such line statements as "the marrying maiden misses her ti:,.e" (54/4),
"the   primary bride's sleeves are not as fine ao the secondary bride's"
(54/5),   and   especially the climactic top line (54/6),   "the lady holds
the basket: no fruit; the man stabs the sheep: no blood."
In   his study,   Gu compared the events described in   this hexagram
with those of the Shiiing poem "Darning" j\, ^    (Mao 236):
In a great state there was the young lady, she looked as is she were a younger sister of Heaven; We (i.e., King Wen) fixed on a lucky day, and went in person to meet her on the Wei (River); he arranged boats to form a bridge; amply illustrious was the splendour.
The appointment came from Heaven; it gave the appointment to this Wen Wang, in Zhou, in the capital; the lady-successor was (a girl from) Shen; the eldest daughter (of Shen) (acted0) performed her functions, and she staunchly bore Wu Viang.
96
In a significant break with the traditional interpretation of this poem, Gu proposed that the two stanzas quoted above describe the relationship of King Wen with two different women. Noting that the original marriage of King Wen is with a "da bang zhi zi" "t\. ffi ^ 3r U child of (a-*) the   great   state],   and that da bang (great state) was the   usual Zhou
240
appellation for the Shang state,   Gu identified this child of Shang with
"Guiraei's"   daughter of Di Yi.     The woman said to be the mother of King
Wu, on the other hand,    is specified in "Darning" as being from the state
of   Shen   If    ,   which although located within the immediate   sphere of ' 97
Shang   influence,      would   not seem to qualify this young   lady   to be
referred to either as a "child of the great state" or as a "daughter" of 98
the   Shang   king.      What is more,   this lady of Shen   is   described in
"Darning"   as the "zuan nil"        -ic.   ,   the "lady-successor" in Karlgren's
translation.     Zuan        is defined in the Shuowen (13A.4b) as ji ye. ij|
(to continue,   to carry on).     If this lady of Shen were indeed one
and the same person as the "child of the great state" whose marriage to
King   Wen   is   described in the first stanza,   why should   she   here be
99
qualified   as   the "lady-successor?"      Although not fully developed by
Gu,    the solution to this quandary is to be found in turn in the nuances
of "Guimei" hexagram.
The   hexagram text begins inconspicuously with a reference   to the
"marrying maiden" being accompanied by her "younger sisters" (54/1). As
many   critics have noted,   marriage in ancient China was not a solitary
affair;   the principal wife was regularly accompanied by younger members 100
of her generation. The phrases "the lame is able to walk" (54/1) and "the blind is able to see" (54/2) in this and the next line at first seem totally incongruous. But understood within the context proposed by Gu Jiegang, they may well be symbolic allusions to the reversal in the fortunes of the secondary wife of King Wen, the lady of Shen. The problem encountered by King Wen is first stated unequivocably in the fourth line (54/4), "the marrying maiden misses her time."   However this
241
is to be understood,   it certainly indicates some fault with the primary
bride, the "daughter" of Di Yi.   The contrast between the two spouses is
then directly alluded to in the fifth line (54/5),   "the primary bride's
sleeves are not as fine as the secondary bride's."   Hellmut Wilhelm has
rationalized   this   image,   explaining that the primary bride   would be
dressed in the clothing of her Zhou groom while her handmaidens would be
dressed   in their own Shang clothing,   with the line thus indicating the
101
cultural disparity between the two peoples. Inventive as this reading is, it would seem to be easier to fit this line into the context of "Darning" and interpret the primary bride as "the child of the great state" and the secondary bride as "the lady of Shen." That the lady of Shen's clothing is said to be more beautiful symbolically presages her future prominence as King Wu's mother. This brings us at last to the all-important top line.
As noted in Sec. III.5.ii.a, the couplet comprising this line is poetically the most sophisticated of the entire text, employing both internal and end-rhyme.
* * It      K t
The lady holds the ...... k'iwang ... d'iet       basket: no fruit,
~t The nan stabs the ...... ziang    ... xiwet      sheep: no blood.
a
Although its poetic virtues have not gone unappreciated, the meaning of the line has not fared so well even at the hands of the best context critics. Li Jingchi concludes his interpretation of this line by saying:
That it here says that the basket held high by the lady has nothing inside,   and that the man stabs the sheep and
242
yet there is no blood, shows that this is not realistic, that it is in the realm of dreams. This is a prognostication on a dream.
102
But there is no need to rationalize this image in this way. Li is certainly correct in saying that the image is not "realistic." What it is, in fact, is a conscious use of symbol to describe the unsuccessful outcome of this marriage. That such a forceful image should climax this hexagram text attests to the literary consciousness of the Zhouyi's editor.
As we have seen, evidence in the "Darning" poem of the Shijing suggests that King Wen's marriage to the Shang princess, the daughter of Di Yi, was unsuccessful. As an evocation of the failure of that relationship this line stands already complete. But the image can be pushed even further to suggest the reason why that relationship failed. Gu Jiegang suggests that the daughter of Di Yi did not mother King Wu because she may have died prematurely or simply returned to her o\m homeland. I suspect rather that the marriage failed precisely because she failed to produce the necessary heir,   and that the characterization
wu shi ?L ^    (no fruit) in the top line is a symbolic evocation of her 103
barrenness.
There   is one further point to be considered with relation to this
hexagram.     It   has been pointed out above that in the Shiiing the "wild
goose" is a standard xing-evocation of marital separation or difficulty.
That the symbolism is common to the Zhouyi as well has also been seen in
the third and fifth lines of "Jian" hexagram.
"Jian" 53/3:  J* *l * ft, * ^ * % 4*1**%
The wild goose advances to the land: the husband is on campaign but does not return, the wife is pregnant but does not give birth.
243
"Jian" 53/5:   >% #1 *       <** - /ft ^ 3-
The wild goose advances to Che hillock: Che wife for three years is noc pregnant.
When we consider this symbolism of the wild goose in conjunction with the theme of marital difficulty (and especially the presumed inability of the Shang princess to bear a son) seen in "Guinei," the juxtaposition of "Jian" (53) and "Guimei" (54) hexagrams may not be entirely fortuitous. The editor of the Zhouvi. certainly aware of the connotation of these two hexagrams, could have used the entirety of "Jian" hexagram as something of a xing-evocation to introduce "Guimei." At the end of Chapter Three it was suggested that evidence of this type of intra-hexagrammatic relationship could be found in a number of cases in the Zhouvi. In the following section we will analyse a few such test cases in an attempt to show that such an interpretation of "Jian" and "Guimei" is not overly impressionistic.
244
IV.4   Hexagram Pairs
IV.4.i	"Tai"  # (11)	
•J* & *. & -M The small go, the great come; auspicious; receipt.		
Pluck the mao-grass and madder with its stem		U z To campaign would be auspicious
% % $ & >i Bundle the dried grass and   with it   wade the river	do not distance yourself from friends left behind) you will not   gain favor in the central ranks	
There is no flat without a slope,   no going without a return	do not feel sorry for the captive;   in food there is good fortune	the difficulty divining: no harm
Flit-flitting, not wealthy because of his neighbors	& vk %■ unguarded against capture	
3» Z % c& Wv4sk Di Yi marries off his daughter with happiness		primary auspicious-ness
$ ft.? ft The city wall falls into the moat	9 /a fc n & *4 do not use troops; from the   city   announce the (command*) mandate	k * divining: trouble
The small go, the great come, Pluck the mao-grass and madder with its stem, Bundle the dried grass and with it wade the river, There is no flat without a slope, no going without a return,
Di Yi marries off his daughter with happiness, The city wall falls into the moat.
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"Pi" A (12)
(ft    j£ K) * M Z * i niL 4 Jk Not beneficial for the lord ling to divine; the great go, the small come.		
#2* Pluck the mao-grass and madder with its stem		a - 1 divining: auspicious; receipt
Bundle the offering	for the small man auspicious; for the great man not fortunate ins	•
at Bundle the viands		
There is a (command8) mandate	fate fields separate (us from) happiness	no harm
The beneficence is negated	they're   lost, they're lost: tied to the bushy mulberry	the great man: auspicious
ml & Falling into naught	■aAt i^t at first negative, later happy	
The great go, the small come,
Pluck the mao-grass and madder with its stem,
Bundle the offering,
Bundle the viands,
The beneficence is negated,
Falling into naught,
At first negative; later happy.
246
There is some temptation on my part to relate these two hexagrams, "Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12), to the historical context outlined above for "Guimei" (54). I suspect that it is no coincidence that one finds in the fifth line of "Tai" (11/5) an explicit reference to the marriage of Di Yi's daughter. If so, the imagery of the mao-grass and madder (11/1, 12/1), evocative in the Shiiing of marital separation [see, e.g., "Bai hua" -fa ^ (Mao 229) and "Chu qi dongmen" A A & f'l (Mao 93)], and the general sense of pregnant difficulties in "Tai" [the best expression of which is the top line (11/6), "the city wall falls into the moat"], which finds full expression in "Pi" [see especially the fifth line (12/5), "they're lost, they're lost; tied to the bushy mulberry," "bushy mulberry" being in the Shiiing an evocation of turmoil; see, e.g., "Bao yu" tfi     (Mao 121)] would indeed be appropriate.     While I   do not
necessarily wish to distance myself from this line of interpretation, I do recognize that it is based more on subjective impressions than on substantive documentation.
Fortunately, for our present purposes it suffices just to note the structural similarity and the conceptual complementarity of the two hexagrams. At least three points of similarity stand out immediately: the hexagram statements, here perhaps more conceptually important than in most hexagrams, are mirror-images of each other: "Tai's" "the small go, the great come" giving way to "Pi's" "the great go, the small come;" the first lines, "pluck the mao-grass and madder with its stem" (11/1, 12/1), are identical, and the second line of "Tai," "bao huang £i T^i [bundle the dried grass (11/2)], and the second and third lines of "Pi," "bao   cheng"   & fa   [bundle the offering (12/2)] and "bao xiu" Q JL
247
[bundle the viands (12/3)] share the Topic structure bao <2i X (bundle X). In addition, the repeated use of the word ming (command; mandate) in "Tai" (11/6), "from the city announce the mandate," and "Pi" (12/4), "there is a mandate," may bear noting.
Even more important for traditional Chinese interpreters and perhaps for the editor of the Zhouvi as well is the antithetic relationship between the hexagram names "Tai" and "Pi." These words, whatever their original etymology, have long since become fixed in Chinese symbolic usage as paradigmatic antonyms: "happiness" and "sadness," "good" and "bad," "positive" and "negative." Yet, as Warring States and Han vin-vang theories were later to develop philosophically, antitheses are necessarily co-dependent. It would seem that this concept of co-dependence was anticipated already by the editor of the Zhouvi. There are intimations of this in both the top line of "Tai" (11/6), "the city wall falls into the moat," implying in a general sense the levelling of the high, and the top line of "Pi" (12/6), "at first negative, later happy," expressing the return to the concept of "Tai." Even clearer expression of this co-dependence is found in the third line of "Tai" (11/3), "there is no flat without a slope; there is no going without a return." It is interesting to note that in another equally antithetical pair of hexagrams in the Zhouvi. "Sun"^ (41; Decrease) and "Yi" ^ (42; Increase), a study of which would illustrate the same type of structural similarity and conceptual complementarity, a similarly philosophical maxim is found in the same position (i.e., the third line of the first hexagram of the pair, 41/3): "san ren xing ze sun yi ren: vi ren   xing ze de si you" A A.      #'J % "  A   ;   - A,  ft *1   W ^ A.
248
(If three nen travel then they will lose one nan; if one nan travels then he will gain his friend).
All of this demonstrates that not only, as we have seen in the preceding three sections of this chapter, do single hexagram texts cohere, often with a definite progressive logic, around a specific theme, but moreover, there are cases where to be fully understood a hexagram must be viewed together with the hexagram with which it is hexagrannti-cally (by inversion or total change in the lines of the hexagram picture) and consequently sequentially (in the received order of the text) related. The relationship between "Tai" and "Pi" is certainly one of the more explicit examples of this. Below I will attempt to show that hexagram pairs can also help to elucidate less obvious cases, and finally will suggest that these pairs may show the mature genius of the Zhouyi's editor.
249
IV.4.ÍÍ	"Tongren"        A. (13)	
Gathering people in the wilds; receipt: beneficial to cross the great river,   beneficial for the lordling to divine.		
Gathering people at the gate		no harm
ft K 1 Gathering people at the temple		trouble
Lying enemy in the grass	ascend tne high hillock; for three years they do not stir	
Astride the wall	* sL Tk it cannot be attacked	auspicious
Gathering people: at first fearful and then later laughing	1* fa % ** a the great troops can meet	
fa k -? Gathering people at the suburban altar		no problems
Lying enemy in the grass, Gathering people: at first fearful
and then later laughing, Gathering people in the wilds, Gathering people at the gate, Gathering people at the temple, Gathering people at the suburban altar.
250
"Dayou"  /v ft (14)
a. 1 Primary receipt.		
Hot to exchange injury is not harm		difficulty but then no harm
The great cart carries	there is travelling	no harm
^/il 1  f * The duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven	the   small man is not capable	
10£> » * * Not the Peng		& % no harm
*■ Their captive fettered and awed		-* auspicious
% % to -k From heaven blessings to him		1     /• *i auspicious; nothing not beneficial
The duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven,
Their captive fettered and awed,
From heaven blessings to him.
251
Unlike   the case of "Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12),   there are no structural features explicitly linking "Tongren" (13) and "Dayou"   (14), the
hexagrams    immediately   following "Tai" and "Pi" in the transmitted se-
109
quence   of   the text.        Despite this,    I uelieve that by   applying to
these   two hexagrams the approach found successful with regard to "Tai"
and   "Pi,"   that the independent texts of a "hexagram   pair"   are often
inter-related,   not   only will their mutual relationship be demonstrated
but the original meaning of each hexagram considered independently will
alsc thereby become apparent.
Both Gao Heng and Li Jingchi interpret "Tongren" as being concerned
110
exclusively with military affairs. While this theme does indeed characterize the hexagram to an extent, as explicit indications of battle in lines 13/3 ("lying enemy in the grass"), 13/4 ("astride the wall: it cannot be attacked") and 13/5 ("the gieat troops can meet") show, I suspect that the primary intent of the hexagram is to be found rather in the tons ren vu X A "J X [X= yj: %r$ (wilds), nen f*\ (gate), zonR ^ (temple), iiao ^ (suburban altar)] formulations. Gao and Li offer interpretations of these lines which are inviting, that 13/1, "gathering people at the gate," and 13/2, "gathering people at the temple," are intimations of pre-battle rituals, and that the iiao suburban altar-sacrifice understood in the top line (13/6), "gathering people at the suburban altar," played a part in the victory celebration. Although the classical function of the jiao sacrifice was as an agricultural ritual held at the time of the two solstices, in the "Shifu" chapter of the Yi Zhou shu there is undeniable, although somewhat garbled, evidence that the \iao was indeed performed upon the occasion of a
252
military   victory.     After   describing a human sacrifice   of   the Shang
nobility presided over by King Wu himself, the text continues:
The commander of foot-soldiers and the commander of horses first (attended) to Mieir declaration of the suburban sacrifice, then the southern gate was flanked with the captives to be sacrificed, all of whom were given sashes and clothes to wear. The ears-taken were first brought in. King Wu attended to the sacrifice and the Great Master shouldered the white banner from which the head of Shang king Zhou was suspended and the red pennant with the heads of his two consorts. Then, with the first scalps, he entered and performed the burnt-offering sacrifice in the Zhou temple.
Ill
In addition to confirming the military and post-battle aspect of tne iiao sacrifice, this passage also suggests a new line of approach for lines 13/1 and 13/2. I have argued in Sec. III.3.iii that the phrase "gathering people in the wilds" of the hexagram statement is certainly a misplaced line statement. On the basis of the description of the iiao sacrifice given in the "Shifu" [note the movement of the ritual (as highlighted in the above quote) from the "gate" into the "temple"], it is possible that lines 13/1 and 13/2 have also been disordered and that they should instead be placed together with the top line (13/6), after the lines (13/3, 4, and 5) relating the battle activities. In this way, the emphasis of the hexagram's central theme would be seen to shift from the battle to the post-battle victory sacrifice. Heedless to say, textual evidence for this emendation is slim. But the emendation is not critical to the interpretation offered here. No matter how the hexagram is read, the top line, "gathering people at the suburban altar," must be viewed as climactic; the victory has been secured and it is necessary to perform a victory sacrifice.
Corroboration   of   this interpretation is to be found   in "Dayou."
253
The title of this hexagram has been sadly misinterpreted by context critics.   Citing the Gongyang A commentary to the Chunciu entries,
you   nian       JjL      (third year of Duke Huan) and d_a vou nian  "fs. ft -f (16th year of Duke Xuan),   which reads "ci o i vue vcu nian he,    i in you nian ve: bi oi yue d? you nian he. da feng nian ye" &t £ *2  ft Jf- ,
&   ft -f -fci   Í \k & *   A ft 4 f 1     . ^ 4 # <Wha* *Joes this
one   mean   by saying "vou nian?"   Only "you nian."   What does   that one
mean by saying "da vou nian?" A greatly bountiful nian.).   they conclude
112
that dayou jfa signifies a "great harvest." A close reading of the Gongyang gloss offers no support for this reading; the sense of "harvest" derives from the word nian and the sense "great" from the word da, . You ý^j sir.ply carries its verbal sense "to have," the verb-object   construction vou-nian being well-attested in Early
Archaic Chinese with the meaning "to have a harvest." Moreover, there is nothing in the etymology or usage of you which suggests any relationship between the word and agricultural affairs of any sort. Since traditional Yiiing commentaries exhibit a marked propensity to avoid specifying what the word means in the title of this hexagram, our best recourse is to the text of the hexagram itself.
As demonstrated in Sec. III.3.ii, hexagram names are predor.inantly derived from a recurrent word in the line statements or from the general theme of the hexagram text. In searching the line statements of this hexagram, it will be seen that the word you ft does not occur. The word you ^yfe. (blessing), however, in the top line (14/6), "zi tian you zhi" ft 1\ M** (from heaven blessings to him), is a close cognate, having     been     written   in   both   Shang   and   early   Zhou oracle-bone
254
inscriptions with the same graph ( X. or ji  ).   Undoubtedly related to
this line is the third line (14/3),   "gong vong xiang yu tianzi" Jf{
"i-. *f       ^ (the duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven).
*^ 113
This   usage of the word xiang        is quite interesting.        It is one of
a number of Chinese words that display reciprocal meaning: it is used both for making offerings (whether to an ancestral spirit or to a living superior) and for enjoying the benefits obtained from offerings. In Early Archaic Chinese the word you or & has precisely the same range of meanings. Elaborated as vou /fa , it means "to make an offering;"' elaborated as vou yfj^ , as we see in line 14/6, it means "to receive a blessing."   The root of this word-family,   vou ^   , means "to
have,"   but "to have" presumably by virtue of offerings one has made to
114
the spirits and blessings received from them. In this light, it seems to me an easy association to see the hexagram name "Dayou" ^x j£{ as a characterization of the general theme of the hexagram: an enjoyment of the benefits obtained through the performance of ritual offerings. These ritual offerings would of course also be related to the Hao sacrifice described in "Tongren."
Impressionistic though this interpretation may at first seem, there is textual substantiation for it. The third line of "Dayou" was the result obtained in a divination recorded in the Zuozhuan for the twenty-fifth year of Duke Xi (635 B.C.). Duke Wen ^ of Jin 2& , proposing to rescue the Zhou king, had his diviner Bu Yan 1% jj£r consult about the matter. Bu Yan responded, "It is auspicious. I met the hexagram "The duke herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven;' what could be   more   auspicious   than   being victorious in battle   and   then being
255
entertained by the king?" (Ji; bu yu gong yong xiang yu tianzi zhi gua Ye.   Zhan ke er wang xiang. ji shu da yan -± ). & %
i± *        % 3*       %k ' ^ ^        ^   } *     Although the Phrase
"being victorious in battle and then being entertained by the king" was
undoubtedly meant as a characterization of Duke Wen's own circumstances,
I   believe   it equally well applies to the original context   of "Dayou"
hexagram;   i.e., victorious in battle (13/3), the people gather together
in   sacrifice   (13/6 and 14/3) and then enjoy the benefits   (14/6) thus
received -
256
IV.4.iii	"Jiji" It $T (63)	
Receipt: slightly beneficial to divine; at the beginning auspicious but in the end disrupted. 115		
muz Drags its wheel; wets his tail		31» # no harm
^ * t* % The lady loses her carriage screen	do not chase, in seven days   you will   get it	
£ * i-flLA Gaozong attacks the Gui-fang; in three years he defeats them	* A » A the small man is not   to be used	
Wets the clothes and rags	throughout the day take warning	
The eastern neighbor kills an oxen, (but) it is not as good as the western neighbor's vue-sacrifice in really receiving its good fortune		
Wets his head		danger
Drags its wheel, Wets his head,
Gaozong attacks the Guifang;
in three years he defeats them, Wets the clothes and rags,
The eastern neighbor kills an oxen, but it is not as good as the western neighbor's yue-sacrifice in really receiving its good fortune,
Wets his head.
257
'Weiji"  &yfo (64)
Receipt: the little fox is almost across, wets his tail; there is nothing beneficial. 117		
Wets his tail		% trouble
Drags its wheel		* * divining: auspicious
& if* Not yet across	to campaign is inauspicious;   beneficial to cross   the great river	
Zhen herewith attacks the Guifang; in three years   he is   rewarded   by the   great state		£ 1t 1ft 4. divining: auspicious; problems gone
£ * -^ * The lordling's brightness	offer a captive	« H 1 divining: auspicious; no problems; auspicious
In drinking wine, he wets his head	offer a captive; offer a captive and lose this	no harm
Wets his tail, Drags its wheel, Not yet across,
Zhen herewith attacks the Guifang, in three years he is rewarded by the great state, In drinking wine, he wets his head.
258
That the hexagrams "Jiji" t?JL tff (63) and "Weiji" vfr (64) form a complementary pair has long been recognized by Yiiing scholars. This relationship is obvious from their structural parallels; e.g., the bottom line of "Jiji" (63/1) is identical to the bottom and second lines of "Weiji" (64/1, 64/2), the third line of "Jiji" (63/3) shares its image with the fourth line of "Weiji" (64/4), and the top lines of the two hexagrams (63/6 and 64/6) also share an identical Topic. In addition to this, that the hexagram names are indisputably complementary (Already Across vs. Not Yet Across; or, with traditional Yiiing commentators interpreting ji $k as "to be completed," Already Completed vs. Not Yet Completed) demonstrates that such parallelism is not just coincidental but represents a conscious editorial decision of the Zhouvi's editor.
Classical Yiiing scholars, for their part, have also seen a profound significance in the placement of this hexagram pair at the end of the text of the Zhouvi. They note, moreover, that if the two hexagrams had been inverted, i.e., "Weiji" (Not Yet Across/Completed) being number 63 and "Jiji" (Already Across/Completed) coming in the final position of number 64, an inversion that logic might suggest, the sixty-four hexagrams of the Zhouvi would thus become a linearly closed system. But by the simple stroke of making "Weiji" the final hexagram, the editor is seen to have rendered the sequence of hexagrams circularly unlimited. "Not Yet Across/Completed" necessarily implies another step.
Whether the editor of the Zhouvi were indeed motivated by so abstract a philosophical notion, or if it instead reflects more the later commentarial   tradition,   I   prefer not to   speculate.     Numerous times
259
throughout this study, however, it has been demonstrated that the apparently abstract is firmly grounded in a particular historical context. I suspect that the proper interpretation of these two hexagrams is no exception.
I should admit at the outset that I can divine no operative distinction in the development of the two sets of lint: texts. Three line statements of the two hexagrams, 63/1 (which is perhaps a conflation of 63/1 and 63/2) and 63/6, on the one hand, and 64/1, 64/2, and 64/6 on the other, all xing-evocations of the crossing of a river, are virtually identical. It is the subtle difference in the other image found in both hexagrams, however, which points the way to the historical understanding of this hexagram pair.   The third line of "Jiji" reads:
"Jiji" 63/3:   A &
Gaozong attacks the Guifang; in three years (he) defeats them; the small man is not to be used.
To this compare the fourth line of "Weiji."
"Weiji" 64/4:  % A & % f X + ft $ * *^ ®
Zhen herewith attacks the Guifang; in three years he is rewarded by the great state.
It   was traditionally assumed that these two lines referred to the same
event, a campaign led by the Shang king Wu Ding against the northwestern
state, Guifang .   This is confirmed, both as to participants and
duration,   by   a pair of entries in the Bamboo Annals (Zhushu iinian tT
£L 4"  ) account of Wu Ding's reign.
A -t * * . # % #   % * *'\
In his 32nd year, he attacked the Guifang, encamping at Jing.
x -t «» ^, x Pr % %f> & h
In   his   34th year,    the king's troops conquered the Guifang, causing the Qiang to cone to audience.
118
260
Although it is possible,   as argued by Gu Jiegang, that these two Bamboo
Annals entries are fabrications based on these two lines from the Zhou-119
yi, this should not distract from the historicity of the line statements. Oracle-bone inscriptions from the reign of King Uu Ding attest
that his major military opponent was a group of northwestern states, of
120
which the Guifang was one.
Despite the simplicity of this historical interpretation, there has been a vogue among recent context critics to see in these lines a much more developed reference. In the following exposition, I will attempt to simplify as much as possible a matrix of extremely complicated arguments.
-- recognizing   that the word zhen ^ in the phrase zhen
yong fa Guifang [fl j£ $L /* must be a proper name, he   is   identified   with   Zhen for   the cognate
relationship between zhen and zhen "ifa- , see Sec. IV.2.ii), according to the Shiii "Yin benji" A ill
(3.92)   geneaology,     the   descendant   in   the seventh generation from Xie        , patriarch of the Shang;
-- because in the Shiben t£ jfc     geneaology,   the place of
Zhen is taken by one He        , identified by Wang Guowei
with   Wang Hai 2- ,   the legendary domesticator of
cattle who was murdered by the chieftain of Yi  ^ (or
),   the Zhen who is here said to attack the Guifang
121
is held to be none other than Wang Hai;
261
--because   in the "Xi-Qiang zhuan" ft it 4\     chapter of
the   Houhan shu   ^ (87.2870),   the   Guifang is
described as being a Di ^ tribe, through a series of questionable phonetic loans (Di %_ -9 Di^iC ^ Yi %^ 5 Yi JjJ ), Guifang is identified with Yi % , the place of Hang Hai's demise;
-- and since line 63/3 must oe associated with line 64/4,
the   "Gaozong" ^  ^    (ancestor on high) of that line
is   said not to refer to Wu Ding after all,   but rather
to   Cheng   Tang  $  !^       ,     the   eighth generation
descendant   of   Zhen   (i.e.,   Hang Hai)   and   the king
responsible for establishing Shang dynastic rule. His
attack on the Guifang [i.e.,   on the (Di fi   * Di&)l -9
Yi j|  ^) Yi ^   , is seen to be motivated by vengeance
122
for the death of his ancestor n'at.g Hai.
Ping   Xin JC>    adds the feet to this snake of an   argument   with a
novel   interpretation of the phrase vou shang vu da guo ^sj       ^ -f^ J^) in line 64/4.     You shang ^  »^  is taken to be a phonetic loan for vou shang        $1    (the Shang dynasty),   and vji        is interpreted as wei
123
(to   do,   to   make),   giving   "the   Shang   becomes   a   great state."
Impressive   though the philological gymnastics of this argument nay be,
caution should be advised when complexity is allowed to run so rampcr.t.
A simpler,   and to me more convincing,   interpretation of these two
124
lines   was   proposed   by Ding Shan  "J  <U    . Accepting   the Bamboo
Annals   accounts as reliable,   he first maintained that the "Gaozong" of
262
63/3 could be none other than Uu Ding, and second, demonstrated that Zhen of 64/4 was a cognomen of the pre-dynastic Zhou ruler Ji Li "i . The Bamboo Annals evidence for Wu Ding's warfare with the Guifang has already been reviewed. Further on in the same work's account of the Shang king Wu Yi "jit "Z* » further fighting against the Guifang is recorded.
In his 35th year, the Zhou duke Ji Li attacked the Western Luo and the Gui-Rong. The king hunting near (the confluence of) the Yellow and Wei rivers was killed by a great bolt of lightning (or, according to James Legge, "was frightened to death by a great thunderstorm.")
125
Mot only does this account specify Ji Li,   i.e.,   Zhen, as the leader of
this   attack,   but what is more,   the Annals entry immediately preceding
this   one   records a court ceremony in which Ji Li was   honored   by the
Shang monarch.
In his 34th year, the Zhou duke Ji Li came to court; the king bestowed (on him) thirty JUL. of land, ten pairs of jades, and ten horses.
It is likely that the historical development to which these entries
allude   is   also the referent for the image "Zhen herewith   attacks the
Guifang;    in   three   years he is rewarded by the great state."     It was
under Ji Li,   the youngest son of Gugong Danfu %, »   that the
Zhou   first   appeared as a major military and political force,   and the
emoluments   granted him by Wu Yi appear to be the first formal recogni-
126
tion of the Zhou state's status.
Given this historical context, I think the editorial purpose for juxtaposing these two lines, and consequently the two hexagrams, can now be seen. "Gaozong," Wu Ding, marked the high-water tide of the Shang dynasty;   it is perhaps not overly impressionistic to see in the name of
263
the hexagram in which this image occurs, "Jiji" (Already Across/ Completed), an editorial statement that the Shang were already finished as a power. Ji Li, on the other hand, marked the beginning of the rise of Zhou. That the reference to him should be found in "Weiji" (Kot Yet Across/Completed) is equally appropriate. Taken together, the intent behind the two hexagrams would seem to be the legitimation of Zhou authority vis-a-vis the Shang, a theme well-known from such other Western Zhou classics as the Shangshu and the Shijing.
Confirmation that this is indeed the literary intent of this hexagram pair is found in the fourth line of "Jiji" (63/4), "the eastern neighbor kills an oxen, (but) it is not as good as the western neighbor's yue-sacrifice in really receiving its good fortune." Although the obscurity of the original nature of the vue sacrifice hinders final interpretation of this line [traditional scholiasts considered it to be an agricultural offering, so that for them the line implies that despite
its relatively parsimonious offering,   the western neighbor, undoubtedly
127
due to superior virtue,   was found by the fates to be more deserving; context critics, on the other hand, refer to the fifth line of "Cui" j (45/5) and the second line of "Sheng" -J*t   (46/2):   "fu nai li vong vue"
(having made a capture it is beneficial therewith to perform a yue-sacrifice). in which the prima-facie implication is that the direct object of the verb fu        (= which in the Zhouvi always
refers to a human captive, should also be the direct object of yue (and this is especially so if yong Jf[ performs its standard agentive function), to suggest that the western neighbor's sacrifice is more success-
128
ful because it makes use of a more valuable offering,   a human life] ,
264
there is nearly universal agteonent that the "eastern neighbor" is an allusion to the Shang while the "western neighbor" alludes to the Zhou. Thus, once again, the theme of the hexagram is to extol the virtue of the house of Zhou, and especially so vis-a-vis their Shang predecessors.
265
IV.4.iv	"Qian" % (1)	
*U 1 M <, Primary receipt: beneficial to divine.		
Submerged dragon	do not use	
(jb      7& l£) See the dragon in the fields	4J & A. A-beneficial to see the   great man	
Tne lordling throughout the day is vigorous, in the evening he is fearful as if there is danger		no harm
* m And now jumping in   the depths		& no harm
%% At Flying dragon in the skies	beneficial to see the   great man	
Necked dragon		there are problems
See the flock of dragons without heads	1	ra. auspicious
Submerged dragon, See the dragon in the fields, And now jumping in the depths, Flying dragon in the skies, Necked dragon, See the flock of dragons without heads.
266
*Kun" (2)
fu 1 *-i *»>  * * *a. & & ft.« i *i * h n m&w y4 * Primary receipt: beneficial for a nare's divination; the lord-ling does some travelling; first lost, then he gets his ruler; beneficial to the southwest to get a friend,   to the northeast to lose a friend; divining about peace: auspicious.		
A ft Treading on frost	the solid ice is coming	
Inspecting the borderland	not timely	% > rf-i nothing not beneficial
Containing a pattern	one may divine; and now attend to royal affairs	*. & A i\ without completion but   with   an •end
Tying the sacK		no harm but no praise
Yellow skirts		Primary aus-piciousness
The dragon fights in the wilds, his blood is black   and yellow		
	to * A beneficial   to perform a permanent divination	
Treading on frost, Inspecting the borderland, Containing a pattern, Tying the sack, Yellow skirts,
The dragon fights in the wilds, his blood is black and yellox;.
267
Just as the Zhouyi or Yiiing has been regarded'by the Chinese since the   tine of the composition of the "Wenyan" commentary down to
the contemporary philosopher Xiong Shili fij* -f 4\ as the essence of Chinese thought and wisdom, so too has there never been an intellectual who has doubted that the essence of that essence is to be found in the first two hexagrams, "Qian" i^L and "Kun" . Regardless of the heuristic device used to interpret the text, these two hexagrams, the former pure vang (i.e., all six lines of the hexagram picture are unbroken) and the latter pure vin (i.e., all oix lines are broken), are seen to be imbued with a virtue greater than just that of initial position; they are seen as a microcosm of the entire text, indeed of the entire world. Every attempt has been T.ade in this study to interpret the text of the Zhouyi contextually and without resort to the philosophical and moralistic reasoning that has produced the majority of these interpretations. Yet, evidence has indeed been found that the final redaction of the Zhouyi was not a coincidental achievement. The line Topics and their Prognostications have been shown to share an intrinsic relationship, individual hexagrams display in their progressive development the unmistakable hand of an editor or editors, and in some cases pairs of hexagrams are coordinated into one complete thought. We have also seen that the final hexagram pair, "Jiji" (63) and "Weiji" (64), may have obtained its position as the final unit of the text by virtue of a conscious editorial decision. All of this should suggest that the editor of the Zhouyi himself held the hexagrams he placed at the head of the text in a special regard.
The   dragon   imagery of "Qian" has proven to be that aspect of the
268
Zhouvi   most susceptible to allegorical or metaphysical interpretation.
What   is   perhaps   the dominant interpretation is   well   represented by
Richard Wilhelm's general comment:
The power represented by the hexagram is to be interpreted in a dual sense - in terms of its action on the universe and of its action on the world of men. In relation to the universe, the hexagram expresses the strong, creative action of the Deity. In relation to the human world, it denotes the creative action of the holy man or sage, of the ruler or leader of men, who through his power awakens and develops their higher nature.
132
The dragon is the symbol of the sage and the six lines are interpreted to be depictions of his actions vis-a-vis circumstances in which he finds himself. Thus, in times of an evil and unreceptive sovereign, the sage submerges, that is, retreats to his mountain hide-away. On the other hand, given a virtuous ruler the sage not only rejoins the world of men but finds his rightful position above all men ("flying" over them, so to speak), where his moral influence can have its greatest effect. The line texts have even served as the locus classicus for a theory of radical anarchy. The top line (1/7), "see the flock of dragons   without   heads,"   is interpreted by Xiong Shili to   refer   to the
ianate   equal goodness of all men,   above whom there should be no ruler 133
(i.e., "head").
Interesting and often philosophically profound though these interpretations may be, it is the role of the context critic merely to document what the image may have originally represented. From what we know of the Western Zhou intellectual and political milieu and what we have seen elsewhere in the Zhouvi. it is safe to assume that the intended referent of the dragon was not the moralistic or metaphysical force elaborated   in   the later commentaries.     But it is also true   that the
269
dragon is a mythological creature that is not to be found in the world of animals. Still, the attributes of the dragon vere so firmly fixed in China's ancient mythology that it had to be based on some natural phenomenon. We need but recall the top line of "Kui" (38/6) to realize that natural phenomena are found in the skies as veil as on the earth. Indeed, the Chinese have long seen the form of a dragon in a constellation of stars which becomes visible in the eastern quadrant of the sky in Spring and finally passes out of sight beneath the western horizon in autumn.
While in the West these stars are split into three constellations, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpius, the Chinese see the composite form of a dragon, marked especially by a long, curling tail and a pair of horns. Indeed, the names given to the respective star clusters are "Horn" (Jiao fa ) and "Tail" (Wei /t ). In between, the "neck" (Gang ft ) and the "heart" (Xin J'O ) of the dragon are also distinguished.
270
Returning now to the dragons of "Qian" hexagram, we can see that the various lines depict the seasonal positions of the celestial dragon. The bottom line (1/1), "submerged dragon," represents the dragon constellation at about the time of the winter solstice, designated in the Chinese calendar as the zjL, -J* month. At this time, the horns of the dragon   have still not appeared above the eastern horizon and the entire
dragon   is   invisible in what the Chinese considered to   be   the watery
134
depths beneath the horizon (see Illustration 1, p. 173). Coning to the second line, the statement "see the dragon in the fields" suggests the first appearance of the dragon's horns above the horizon, a phenomenon that occurred in early March (modified for precession; see Illustration 2). From the perspective of one looking toward the horizon, it would indeed appear as if the dragon wpre lurking in the distant fields. Skipping over the third line (1/3), a line that does not share the literary structure or imagery of the hexagram's other lines, the fourth line (1/4), "and now jumping in the depths," continues the description of the dragon's progress across the night sky. From the first appearance of the horns in early March until late in April only the horns and neck are yet visible. But in about twenty-five days from late April until mid-May, the entire torso of the dragon (the lunar-lodges Di w , Fang        , "and Xin J"C* ), including the Fire Star (Huo        or Dahuo
),   known to have been in ancient China an important marker of the
135
beginning of the growing season, suddenly becomes visible above the horizon, leaving only the tail still submerged (see Illustrations 3 and 4). "And now jumping in the depths," although not specifically mentioning the dragon, is certainly evocative of the dragon's sudden emergence.
271
By the fifth line (1/5), corresponding to the sunmer solstice in late June, the entire dragon is now arrayed across the night sky (see" Illustration 5). It is thus not surprising that the line statement uere reads "flying dragon in the skies." The final two lines (1/6 and 1/7), "necked dragon" and "see the flock of dragons without heads," appear to represent one and the sane astronomical situation. As Illustration 6 shows, as of mid-August the star cluster Gang (i.e., "Meek") is located on the western horizon, just about to sink once again into the depths. It cannot be coincidental that the dragon of "Qian"'s top line is referred to as the "gang" ("necked") dragon, using the same word as the name of the star cluster poised on the horizon. This leads quite naturally to the statement "see the flock of dragons without heads," for at this point   only the body and tail of the dragon remain visible in   the dusk
sky,   while   the   horns   and head (i.e.,   Jiao) have already   sunk from 136
sight.
Explicit as this astronomical imagery is,   it has passed remarkably
137
unnoticed by Chinese commentators.        For them, much more important has
been   the   calendrical implications of this astronomy.     The   period of
visibility   of the Dragon constellation coincides so perfectly with the
agricultural   growing season in China that the progress of the dragon is
equated with the maturation of the crops.     In this regard,   the "Tuan"
commentary states:
Great indeed in the primalness of Qian. The ten-thousand things materially begin and it is arrayed across the skies; the clouds move and the rain falls and all things take shape. The Great Brightness (i.e., the noon) ends and begins again; the six positions are seasonally formed. The seaons ride the six dragons across the skies.
272
Illustration I
SUBMERGED DRAGON
The position of the Dragon constellation at dusk at winter solstice,   800 B.C.
East
Horizon
A
JIAO (HORN
rGANG 7Í
(NECK)
\ff \
XDf
(HEART)
273
Illustration II
SEE THE DRAGON IN THE FIELDS
The position of the Dragon constellation at dusk in early March, 800 B.C.
274
Illustrations III and IV
AND NOW JUMPING IN THE DEPTHS
The positions of the Dragon constellation at dusk in late April (top) and mid-May (bottom), 800 B.C.
275
Illustration V
FLYING DRAGON IN THE SKIES
The position of the Dragon constellation at dusk at summer solstice,   800 B.C.
Horizon West
276
Illustration VI
NECKED DRAGON,
SEE THE FLOCK OF DRAGONS WITHOUT HEADS
The position of the Dragon constellation at dusk in mid-August, 800 B.C.
277
While   a   certain   astronomical   significance can be   detected   in this
passage,   there   is   no   doubt that its author was   more   interested in
"Qian"'s seasonal implications.   To him, "Qian" was important insofar as
it   relates to the growing season;   the birth of things in   the Spring,
their growth through the summer, and final maturity in the fall.
This   calendrical significance becomes explicit in "Kun" hexagram.
The   bottom line of the hexagram (2/1) reads,   "treading on   frost: the
solid   ice   is   coming."   This is certainly an evocation of   the period
shortly   after the autumn equinox when the first frosts of autumn bring
138
the   reminder   that winter is soon to   arrive. Several "stars-and-
seasons" almanacs confirm that "frost" is a natural phenomenon associated with the ninth month. The La's hi chunqiu X% *v & (9.1b) states in its description of the last month of autumn, "in this month the frost begins to descend," and the Huainanzi (5.18a) says, "if in the third month there is a loss of government, then in the ninth month the frost will not come down." That this association was also current at the time of the Zhouvi's composition can be seen in the poem "Qiyue" -tj
f\ (Mao 154) of the Shiiing:    "in the ninth month there is shrivelling
139
(of   plants)    and frost."        But before winter does   arrive,    there is
still much to be done in an agricultural society.     The overseers of the
land must go out and inspect the harvest, which gives rise to the second
140
line (2/2), "inspecting the borderlands." The third line (2/3), "containing a pattern," requires more study but seems to be an evocation that the crops are ripe and ready for harvesting [compare the fifth line of "Gou" (44/5): "yi qi bag gua: nan zhang; you vun zi tiah" L'J^AZj Q       ^ If • ^ 7^. 'fa  ^*   (with willow wrap the   gourd:   containing a
278
pattern; there is so^.ethin; fallen from heaven.)] The fourtr. line (2/4), "tying the sack," can be cowpareo with the line
He collected, he stored, he tied up provisions in bags, in sacks
141
in the Shiiin? poem "Gong Liu" /k %\ (Mao 250). Fron tl-ic it would seem to indicate the storing of the harvest. The fifth line (2/5), "yellow skirts," perhaps signals the ritual celebration of the harvest's completion and the continuing preparations for winter. Here again a comparison with the poem "Qiyue" may be instructive:
A M $ 4, # *
& 4. TU f| ,  & * * %JL
In the eighth month we spin, both alack and yellow; Our red-dye is very bright; we make skirts for the young noblemen.
142
But it is the top line (2/6), "the dragon battles in the wilds, his blood is black and yellow," resuming as it does the dragon imagery of "Qian," that climactically brings these two hexagrams to full circle.
The natural phenomenon to which the line refers is far from straight-forward. Traditionally, two nethods of interpreting this line have predominated. The first is based on vin-vang and "line position" (yao wei) theory. This broken line in the top position of the pure vin hexagram "Kun" represents vin at its extreme, which is in the tenth, or hai "ij/^ , month. According to yin-vanrr theory, whenever either yin or yang reaches its extreme it invariably reverts to its opposite. Here the reversion is accomplished by way of the vang force's (i.e., the dragon's) battling to regain its prominence. That there is both ulack and yellow blood is interpreted to imply that both prir.al forces have suffered some injury.
279
The other major interpretation of this line finds its locus in the Shuowen jiezi of Xu Shen. This line is quoted in Xu's definition of the word ren   4fe (4B.16b-17a):
4, fe. it f -ft-** f| %i ^ $ * ^ f ^ 3K * ^& -fci. % K ^ 4 is *J. * \ 4 *'JLJ i4.45L
The position of ren is to the north with yin at its extreme and vang coming to life, therefore the Changes says, "The dragon zhan's in the wilds." Zhan means "to couple." It is the form of a pregnant woman and is based on the exposition of hai and ren giving birth to a child.
In his gloss to this definition Duan Yucai states, "the reason for the allusion to the line statement of the top line of 1Kun' is that the top line of 'Run' is in hai.," and also notes that the apocryphal Han dynasty-work Qian zuandu ^ ^ ^ , somewhat in anticipation of normative vin-yang theory (which holds that yang begins in the .zi. month), states, "vang shi vu hai. qian wei zai hai" f% JtA 3 ^ » $t (yjHIL begins in hai: the position of "Qian" is in hai). While the underlying meaning of this interpretation of the line statement is functionally identical with that of the yin-vang theorists, it views the transformation from yin to vang as being one of production rather than destruction. When yin has reached its peak, vang stirs back to life, much like an embryo growing in a mother's womb.
Both of these interpretations, however, derive from theories popular during the Han dynasty, nearly a millennium after the composition of the Zhouvi. While the context critic certainly cannot ignore these traditions, it is his responsibility to attempt to discover the natural phenomena underlying them.     Since the dragon imagery of "Qian" hexagram
280
i
has been shown above to be astronomical in origin, it is logical here also to turn to the skies for an understanding of the dragon imagery of this line and the background for these later interpretations. As noted by the Shuowen scholiasts, the heavenly stem ren is paired with earthly branch hai. which corresponds to the tenth month, which is the month before that containing the winter solstice. In addition to its calen-drical associations with the rebirth of vang. the tenth month is also the time of an astronomical phenomenon that bears on this theme of draconian paternity. The historian of Chinese astronomy Gustave Schelgel notes that the Erva yi        j$L ^ remarks:
*  >f   £   & M, *    *1 gfc
The great pond gives birth to the first dragon The first dragon gives birth to the primal turtle.
Schlegel adds the observation,   "the tail of the dragon touches the head
of   the celestial turtle,   a fact which,   without any doubt,   has given
birth to this fiction that 'water produces the dragon and the dragon the 142
turtle.'" In a similar manner,   Schlegel quotes the Shishi xinsiing
/k vli   ^ , purported to date from the fourth century B.C.:
tit -h i & -t $ ^ 3Pi M *fr    it ^ &
In the seven lunar lodges of the Dark Warrior of the northern quadrant, (the lunar lodge) Dou has the appearance of a dragon and snake coiled together.
To this,   he adds,    "it is easy to know the astronomical reason for this
explanation, because the head of the constellation of the turtle, Dou or
^   Saggitarius,   touches the tail of the constellation of the dragon,
Wei or the tail of Scorpius, and has probably given birth to the popular
«144
belief in the carnal union of the dragon with the turtle.
Although   the Turtle or Black Warrior is identified generally with the seven lunar lodges of the northern quadrant, it would seem that this
281
characterization     derives   fron   the   configuration   of   one prominent
constellation found on its northeastern border. As
illustrated to the right,   the constellation Bi jjj|jr
(Turtle),   comprised   of   stars in Corona Australis
bears   a striking resemblance to an earthly turtle.
Moreover,   as   can be seen in   Illustration   7, the
relationship   between   the dragon and this celestial turtle takes   on a
particular significance in the tenth month.     This is precisely the tine
when   the   turtle   rejoins the dragon in the watery depths   beneath the
western   horizon.     This presumably marks both the proper time   and the
145
proper place for the consummation of their amorous tryst.
While the conjoining of Scorpius and Saggitariu;: nay well be the locus for Xu Shen's gloss of He (to join) for the word zhan (to battle) in this line statement, mythological accounts of dragons doing battle suggest that such an interpretation of this phenomenon is unnecessary. Perhaps the most important of the battles in which dragons engaged was that between the Yellov; Emperor and Chi You -j£ .In that battle, a dragon [specified as a "responsive dragon" (ving long ffr )] was one
of the two principal lieutenants of the Yellow Emperor. Chi You, described in one source as having the feet of a turtle and the head of a snake, met the Yellow Emperor on the field of Juolu s*1 /ft , said to be situated in the wilds of the north (Jizhou zhi ye |£ ->*\ ). At the beginning of the battle Chi You marshalled his forces of wind and rain and caused a great fog to descend over the field, throwing the forces of the Yellow Emperor into confusion. The Yellow Emperor is said to have thereupon looked up and regarded heaven.   Inspired by the astral
282
Illustration VII
THE DRAGON FIGHTS IN THE WILDS HIS BLOOD IS   BLACK AND YELLOW
The position-of the Dragon and - Turtle constellations at dusk in October, 800 B.C.
Horizon West
(TURTLE)
283
dipper (dou ^" ), he invented the compass-chariot. When even with this celestial guide he could gain only a stalemate, a "dark woman" (xuan ntf i> -& ) named Drought (Ba ffiC ) was sent to the aid of the Yellow Emperor. With her arrival the rain finally ceased and Chi You was killed. Mythological sources are not in agreement as to who finally killed Chi You; while general credit goes to the Yellow Emperor, at least one source credits the dragon. The Shanhai iing cti >fi i2. (14.6a-b) says:
^aL&dtT******     ¥ ^ A • & & a $
In the great wastes of the northeast corner there is a mountain called the Earth Mound of Inauspicious Plowing. The Responsive Dragon was situated to the extreme south; he killed Chi You and Gua Fu but was not able to rise up again.   Therefore, below there was a long drought.
The consequences of this action for the dragon are clarified in Guo Pu's ^n. conment: on tnis passage:    "ving long sui zhu dixia"^ v^ ■Mb T" (the Responsive Dragon thereupon lived under the   ground). But the specification of the dragon as Chi You's killer is relatively unimportant,   for   the   Ye1lev Emperor is himself but the incarnation   of a
147
dragon.     In   addition   to his common association with   dragons, the
"Astronomical   Treatise"   (Tianguan   shu   f\ ^ )   of   the Shiii
(27.1299)   informs us that the constellation Xuanyuan %f (another
name   of the Yellow Emperor) "has the body of a yellow dragon."   Nor is
the   Yellow Emperor the only combatant in this mythological struggle who
is to be found in the skies.     Several sources attest that after Chi You
148
died he ascended into the skies and became a comet.
Although   it   would be premature to associate this   myth   with any particular astronomical phenomenon, that the general tenor of its images
284
149
is   astronomical is undeniable.        Of particular importance to our
discussion   of the dragon's battle in the top line of "Kun" is the fact
that during the Han dynasty the cult to Chi You was conducted during the 150
tenth month. Moreover, this correponds v/ell with the climatic descriptions of his battle with the Yellow Emperor. In China, autumn marks the rainy season. The beginning of winter, i.e., the tenth month, brings dryness that lasts until the next Spring. This is certainly the reason why the Yellow Emperor required the aid of the goddess Drought to vanquish Chi You, the master of the rains. Likewise, this is why the dragon is said to have had to remain under the ground after killing Chi You; astronomically, the dragon would not be able to riss again until the following Spring. And finally, directly pertinent to the conclusion of the Zhouyi line statement "his blood is black and yellow," this same phenomenon is undoubtedly why both black blood (i.e., Chi You's; recall his association with the turtle and snake, the Dark Warrior) and yellow blood (i.e., the yellow dragon's) was shed.
We have reviewed above two tentative solutions to the mystery of the dragon's battle in the wilds. Whichever is the original source of the image, and it is possible that nuances of both apply, there is one important point that they have in common. They arc both related to events of the tenth month, the beginning of winter. As noted above, Han dynasty Yiiinn scholars were unanimous in also attributing this top line of "Kun" to the tenth month. Typical of them is Xun Shuang, who in his comment on them says:
It   is the position of destruction;    "Kun" is in hai and
285
below there is the hidden "Qian" which lintcs it (i.e., this line) with vang. and therefore it refers to the dragon.
151
More   important perhaps is evidence contemporary with the composition of
the Zhouvi that the tenth month,   which after all narked the end of the
"living   season,"   was indeed considered as the end of   the   year. The
oldest   of   China's "stars-and-seasons" almanacs is the poem "Qiyue" in
the Shiiing.   Kith reagrd to the tenth month it states:
In the tenth month the cricket is under our bed; the holes being stopped up, we smoke out the rats; we block the northern windows and plaster the door; Oh, you wife and children: it is all for the (changing of the year:) passing into a new year; let us enter into this house and dwell there.
152
With this calendrical conception in mind, it is easy to recognize the complementarity of "Qian" and "Kun." But, unlike the paradigmatic hexagram pairs "Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12), "Jiji" (63) and "Weiji" (64) discussed above, the complementarity here is only incidentally one of structure or imagery. While they share one astro-mythological image, the deep structure is entirely calendrical. "Qian" makes use of the image of the celestial dragon to characterize the various periods in the growing season of the agricultural year, the tine when the crops germinate and grow to maturity. The "Tuan" commentary, though written at a time when the original astronomical foundation of the hexagram was laregly forgotten, leaves no doubt about this "living" aspect of "Qian."
Great indeed is the primalness of "Qian!" The ten-thousand things materially begin and it is arrayed across the skies; the clouds move and the rain falls and all things take shape.
"Kun," on the other hand, marks the culmination of this agricutural and calendrical   process and the passage into the "dead" season   of winter.
286
Unlike   "Qian"   which   refers   to astronomical   phenomena   spanning ten
months, "Kiin" is concentrated in just two months of the year.   But these
two   months   possess an importance deserving of such   concentration for
they represent the time of the harvest,   certainly the most significant
time   in   the agricultural calendar.     Here again the "Tuan" commentary
signals the proper interpretation.
Extreme indeed in the primalness of "Kun!" The ten-thousand things come to life and then, following the heavens, "Kun" broadly supports (all) things. Its virtue coalesces without bounds, containing great brightness, and all living things come to fruition.
Important   though the growing season is,   without the harvest it remains
incomplete.     So   too,    important though "Qian" is,   without   "Kun" its
promise   remains unfulfilled.     This complementarity is a certain proof
that   their   juxtaposition   in the text was the result   of   a conscious
editorial   decision.     And   whether   in terms of the subtlety   of their
imagery,   the sophistication of their poetry,   or the complementarity of
their   calendrical associations,   "Qian" and "Kun" fully   deserve their
place at the head of the Zhouvi.
287
Notes to the Introduction
1. The question of Confucius' knowledge of the Zhouvi has been a topic of great debate in the present century, with most arguments focusing on the reading of the famous passage at Lunvu VII/16:
** *' ft, 4i 2* •+ «^ # $. 3    * *. & L
If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yi., and then I might come to be without great faults,
(Tr. Legge, 1862: 200) and   especially   Lu Deming's "f^L      ^   cryptic phonetic gloss   to this line   in   his Jingdian shiwen $£     ^4        (Sibu congkan va      ^ -^-J ed.: 24.8a):
Yi is like the graph:   in the Lunvu yi   §   is read as 2i j\,  .   We now follow the old (text!,
which   suggests that the word yi J|   in this passage is not an allusion
to   the   Yi,   but   rather   merely a phonetic loan   for   the grammatical
particle yi. 3)» ;   for * fhorough discussion of this line and gloss, see
Ping   Xin,   1963a:   59.     It seems to me that this controversy begs the
question.     Whatever the reading cf this line,   that Confucius both knew
the   text and contributed to it a novel interpretation is proven by his
quotation of the text in Lunvu XIII/22.
2. Qu Wanli, 1961, presents a recension of some 4,400 graphs (about 202 of the text) from the Yiiing retrieved from the Han stone classics, which were inscribed between 175 and 183 A.D. Qu suggests that this archaeological source represents the textual tradition of Liangqiu. The preliminary reports of the Mawangdui manuscript have made no attempt to ascribe it to a particular textual tradition, but since the manuscript was put into the tomb in 168 B.C., it presumably must pre-date the Fei Zhi tradition on which the received text is based.
3. for a brief introduction to these exegetical techniques, see (<u Wanli, 1969b: 77-149.   For a more detailed study, Huaimin, 1970.
4. Wang Bi, "Zhouyi lueli:" 149.21-24.
5. For a thorough study cf this commentary, see Smith, 1979.
6. Actually,   the   section   of this work dealing with the Zhouvi had
288
already been published in the magazine Eastern Miscellany 25.21 (10 November 1928), 73-93, but it is from the inclusion of this study in Guo Moruo, 1931, that Guo's early views on the text are best known.
7. Gao Heng, 1981: 60.
8. In 1961 and 1962 there was a brief flurry of debate, carried out in the pages of mainland Chinese newspapers, between context critics and Yiiing traditionalists; for some notice of these debates, see Zhang Liwen, 1980. In Taiwan, Li Hansan, 1969, was a systematic but shallow, contextual study of the Zhouvi. of interest primarily for the information it gives of unpublished research of Qu Wanli.
289
Notes to Chapter One
1. "Xici zhuan," II.7; Tr. Legge, 1899: 397.
2. "Xici zhuan," II.2; Tr. Legge, 1899: 403.
3. Shiii: 4.119. For the reading of gai ^ as an indication of doubt (possibly as a phonetic loan for gai jt3&\ ), see Zhang Shoujie's Zj^"^ §f   connnent at Shiii: 4.119, n. 1.
4. Hanshu: 30.1704; the translation of the "Xici zhuan" quotation (II.1) is after R. Wilhelm, 1950: 328-29.
5. The best known of these suspicions were elaborated by Ouyang Xiu in his Yi tongzi wen (141.19-26). Ouyang's argument about the authenticity of the Confucian authorship can be summarized in three points: first, the inclusion of divergent, sometimes contradictory, statements demonstrates that the commentaries are not from one hand; second, that the glosses are frequently mundane, sometimes nonsensical, suggests that they could not come from the hand of the great sage; and third, the occurrence of the locution "zi vue" \3 (the master said) proves that the texts come from the hands of later disciples.
6. Actually, in the waning years of the Qing dynasty there was a much heralded re-evaluation of the Zhouvi's composition by followers of the "new text" (jinwen ^ ) school of classical scholarship. Such eminent scholars as Pi Xirui jt^ , Rang Youwei ^ , and Liang Qichao ^ argued, unfortunately more on the basis of ideology than scholarship, that while the Zhpuyi certainly existed in some form prior to the time of Confucius, after having undergone his editing, the extant text must be regarded as the work of Confucius. See, for instance, Pi Xirui, 1954: 9-15.
7. Shiii: 37.1589, specifies that Feng was the next to youngest son of King Wen.     Sima Qian goes on to relate that after the revolt of Guanshu
^ and Caishu      sfo*. following the death of King Wu was repressed
by the Duke of Zhou and King Cheng, Feng was enfeoffed in Wei ^jfj , the area of the former Shang capital.     This enfeoffment is attested in the
290
inscription on the "Kanghou gui" ^ "j&^K. » which reads in part:
Kang to be enfeoffed at Wei. For a study of this inscription, see Shirakawa, 1965: 4.144-152.
8. Gu Jiegang, 1931: 43.
9. Luo Zhenyu, 1914: Preface.
10. Li Jingchi, 1931b: 204-07.
11. Yu Yongliang, 1931: 147-157. Although this belief has been widely held since the discovery of the Shang dynasty oracle-bones at Anyang recent research on the "bagua numerical symbols" has demonstrated that milfoil divination was almost certainly practised as early as the Shang dynasty; see Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 158, and below, Sec. Il.l.ii.
12. Yu Yongliang, 1931: 160-61. Yu gives only very circumstancial evidence to substantiate this claim; others, however, have discussed the meaning of zhen in this line in much greater detail (for which, see Sec. IV.4.iii). The most convincing identification of this figure is with Wang Ji JL ifc- (i.e., Ji Li % ^ ), the father of King Wen; see, e.g., Sec. IV.4.iv. While this does not invalidate Yu's dating, the line seems to be used here polemically rather than as an actual historical report, and is thus irrelevant for dating purposes.
13. Yu Yongliang, 1931: 157-162. The dates given in this paper for the various reigns of the Western Zhou period are those of Nivison, 1980.
14. Qu's article was directly prompted by the publication of Guo Moruo, 1940. Guo, following an earlier study by Naito Torajiro (1923), argued principally on the basis of the coincidence of the term zhong xing/hang \*2 iif   with the Spring and Autumn period clan of that name in the state
e.g., Ping Xin, 1963a: see esp. 56-61, and Needham, 1956: 306-07), his "Zhonghang" theory has been convincingly refuted in Chen Hengjia, 1940: 63-67,   and Li Jingchi,   1978:   136-38.     For this reason it will not be
291
discussed in the main body of this chapter. It would seem that the exaggeration of Guo's thesis led in some degree to Qu's exaggerated insistance that the houvi was composed during the reign of King Wu.
15. Wang Guowei, "Guifang Kunyi Xianyun kao" %fi tt.%,/$&ffii%, in Wang Guowei., 1923: ch. 13. Actually, Qu's argument is rather more sophisticated than the synopsis of this point indicates. Qu recognizes that p line such as "Weiji" (64/4) could be an allusion to a historical anecdote and thus date from a later period. But he suggests that the occurrence of the word gui 3 lone in "Kui" (38/6):
m cMjfcvj % % A %) & %. -
Observe the fox; see the pig shouldering mud; carting gui. one cart: the bow first drawn and then released.
must refer to an individual of the Guifang, and that this shows that as of the time of the Zhouvi's composition, the name Guifang must still have been in active use. The case of "Kui" 38/6 is quite complex; the line is filled with astronomical imagery and since gui figures as one of the 28 Chinese lunar-lodges (i.e., "Yugui" ^ )f it would seem likely that this reference is to the celestial gui and not to the Guifang.   For a fuller discussion of this line, see Sec. IV.2.iii.
16. The translation proferred here for this line is somewhat different from Qu's interpretation; for its justification, see below, n. 49. Studies of the "Xijia pan" and "Guo Jizi bo pan" can be found at Shira-kawa, 1972: 32.785-799 and 32.800-813, respectively.
17. See, e.g., Gao Heng, 1947: 144, and Li Jingchi, 1981: 84; for a thorough proof of this phonetic loan, see Yu Xingwu, 1939: 147-49. The reconstructed archaic pronunciations given here and throughout this study are those of Karlgren, 1972 (cited in the text as GSR + Karlgren's entry number).
18. Sima Qian relates that King Wu died two years after the conquest of Shang (Shiii: 4.131), a tradition that the chronology studies of Nivison (1980: 5-7) have shown to be accurate. Sima continues his chronicle of the early years of the dynasty by describing two separate forced removals of the Shang people: one after the rebellion of Guanshu and Caishu,
292
in which Sima also mentions the enfeoffment of Kang Hou (Shiii; 4.132),
Shiii: 4.133]. For epigraphic evidence relating to "Jin" (35), see above, n. 7.
19.   See, e.g., Shaughnessy, 1980-81.
sacrifice of a captured enemy leader; see Shirakawa, 1967: 12.693-98. Recent archaeological reports have also mentioned incidences of human offerings found in Western Zhou tombs; for one example, see Baoji Rujiazhuang Xi-Zhou mu fajuedui, 1976: 45. There are numerous examples from the Spring and Autumn period of enemy captives being sacrificed; uoce examples in the Zuoghuan under the entries for Zhao 11 and Xi 19.
21. For a discussion of the occurrence of this term in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, see below, Sec. I.2.iii.
22. Chen Mengjia, 1940: 76-78. Chen argues by implication that the text could not have been composed until after the mid-Western Zhou.
23. Lu Kanru, 1932: 19-20.
24. Shchutskii, 1979: 192-93.
25. Shchutskii, 1979: 178-79. The reference is to Karlgren, 1926, in which by a comparison of the grammatical particals used in the Zuozhuan and other Warring States texts Karlgren demonstrated the composition date of the Zuoghuan.
In the same conclusion (p. 194), Shchutskii also states, "the Book of Changes, even if regarded most skeptically, must date to an earlier time (than the Zuozhuan). apparently no later than the 7th century B.C. And since the divinatory inscriptions on bones, which come down to the 8th century B.C., represent a more archaic form of the language than in the oldest parts of the Book of Changes, it is most natural to establish the   time   of its creation between the 8th and 7th centuries   B.C." By
datable to late in the
describes   the ritual
293
ascribing such a late date to the oracle-bone inscriptions, the accuracy of Shchutskii's proposed date for the Zhouyi might also be called into question.
26. Li Jingchi, 1978: 130-150.
27. For the preliminary report, see Shaanxi Zhouyuan kaogu dui, 1979. For the King Cheng dating of this corpus, see Yan Yiping, 1980: 172. Li Xueqin, 1981: 11, has recently suggested that certain of the inscriptions date as late as King Zhao liZ. (r. 977-957 B.C.), but considering the archaeological stratigraphy this argument is not convincing.
28. For a preliminary report, see Shaanxi Zhouyuan kaogu dui, 1981.
29. The thesis, first enumerated at the First Annual Conference of the Chinese Paleography Association, Changchun, October, 1978, has been formally published as Zhang Zhenglang, 1980.
30. On the dual use of turtle-shell and milfoil divination, see below, Sec. Il.l.ii.
31. Xu Zhongshu, 1981: 7. For further interpretations of this inscription, see Zhang Zhenglang, 1980: 404, no. 11, and n. 7, and Li Xueqin, 1981: 11-12.
32. This thesis is of course highly speculative. It is always dangerous first to rely on negative evidence and second to presume upon as yet undiscovered archaeological evidence. Yet, the "bagua numerical symbols" collected by Zhang Zhenglang and Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu share one remarkable trait: none dates later than mid-Western Zhou. It is possible, perhaps even probable, that later examples will yet be found, but as of now the evidence suggests mid-Western Zhou as a terminus ad quem for this type of divination.
33. The divination, performed by Duke Li of Chen f$>. by a scribe of Zhou, predicted the future greatness of the Chen (i.e., Tian »2 ) family in the state of Qi > a development which came to pass only in the fourth century B.C.
294
34. The references to the Zhouvi in the Zuozhuan are conveniently categorized in Sargent, 1977: Table 1.
35. In addition to the reference in Zhuang 22 (672 B.C.) discussed in n. 33 above, the prediction in Min 1 (661 B.C.) of the resurgence of the state of Wei , a development which did in fact take place in the early Warring States period, would also seem to be suspect. In a recent study of the composition of the Zuozhuan. Uu Nianyi tt\ , who otherwise argues for an early 5th century B.C. date of composition, suggests that a small number of these "predictions" probably were inserted into the text by Warring States scribes of the state of Wei; see Hu Nianyi, 1980: 20-22.
36. See Shirakawa, 1977: 47.100-02, and Chen Shihui, 1981.
37. For these inscriptions, see Shirakawa, 1968: 15.7-28 and 1968: 15.34-62, respectively. - -
38. Consider as just one further example the inscription on the "Doubi eui" £ ffl lMs,(see Shirakawa, 1969: 20.400-409), which dating from the reign of King Gong ^ (r. 922-904 B.C.) is one of the earliest examples of a purely rhymed dedication*
ft m & t a
Bi bai qi shou (siog    $\ '
JUL * -*» S3L ^ 4
gan dux yang tian zi pi xian xiu ming
yong zuo zhen wen Rao Li shu bao gui (kiw»g '
yong xi chou shou (d'log '
wan man yong bao (pfcg   ^ )
yu zong sni
Bi bows and touches his head to the tioor, and daring to respond to the king's brilliant munificence, herewith makes this treasured gui-vessel for his illustrious deceased father and uncle Li, with which to bestow on them longevity; may it be eternally treasured for ten-thousand years in the anecestral hall.
39. See, for instance, Dobson, 1964. Leaving aside the question of Dobson's   chronological   comparisons with bronze inscriptions,   which I
think must be entirely rejected (of his sample of fourteen "early Western Zhou" bronze inscriptions in Dobson, 1962: 175-233, at least four date to mid or late Western Zhou), the internal linguistic evidence he presents for the Shiiing is generally reliable.
The occurrence of the term tianzi ^ 3- (son of heaven) in the "Zhou song" poem "Yong" j&jj^ (Mao 282) suggests that this piece could not have been put into writing before the reign of King Mu (for a discussion of this term and its role in dating, see below, Sec.I.2.iii). Internal evidence   suggests that "Zhi jing"^ (Mao 274) must also have been
composed at this time* A redaction date of King Mu's reign for all of the poems of the "Zhou song," although their oral creation vis certainly earlier, would be consistent with the thesis presented below (Sec. I.2.iv) that a crisis of confidence, here represented by the disastrous Southern Expedition of Mu's father, King Zhao, would prompt a reduction of oral traditions to writing.
40. The most notable of these allusions is the identification of (Yin) Jifu i$   »   signed composer of the poems "Song gao" 3& \*\ (Mao
259)   and "Zheng min"       ^   (Mao 260) of the "Da ya," with Xijia Jifu
H  XT ^    in the "xijia pas. A   Nf   j|£   •     Jifu   also fi&ures
prominently   in   a   cluster   of "Xiao ya"   poems   regarding   a military
campaign   (or   campaigns)   against the Xianyun ^jj^/S/Ji    • Calendrical
evidence in the "Xijia pan." as well as in the "Guo Jizi bo pan"
^ jffi. t*16 ,'^U<1*' gui ^? ^SL» prove these campaigns to have occurred during the reign of King Xuan (the "Xijia pan" is datable to 823 B.C., the "Guo Jizi bo pan" to 816, and the "Buqi gui" to 815), thereby giving a significant core of poems from the "Ya" sections that can be dated with certainty to this particular reign. Much work remains to be done with the other poems of the section, but the linguistic homogeneity has led Sun Zuoyun (1966: 345) to suggest that at least 602 of these poems do indeed date to the reign of King Xuan. Sun argues that at least 20 of the "Da ya"'s 31 poems and more than 40 of the "Xiao ya"'s 74 poems date to this reign* Moreover, he states that not a single poem of these two sections dates to earlier than this reign*
C.H.   Wang (1974:   73-82) has argued that even those poems specifically   relating   events of King Xuan's reign are formulaicaily   oral in
296
nature, the implication presumably being that their reduction to writing should date to some later period. Such an argument, however, disregards the fact that some of the poems are signed. Given parallels with the signature in dedicatory formulas of bronze inscriptions, it seems impossible not to regard these as authentic literary compositions.
41. I can but apologize for the generalities expressed above; a detailed proof of these developments in the Shiiing. which I believe is both possible and necessary, would take us too far afield from the topic presently at hand.
42. Lu Kanru, 1932: 19-20, cites as Zhouyi lines with Shiiing parallels "Pi" (12/5): "xi yu bao sang" 5? l| # (tied in bushy mulberry) and "Dayou" (14/2): "da che vi zai" -£L if J'A :§X (the large cart carrying it). While parallels to these lines can indeed be found in the "Guo feng" section (see Mao 121 and 132), they can just as well be found in the "Xiao ya" section (see, e.g., Mao 162 for a parallel to 12/5 and Mao 192 for a parallel to 14/2). Comparisons such as this show little about the date of composition of either text.
43. I cite this hexagram to illustrate a point about literary form, even though I make no claim to understanding its meaning. I suspect that it has a mythico-astronomical meaning [especially in that it is paired with "Guan" 3^^(20), the astronomical significance of which has been noted by Waley, 1933: 133], but as of yet I have no evidence to justify this suspicion.
44. When dealing with bronze inscriptions the archaeological provenance of which is unknown, there can be incidences where an entire inscription is a forgery. This is a matter that must be considered seriously, but comparisons with scientifically excavated vessels have displayed the flaws in the forgeries and have allowed most unprovenanced pieces to be used with confidence.
45. There are eighteen lines with reference to the king, which far exceeds the number of references to any other single personage. Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 157-58, argue persuasively that it was the scribe   (shi )   who   was   the   official   responsible   for milfoil
297
divination. The scribes also figure prominently in the divinations cited in the Zuozhuan: thus, it is quite probable that it was the scribes who created the Zhouvi.
46. For a listing of inscriptions in which the term tianzi occurs, see Zhou Fagao et al, 1975: 1.0003. Wong Yin-wai, 1978: 218, cites without specification two occurrences.of the term during the reign of King Kang. In my own research I have been unable to find any such examples.
47. The word 4fL iia/ka (GSR 33c) is commonly accepted as a phonetic loan for 4* ge/klSk (GSR 766a). The word vou tf[ is also glossed as a phonetic loan for the preposition vu. -f , which holds the same position in the bronze inscriptional phrase ge.vu.miao J&. <f $f\ . It is however possible that this use of vou reflects an archaic pronominal function, in which case the line should be interpreted as "the king enters bis temple;" see Nivison, 1977-78.
48. In his original study in Gushi bian in which he analyzed the Zhouvi's topics of divination, Li Jingchi noted that no less than 80 or 90 line statements deal with military affairs; Li Jingchi, 1931b: 205.
49. For this interpretation of jia |. as a placename (proposed by Li Jingchi, 1978: 185, 1981: 38, 61, although with a different grammatical interpretation for this line), cf. "Sui" 17/5: "fu vu 1% f ^ (to make a capture at Jia). Although I have been unable to identify this with any historical location, this reading is virtually the only way to make sense of the syntax here. The interpretation of 0 fei/piwar (GSR 579c) as a loan for bi/pia (GSR 25g) seems to me to make the best sense of a very difficult construction.
Also evident in this phrase is the expression huo chou lf(% [to bag (i.e., capture) a chief], attested as another formulaic expression of military victory in the Shiline poems "Chu che" S ^ (Mao 168) and "Cai qi" (Mao 178), which also date to the reign of King Xuan.
50. For the emendation of xian for van , see Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.16.
51. Of even more significance than just this coincidence of expressions
298
is   that these expressions of military victory represent a modification of early Western Zhou linguistic usage.     In early inscriptions (such as the   "Xiao   Yu ding").   enemy dead were enumerated in terms of   guo g^* (ears-taken) and prisoners-of-war in terms of fu (captives).
52. For a preliminary publication of this inscription, see Tian Xingnong and Luo Zhangru, 1981.
53. See Kane, 1980.
54. This possibility has been suggested in Nivison, 1981, a study which challenges many traditionally held assumptions about late Western Zhou history. While the outline given below does not follow all of Prof. Nivison's conclusions, it has certainly profitted from consideration of them.
55. Nivison, 1981: 14, dates the various bronze vessels that describe this revolt to the reign of King Yi (r. 903-883 B.C.). Most scholars in China, however, place them during the reign of King Li (r. 859-842).
56. Evidence of the fifth year victory is contained in the "Xijia pan." and for the thirteenth year victory in the "Guo Jizi bo pan" and the "Buqi gui;" see above, p. 42.
57. For a discussion of this bronze inscription, see Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 155-57. The methodology of correlating the "bagua numerical symbols" with the trigrams and hexagrams of the Zhouvi is adopted from Zhang Zhenglang, 1980.
58. Nielsen, 1954: 32-33. The references are to Engnell, 1945: 42 and, though not specified, to Nyberg, 1935.
59. Shirakawa, 1977: 47.164, argues that after the early years of King Xuan's reign there is no further mention of this type of court ritual. If so this would be an important proof of the Zhouvi'8 date of composition, but I am not convined that there is sufficient epigraphic evidence for the subsequent period that a statement such as this can be made with confidence.
299
60. In this regard it is important to note that despite its common occurrence in the "Da ya" and "Xiao ya" sections of the Shiiing. the term tianzi (son of heaven) does not occur in the "Guo Feng" sections, which belong to the post-Western Zhou period.
300
Notes to Chapter Two
1. See, e.g., K.C. Chang, 1968: 128. For a succinct survey of neolithic pyromancy in general, see Height ley, 1978: 3-5.
2. Shiii: 128.3223; Tr. Shaughnessy, 1980a: 1.
3. Shiii: 128.3223; Tr. Shaughnessy, 1980a: 2.
4. The locus classicua for Fuxi's creation of the eight trigrams is the "Xici zhuan" of the Yiiine (II.2). It would seem that the appropriate interpretation of Fuxi is as a culture hero representeeive of a particular stage, presumably the neolithic, of historical development. It should be pointed out, however, that evidence gleaned from the "baeua nuL . cal symbols'* suggests that the evolution of the Yiiine pictograms was not necessarily from "trigram" (i.e., three-line picture) to "hexagram" (i.e., six-li..c picture).   For this, see below, Sec. III.2, p.110.
5. The first step in the periodization of these inscriptions was taken by Wang Guowei JL Jj£] £fe in his "Yin buci auojian xianwang xiangong kao" ^ h-j^ H j|i & J. & 4-3§ (in Wan8 Guowei, 1923: ch. 9). This   was refined in 1933 by Dong Zuobin's "Jiaguwer duandai yanjiu li"
$ "ft &>fl fa 4fA *   whi-cn was based on the pre-supposition that
a given reign should be characterized by one type of inscriptional group. While this premise was generally accepted, Dong's conclusions were the topic of frequent debate over the next forty years (for which, see below, pp. 51-52). The scientific excavation in 1973 of some 7,000 oracle-bones, belonging to all periods, at Xiaotun nandi and the subsequent studies provoked by this discovery demonstrate conclusively that more than one diviner group could be active in a given reign; see especially, Li Xueqin, 1981a: 38-40.
6. For a study of the procedure used in these divinations, see Dong Zuobin, 1929. Especially important in this regard are complete turtle plastrons and also sets of plastrons. These allow the relationships among various inscriptions to be determined and also indicate how the plastron was prepared for divination. For example: of this type, see Dong Zuobin, 1931 and especially  jJj 12-20.
301
7. See especially, Dong Zuobin, 1949: 11-20.
8. Archaeological proof of the Diviner Dui-group's early dating was first presented in Xiao Nan, 1975. For conclusive arguments on the periodization of this group relative to the Diviner Bin-group, see Lin Yun, 1981, and Qiu Xigui, 1982; Shaughnessy, 1983-84, presents a comte rendu of these latter two studies.
9. This point as well as the other characterizations of the Diviner Dui-group inscriptions is taken from Li Xueqin, 1980.
10. The strongest evidence of this dating comes from the tombs H5, the so-called "Fu Hao -kfy jfr tomb," and M18, which contained bronzes inscribed with the name Zi Yu 3- J^L . Both of these names appear prominently in the Diviner Bin-group inscriptions, and since the accompanying pottery pieces in these tombs conform to the second stage of Zou Heng's Yinxu pottery-style sequence, which corresponds chronologically with late Period I-early Period II of Dong's oracle-bone periodization, it is reasonable that the Diviner Bin-group also dates to that time; see Zheng Zhensiang, 1981: 513-517.
11. Keightley, 1978: 33-35.
12. Many of the inscriptions are indeed routine divinations about the coming week or other matters of common occurrence. But in comparison to the divinations of later periods, these divinations could not be considered characteristic of Wu Ding's reign.
13. See Keightley, 1982: 16.
14. For an example of a set of plastrons from the early period, see, for instance, i'\ 12.-10, The best archaeological exidence for the later period comes in the form of three Di Yi-Di Xin period turtle-shells found at Sipanmo YQ ^jfc ^ , near Anyang. They were found together with holes drilled in all three suggesting that they had originally been bound together with rope (see Hebei sheng wenwu guanlichu Taixi kaogu-dui,   1979:   40).     Literary evidence is found in the "Jinteng" 4, ffe
302
chapter of the Shangshu. This relates the Duke of Zhou's divination, using three turtle-shells, about an illness of King Wu's. Finally, theoretical substantiation is seen in the Liii 7& "th (1.1.7b) statement, "bu shi bu guo san" )» jjt P\> .j^ (turtle-shell and milfoil divination is not to exceed three times).
15. Keightley, 1978: 117; note that for xun tt) divinations, the prognostications were invariably "inauspicious."
16. *y , generally transcribed as hong "\h , is here read y_in ?| , with Yu Haoiiang, 1977.
17. For these statistics and a fuller discussion of the historiographical problems, see Keightley, 1978: 139-40.
18. This indeed seems to be the case with the 7,000 inscriptions discovered in the Xiaotun nandi excavation. While the discovery has forced revisions in previously held theories regarding periodization, it does not seem to alter the personality of any individual group of inscriptions.
19. For examples of this common belief, see Zheng Yantong, 1976: 19, Li Jingchi, 1978: 90, and Yu Yongliang, 1931: 148.
20« It is true that we would not expect divinations about the xun since the Zhou calendar was based instead on the four phases of the moon (basically, the seven-day week), but the point is that there are no formulas of this type that can be discerned among the Zhouyuan oracle-bone inscriptions.
21. This insight is developed in Shaughnessy, 1983b. For a discussion of its ramifications with regard to Zhouvi divination, see below, Sec. II.3.i.
22. See Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 158-162.   The reading of shi for *2*    is based on Zheng Xuan's remark in the Zhouli fi{ (24.11a) "cl JiE Jfflt du jie wei shi:   zi zhi wu ve" M A\ Sk. *\ x& 'fc % ;  % -C "Tj^        (these nine wu's should all be read as shi:   it is   a mistaken graph),   and the phonological gloss of Lu Deming (loc cit). "wu vin shi"
303
jfc,      4^ (vu is pronounced shi).
23. Keightley, 1982: 8-11.
24. The number of cases of divination described is larger than this but I have dismissed those cases that are purely rhetorical and those that purport to describe divinations at a different time or place.
25. Tr. Legge, 1872: 141 (modified).
26. Shiii: 128.3223-3251. For an annotated translation of this chapter, see Shaughnessy, 1980a. Although the title of the chapter suggests that it should also discuss milfoil divination, remarks are directed exclusively at turtle-shell divination. Introductory remarks to the chapter are those of Sima Qian but the historical account and divination manual are clearly signed by Chu Xiaosun, who was the author of all or parts of nine chapters of the Shiii.
27. Shiii: 128.3241; Tr. Shaughnessy, 1980a: 31. The depictions of the crack configurations are based on the reconstruction of the translator.
28. Shiii: 128.3244; Tr. Shaughnessy, 1980a: 37-38.
29. See, for instance, the remarks at Shiii: 128.3228-3236; Shaughnessy, 1980a: 13-25.
30. The first published expression of this view can be seen in Serruys, 1974: 21ff. A detailed exposition had previously been given in Keightley, 1972.   The most recent study of this question is Nivison, 1982.
31. For an excellent example of two divination officials arriving at opposite prognostications of the same divination, see Guoyu 10.10a (translated below, pp. 79-80). A similar example in the Zuozhuan [9th year of Duke Ai (487 B.C.) has three divination officials using baeua symbology to arrive at different results. There are several other cases in the Zuozhuan where the prognostication is questioned, forcing a new divination [see, e.g., Xi 4 (656 B.C.), Zhao 17 (523 B.C.), and Ai 17 (479 B.C.)].
304
32. Li Xueqin, 1980: 33-35, has presented evidence in some inscriptions of the Diviner Dui-group that the diviner had effectively taken over the prognosticatory function of the king. I do not believe, however, that this was in any sense a usurpation of the king's role. In any case, the exclusivity of divination to the king was so strong by the end of the dynasty that even the role of the divination officials virtually disappeared.
33. Shiii: 128.3226; Tr. Shaughnessy, 1980a: 10-11.
34. Shiii: 128.3224; Tr. Shaughnessy, 1980a: 7.
35. Zhouli Zhengzhu )t{M_ |fj \% : 47.10b.
36. Tr. Legge, 1872: 851.
37. Although it was traditionally assumed that the "Wenyan11 commentary was from the hand of Confucius and therefore was . the source of Mu Jiang's comments, the greater grammatical elaboration of the passage in the "Wenyan" strongly suggests that it is the derivative piece. Despite this evidence that Hu Jiang's remarks pre-date the "Wenyan," they do seem more developed than we might expect for the mid-sixth century B.C. For evidence that the passage is indeed anachronistic, see below, Sec. II.2.U.
38. Tr. Legge, 1872: 440.
39. For his clearest enunciation of this thesis, see Li Jingchi, 1978: 6-7. The juxtaposition of oracle-bone charges and Zhouyi line statements is not explicit in Li's study, but I believe it is entirely consistent with his argument.
40. Gao Heng, 1947: 4.
41. Legge, 1872: 619.
42. Legge is not without precedent in this interpretation. For an explicit example, see Mao Qiling, Chungiu zhar.shi shu: 17.3b.
43. Du gives this gloss for the use of shang in the divination charges
305
in Wen 18 and Zhao 13; see Chungiu Zuoshi zhuan Dushi ii:ie: 9.17b and 23.5b respectively. For Zheng Kuan's gloss of the word in identical usages, see Yili Zhengzhu: 15.1b and 16.1b.
Perhaps some amplification should be given to their gloss of shang as shuii yj£ Jf^* . The Yili zhengvi (34.4b) sub-commentary to Zheng Xuan's gloss in the "Tesheng kuishi li" chapter states, "that it states that shang is shuii is the same as in the Shuowen; they are words of desirs" (vun shang shuii ve zhe.   Shuowen tong.   gai vuanwang zhi ci ^
A -^36,-tk:M3,lL'*§l      -L fifi >•     As   this sub-commentary
states, the Shuowen (2A.lb) does indeed define the word so, as does the Erya \Sfi yfft. [albeit in reverse; shuH is defined as shang (A2.4b)], which the Erya shu i«£| ffi} expands to "shang wei xin suo xiwang ve \%{ "S^ J\z> fry ^ ^ [(shang means that for which the heart hopes). It is also worth noting that another definition given by the Erya for shuji is iiaoxing ^f* ^ , iiao (and its phonetic equivalents jiao tyt and iiao "fj^ ) meaning "to seek" (vao ye       -Hfi>  ,   oiu ve $ ), and
xing meaning "good fortune;" cf. the common locution iiao fu Hffi?^ (to seek good fortune).
44. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 47 and 154.
45. Keightley, 1972: 14, 16, notes the optative function of shang in three Zuozhuan divination charges.
46. The other examples of this divinatory formula in the Yili are both found in the "Shaolao kuishi li" ^ 5fc ^ chapter (16.1b and 16.3a respectively):
The master says, "Filial descendant so-and-so, on the coming day ding-hai. will herewith make an offering to his august ancestor so-and-so and his mate so-and-so; would that they approve."
306
«n <)   s r * *• £ ia *   ^ «•r£ h &f
On the morning of the next day, one divines by milfoil about the shi. following the rules for divining about the day. The charge reads, "Filial descendant so-and-so, on the coming day dine-hai. will herewith make an offering to his august ancestor so-and-so and his mate so-and-so, using so-and-so's such-and-such (a relation) as shi; would that they approve."
47. Cited by Rao Zongyi, 1982: 17.
48. Tr. R. Wilhelm, 1950: 310-312.
49. Gao Heng, 1958: 113ff.
50. In this respect it is important to note that the "Da yan" section is not included in the early Western Han manuscript version of the "Xici zhuan." This may suggest that the section was composed sometime after middle Western Han.
51. Gao Heng, 1958: 117; Tr. R. Wilhelm, 1950: 309-310.
52. Gao also examines three accounts of Zhouvi divination in the Guovu. In each of these accounts the result indicated requires a different sort of divination procedure from that producing the divination results given in the Zuozhuan. For example, the divination given for the year 636 B.C. (Guoyu: 10.11b) states, "de Tai zhi. ba" 4 n (obtained "Tai" zhi eight), and then continues by quoting the hexagram statement "heng: xiao wang da lai" .\> fa. (receipt: the small go, the great come) of "Tai" (11) hexagram. Similarly anomalous is the divination recorded for the year 637 B.C. (10.10a) and translated above (pp. 79-80). The result of this divination is stated as, "de zhen Tun hui Yu" '\% A *» 1% 1*- [obtained the zhen (defined as the bengua) "Tun" 5f and the hui (defined as the zhigua) "Yu" §f J, and the prognostication says that both lines in the Zhouvi read "beneficial to establish a lord," evidently a reference to the hexagram statements of "Tun" (3) and "Yu" (16). The final case [for the year 606 B.C. (3.4a)], though formally resembling the Zuozhuan formula,   also differs fundamentally. It
307
reads, "yu Qian zhi Pi" j& ft ^ (meets "Qian" % zhi "Pi" fi ). Although analysis of this case is hampered because the prognostication cited does not match any line in the extant Zhouyi, the fact that three lines of the hexagram picture of differ from that of X^ suggests that zhi is not used in its possessive sense as it is in the Zuozhuan. It is possible that the system evident here in the Guovu is that described in the "Da van" section of the "Xici zhuan." For reasons that will be enumerated below, I regard this divination procedure as a development post-dating the Zuozhuan narratives, perhaps deriving from the same milieu as that which produced the various "line position" theories of the Yiiine's "Ten Wings."
53. See, e.g., Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 159, and Sargent, 1977: 23-28. For an English-language plagiarism of Gao's thesis, see Chen, 1972.
54. For this narrative, see above, p. 73, where it was noted that Hu Jiang's interpretation of the divination results is indicative of the 6th century B.C. moralistic re-interpretation of the Zhouyi in general. But in addition to illustrating new exegetical techniques, - this narrative may also illustrate a new procedure in milfoil divination. The   result of the divination is announced as "vu Gen zhi Sui"        ^ a^.
f^(meets "Gen" ff   zhi "Sui" %   ).    Unlike all other cases of Zhouvi
divination   in the Zuozhuan.   where the hexagram picture of   X^ differs
from that of X^ by only one line, here "Sui" differs from "Gen" in five
lines.     This   may   indicate   the use of a   procedure   similar   to that
producing the results found in the Guovu: see above, n. 55.
I might also suggest an alternative interpretation.   Beginning with
ths   observation   that Hu Jiang explicitly rejected the prognostication
(for whatever reason),  .we might posit a procedural irregularity on the
part   of   the scribe,   who was evidently very eager to produce a result
that would be advantageous to Hu Jiang.     If instead of focusing on the
line   of   X   that differs from X   we look at the line that is common to
2 1 the two hexagrams (i.e., the second), we will note a curious coincidence
in the line statement for the second line of "Gen" (52/2) hexagram.
308
Glare at his calf: not helping his rent flesh;   his heart is unhappy.
One   of the principal images of this line lies in the word sui "J^ (rent
flesh; for this meaning, see below, Sec* IV.l.iii).   It is possible that
it was this line,   which is obviously a very inauspicious portent, that
was indicated by the divination.    But given the unique coincidence that
if   all   the   other   lines of "Gen"   hexagram   "change,"   the resulting
hexagram is none other than "Sui" (17), the hexagram statement of which
Primary receipt: beneficial to divine; no harm, -is much more positive, could it not be that the diviner employed a touch of professional chicanery in an effort to produce a desirable portent and thereby placate Hu Jiang? Obviously, there is no way to document a suspicion such as this, but even a superficial comparison with the techniques of interpretation of interpretation that flourished during the Han dynasty can but suggest its plausibility. In any event and for whatever reasons, as we will see in the following pages, the result of this divination is entirely anomalous within the context of the Zhouvi divinations recorded in the Zuozhuan. and is undoubtedly lacking in historical credibility.
55. Tr. Legge, 1872: 541 (modified).
56. Gao Heng, 1947: 29-30 discusses this emendation in some detail, concluding that his case is "ironclad." In Gao Heng, 1979: 126, he maintains the emendation, baldly asserting that the Zuozhuan "quotes" the text as "yuan heng."
57. That selection between two contrasting alternatives continued into the Spring and Autumn period as one aspect of divination can be seen in such Zuozhuan narratives as in Xiang 31 (542 B.C.) and Zhao 5 (515 B.C.).
58* There is some evidence that such a two-step divination process characterized Shang divination, especially in its final phase. Consider the following oracle-bone inscriptions:
309
*f 1.39.9:   * fL U ft
N It should be the first crack that we use.
^2.21.2:   * W*. 1%
It should be the bamboo stalks that we use first.
Based on these and other inscriptions, Keightley (1982: 9) has suggested that prior to producing the cracks on oracle-bones, the Shang diviner first used some form of milfoil divination to determine which cracks would be auspicious. Theoretical textual support for this two-stage process is found in the Zhouli (24.11a):
fl'U Kit & £ * k ,N
In all the great affairs of state,   one first divines by milfoil and then afterwards by turtle-shell.
59. For a thorough discussion of the nature and meaning of the expression yuan heng,, see below, Sec. III.4. The word yuan occurs in the Zhouyi 27 times, 24 of which are in the expressions yuan heng (10 occurrences) or yuan ii (14 occurrences). What is more, all occurrences of yuan heng are in hexagram statements. while 12 of the 14 occurrences of yuan H are in line statments. This suggests that yuan heng is indeed normative in hexagra? statements, and suggests moreover that the word yuan in the hexagram statement for "Bi" (8) here must originally have been followed by heng.
60. See especially, Schmitt, 1970: 163-175; cf. Kunst, 1982a: 2.
61. Tr. Legge, 1872: 146 (modified).
62. There is no little confusion as to the correct reading of this zhou; for a good introduction to the problem, see the discussion at Chungiu Zuozhuan zhengyi jjtp j£ %y : 60.5b-6a. For my own part, I suspect that the final couplet, departing from the rhyme-scheme as it does, was not originally an integral part of the zhou.
63. The evocation of "mountain" is not unequivocal in the Shiiing. but
one   poem seems to contain a comparable xing-evocation.     "Jie nanshan"
$j ijj «il    (Mao 191) begins (Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 133):
Crest-like is that southern mountain, its rocks are massed high; oh, majestic Master Yin, the people all look at you; the grieved hearts are as if burning, they dare not jest or chat; the state is entirely (cut offs) destroyed, why do you not make a scrutiny?
310
Evea beyond che catalogues of Western Zhou symbolism, however, the image of a "mountain peak" has long symbolized danger, as it must have also to Ding Jiang.
64. See further, below, Sec. III.3.Ü.1, pp. 147-48; cf. Kunst, 1982a: 10.
311
Notes to Chapter Three
1. In the "Yiwen zhi" ^ %, bibliographical treatise of the Hanshu, the "Yiiing" is listed in the "Jing" (classics) section (2.1703), whereas three different texts entitled "Zhouvi" are found in the section devoted to texts on divination (2.1770).
2. Describing   the duties of the Grand Augurer (Taibu ^ ]*    ), The
Zhouli (24.6a) says:
He is in charge of the "three yi" (san yi -i ^ ); the first is called the Lianshan. the second is called the Guizang. and the third is called the Zhouyi.
Cf.   the discussion by Kong Yingda   JL ^ -JL i° his preface "Luu sandai
Yi   ming"       X. -ft $   fh.    [Discussion of the names of thu   Yi   of the
three periods; (Zhouyi zhengvi; 4.13-14)].
An   alternative interpretation of the word "zhou" M\    attributed by
Kong   Yingda   (Zhouyi   zhengyi   4*13) to Zheng   Xuan   is   that   zhpu be
understood as a common adjective meaning "universal," but this certainly
owes entirely to Zheng's philosophical pedilections.
3. In 10 of 12 Zuozhuan references to the Zhouvi in which a title is specified, that title is "Zhouyi." the other two cases [Zhao 12 (530 B.C.) and Zhao 32 (510 B.C.)] referring to the text simply as "Yi." For a convenient tabulation of these occurrences, see Sargent, 1977: Table I.
4. This is especially true in the works of the modern Chinese context critics frequently cited in this study; note, for instance, Li Jingchi, Zhouvi tanvuan yj| ^ ; Gao Heng, Zhouvi gu i ing iinzhu /<j ^ r£ il Q Vi 5 Wen.Yiduo, Zhouvi yizheng leizuan /S| ^ ^% Guo Moruo, Zhouyi de gouchcng shidai ffa A$ j& 7JC *fC » and 0" Wanli, "Zhouvi guayaoci cheng yu Zhou Wuwang shi kao"       ^ ^j. 3k.
5. Cited by Kong Yingda, Zhouyi zhengvi: 4.8.
6. The   Shuowen   (9B.31a) cites a Mishu shuo ftp ^ -7$j as proposing this etymology.
312
7. For a listing of inscriptions containing this phrase, see Shima, 1971: 494.4-496.3; and for a discussion of its possible meaning, see Li Xiaoding, 1965: 9.3023-28.
8. The "Xici zhuan" (II.2) says:
When in early antiquity Baoxi (i.e.. Fuxi) ruled the world, he looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens, he looked downward and contemplated the patterns on the earth. He contemplated the markings of birds and beasts and the adaptations to the regions. He proceeded directly from himself and indirectly from objects. Thus he invented the eight tri-grams in order to enter into connection with the virtues of the light of the gods and to regulate the conditions of all beings.
(Tr. R. Wilhelm, 1950: 328-29)
9. Wang Ningsheng, 1977: 242, cites Guo Moruo (1931: 26) as suggesting this thesis.     Joseph Needham (1956:   11.310-11) makes a similar sugges-
*on, noting that it would be "entirely in the style of ancient Chinese thought."
10. For a discussion of the relationship betveen the hexagram pictures tad the "bagua numerical symbols," see Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 162-63.
11. Guo Moruo,. 1940: 4-5. Guo goes on to argue concerning this example that kan originally meant a "pit," and since water gets trapped in pits and remains there long after it has run off from flat lands, the term "pit" and water thereby came to be associated.
12. Guo also argues that it is significant that in bagua symbology the trigram "Qian" H is associated with "metal" (jin ^ ) and with "jade" (vu. J\ ). the graphs for which both include three horizontal strokes, and which according to Guo derive from the pictogram for "Qian." It would not be unfair to say that this type of impressionism pervades all of Guo's writings on the Zhouvi.
13. Chen Mengjia, 1940: 62.
14. See Qu Wanli, 1956: 117-121.
313
15. In a postface to his 1980 article (pp. 414-15), Zhang Zhenglang cites evidence, as yet not formally published, from a 1979 excavation at Qingdun ^ in Jiangsu province, wherein eight examples of 6-number "bagua numerical symbols" were discovered. The important thing about this find is that the Qingdun site belongs to the neolithic culture of the Yangze basin. This testifies to both the widespread distribution of these symbols and to their primordial character.
The   implications   of   this developmental reversal are   more fully discussed in Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 159.
16. Guo Moruo, 1979. This letter, though not published until after Guo had died in 1978, was actually written in 1966. Still, nothing had occurred in the intervening years to cause the editors to question Guo's statement.
17. Zhang Yachu and Liu Yu, 1981: 163.
18. "Xici shuan" II.2; cf. R. Wilhelm, 1950: 328-336.
19. Although the formal report on this manuscript has not yet been published, in his Zhouvi dazhuan Hnzhu. Gao Heng, who presumably had access to the text, occasionally refers to variora found therein. This particular variant is cited on p. 10.
20. Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.60, discusses the meaning of this term at some length. This meaning is deduced from the Zhenezi tone jfc, 4- "jit.  
definition "dian.   ya ye;   nanzi ershisi sui.   ntfzi ershivi sui. zhenya
(dian is a tooth which grows in males at the age of 24 sui and in females at the age of 21 sui). For a similar approach to this hexagram name, see see Conrady, 1930: 417.
21. On the other hand, since this is the only hexagram picture whicn can be so associated with the line statement Topics, and since the normative organizing principle of line statements is a progression from bottom-to-top   (see Sec.   III.6),   it is certainly possible   that these
314
correspondences are no more than coincidental.
22. See the Zuozhuan accounts of milfoil divination in the first year of Duke Kin where "Kun" is said to represent "earth" (tu, <L ), and for the 25th year of Duke Xi where "Qian" is associated with "Heaven" (tian
23. For a detailed analysis of these two hexagrams in which the predominant symbolism of "Qian" is shown to be the celestial Dragon while "Kun" is concerned with the "earthly" harvest, see Sec. IV.4.iv.
24. I cite -"Lin" (19) here as a structurally paradigmatic case even though I am unable to explain the significance of the line statements. I am tempted to associate the xian of lines 19/1 and 19/2 with the famed shaman-spirit Vu Xian , so that it is the spirit who "looks down," but lacking corresponding spirit names for the words in the other four line statements, this remains merely a hunch.
25. Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.62.
26. A detailed examination of this can be found in Shaughnessy, 1980b: 7-16.   See further, Xu Shida, 1944.
27. Li Jingchi, 1978: 229-291; Gao Heng, 1958: 18-37.
28. Zhang Zhenglang, 1980: 409; the inscriptions are Zhang's examples 7 and 8 on p. 404.
29. See especially Xu Zhongshu, 1981: 7. For more discussion of this interesting inscription, see above, pp. 29-30 and n. 31.
30. For a fuller discussion of the "internal logic" of this hexagram, see Sec. IV.4.ii
31. For a fuller discussion of this hexagram, see Sec. IV.l.iii.
32. The only other example is "Zhen" (51):
"Zhen" (51): 1 Hfc ^ £        X * ^
Receipt: thunder comes crackling-crackling: laughter and talk ya-ya;   thunder arouses a
315
hundred li.: do not lose the ladle and fragrant vine,
which is almost certainly a re-duplication of the first line statement:
"Zhen" 51/1: fc3fc**Ju.^**'*,,*:'*'
Thunder   comes crackling-crackling: afterwards laughter and talk va-va: auspicious.
33. Zhu Xi, Zhouvi benvi: 28.91; Qu Wanli, 1969: 178.
34. The first two line statements for "Pi" (12) read:
"Pi" 12/1: iJL% & :  ft £, "J
Pluck the mao-grass and madder with
its stem: divining: auspicious; receipt.
"Pi" 12/2:   & & 1       ^ « > 1
Bundle the offering: for the small man, auspicious; for the great man, not fortunate. .
It has already been noted (pp.   122-23) that the hexagram statement for
"Pi" contains an intrusion.   This conceivably resulted in a displacement
of    the   normative   heng.   from   the   hexagram   statement   to   the line
statements.     Evidence   that   heng does indeed belong   in   the hexagram
statement here can be seen by a comparison of "Pi's" hexagram statement:
"Pi" (12): is. & «k 3k
The great go, the small come,
with   that of "Tai" (11),   which,   as will be shown in Sec.   Iv.4.i, is
complementary to "Pi" hexagram:
"Tai" (11): 4» ft K £. \ t ,1
The small go, the great come: auspicious; receipt.
First, the structural similarity of the phrases "the great go, the small come and "the small go, the great come" suggests that since heng is present in "Tai" (11), it should also be present in "Pi" (12); and second, the anomalous combination ji heng *f in "Tai" (11) is repeated in "Pi" 12/1.
35. The exceptions are "Jin" (36/5), "Ding" (50/5), and "Sun" (41/2). This last example is interesting in that it combines the Injunction li zhen with the resultative Prognostication xiong &\ (inauspicious), which is normative for a line statement.
316
36. "Sheng" (46) reads in the extant text "vone iian da ren" jft ^ /^(herewith see the great man), but both the Zhouvi vinvi (142.35) and
the Mawangdui manuscript read 1JL. jian da ren (beneficial to see the great man); see Gao Ueng, 1979: 389, for this emendation.
37. For a thorough proof of this identification, see Keightley, 1972: 1-4.
38. Both of these references are cited in Keightley, 1972: 9.
39. The "Tuan" gloss for the hexagram statement of "Xu" (5) reads "zhen zheng ye" *X *t£l • Both zhen ^ and zheng ^ had an archaic pronunciation of tieng; dictionaries give zheng as the standard pronunciation of ^ , with zhen cited as "Peking irregular;" see, for instance, Karlgren, 1972: 834g.
40. Tr. Karlgran, 1974: 120 and 123, respectively.
41. It does occur without a verbal complement in the Verification phrases   wu you li   ^ -jij^     (nothing beneficial) and wu bu li. ^ /\%
fk\ (nothing not beneficial), but here also its modal function is implied.
42. For his original interpretation see Gao Heng, 1947: 1; the same interpretation is expanded in Gao Heng, 1958: 88. The later revision can be found in Gao Heng, 1979: 53.
43. Also worthy of mention in this regard are two lines in "LA" (10) hexagram:
"La" (10): JfL k At '      n£ ^ \ "t
Treading on a tiger's tail: it does not eat the man: heng.
"La"" 10/3: ft. * A. . *
Treading on a tiger's tail: it eats the man: inauspicious.
Since   it   is abundantly clear that "bu chi ren" (does not eat the man)
and   "chi ren" (eats the man) are opposites,   it follows naturally that
the   Prognostications   heng   and xiong   (inauspicious)   should   also be
317
opposites. It is only because of the textual problem with this hexagram statement (see above, p. 122) that I relegate this illuminating example to the notes.
44. With the possible exception of Yan Lingfeng, 1947: 117, and Schmitt, 1970: 108; neither of these, however, draws any implications from the reading.
45. Gao Heng, 1947: 1; 1958: 89.
46. In four capes ['"Run" (2): li pinuia zhi zhen ^ *ffc j| £, £ (beneficial for a mare's divination); "Guimei" (54/2): li vouren zhi zhen 7t»\ ^ A A* A (beneficial for a dark man's divination); "Sun" (57/1): JjL, wuren zhi zhen Jv X, (beneficial for a warrior's divination); and "Sheng" (46/6): li vu buxi zhi zhen f /i* & -i, & (beneficial for an unending divination)], that the particle zhi is used to link zhen with a modifier suggests that it is being used nominatively.
47. In addition to the use of l_i zhen. there is one other construction, "ke zhen" *j £ , that is also relevant to this discussion. Similar to his treatment of 2i zhen. Gao Heng interprets this phrase as an "acceptable divination" (1958:89). Implicit in Gao's reading is the assumption that ke is an adjective. I think that this can also be shown to be a serious linguistic misunderstanding.
In the case of the word li., the sample of comparable usages was restricted to the Zhouvi. With kg,, however, not only can we study its usage in other constructions in the Zhouvi. but it is also possible to note its U3age in the Shining and Shangshu. Below, we will study each of these sources in turn.
In the Zhouvi. other than in the construction "ke zhen" ke occurs in the following clauses:
"Yi" 27/5:    A *J       -fs. *| May not cross the great river.
"Jing" 48/3: ft  \Jl^ May be used to bail (water).
"Jian" 53/6: ^ ft fa ^      Its feather may be used as
318
"Sun"    41:    A \       jfi *$        The two guj-vessels may be ****       " •+""       used to sacrifice.
"Xiaoguo" 62:    *f *•!• ^ /?'^      If     May perform small service, but
may not perform great service.
In each of these five cases,   ke_ always serves as a modal auxilliary to
an   active   verb   [that "shi" ^   in "Xiaoguo" (62) must   be understood
verbally can be seen by comparing its use with "Gu" 18/6:   "bu shi wane
hpu" /|.      ^ (does not serve the king and archer-lords);   this is
the   standard use for shi  ^. /^^in early archaic Chinese.]
In   the ShiHng.   of some 70 distinct entries,   there are only two
occurrences where ke is not directly linked to a verb*   By examining its
normative usage in just one poem,   its modal sense will be evident. In
the   poem   "Qiang you ci"/^ if\ (Mao 46),   the word occurs   in two
different phrase*?:
On the vail there is the tribulus, it cannot be brushed away; the words of the inner chamber, they cannot be told; what can be told is (still) the ugliest of tales.
(Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 30) Karlgren adds a note to explain the bi-comparative motif used in this stanza: "To reveal the shameful intrigues by telling them to the outer world would be like laying bare the wall by removing its protcctiing overgrowth." Not only does this grammar require that ke be interpreted as a modal auxilliary, but its sense can be seen to be "to be allowed to" (as opposed to kg jjj , which I would argue is also a modal auxilliary, but with the sense "to be capable of"). The second of the two uses abovs leaves no doubt that this is the correct modality; there is no sense that the words cannot physically be spoken; instead, they should not be spoken.
The same use is seen in the Shaneshu.   as the following occurrences will show.
"Da gao": * 1  ti.. 1 %       1 I*
They should not be attacked - why does the king not go counter to the oracle.
(Tr. Karlgren, 1950: 37)
319
"Kang gao": 77 * ^
Then you cannot but kill him.
(Tr. Karlgren, 1950: AO)
"Shao gao": A- 1 & %k f&
He should not fail reverently to attend to virtue.
(Tr. Karlgren, 1950: 49)
Thus, the use of kg. is consistent throughout archaic Chinese literary texts: it is a modal auxilliary with the sense "to be allowed, the situation permits, may." Given this modal function of ke, the construction ke zhen can then be seen to require first that zhen be a verb, and second, that something in the process of divination may permit another divination to be performed*
48. I am indebted to Richard Kunst for pointing out this objection, which has served to sharpen my own understanding of the implications of this interpretation.
49. See Ping Xin, 1979: 58, for the loan of jie i% for ji <lt. (to defeat).
50. For a stimulating discussion of this relationship, see Ping Xin, 1963b: 143-47.
51. The function of these two additional lines is traditionally said to characterize the entire hexagram, but see Sec. IV.4.iv, where it is suggested that at least the vong Hu line statement of "Qian" (1/7) is but an additional variation on the other line statements.
52. Li Jingchi, 1978: 130, adapts these terms from their usage in the "Xici zhuan" (1.2). I should point out that although I use Li's terminology and agree with him in principle, I divide his last category, the technical divination determinations, into two separate types, adding the term Verification (vanci  j^j. ).
53. Li Jingchi,   1978: 108, refers to it as "xiang zhan zhi ci" $L «. jj^ .   Kunst, 1982: 3 et passim, also refers to it as the "omen."
54. Waley, 1933.
55. Wen Yiduo, 1956: TI. 42-44.
320
56. This interpretation was first suggested by Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.48-50; see further, Sec. IV.2.iii.
57. This line is cited in the Zuozhuan (15th year of Duke Xi) in a slightly different form.
dt   i'l     f     4.    &     & W2. ... ... ziang ... ... xmwang ...
The man stabs the sheep and there is no blood,
..... k^wang ...... x^vang
The lady raises the basket and there is no present.
Hellmut Wilhelm,   1959:   276,   discussing the Zuozhuan citations of the
Zhouyi has argued for the authenticity of this latter version.
I-ching passages quoted in the Tso-chuan which differ from our present text always a more original version (sic). As a first example I would like to refer to the line text 6/6 of the hexagram 54. Kuei-mei. Here the Tso-chuan version differs somewhat trom the present reading, even though the meaning is approximately the same. the present text has reversed the order of the girl and the knight, possibly to keep in consonance with the sequence vin-vang. which had become dominant; it has replaced the ritualistically loaded terms wang and k'uang by the more temporal once h*flgh and shih wnd has shortened the reading somewhat.In this way the rhythm of the original version and the rhyme were lost. The perfect rhyme of the Tso-chuan version alone would tend to attest to its being the older one.
It would seem, however, that Wilhelm's argument is false, both in general and especially in this particular case. In general, as demonstrated in Sec. I.2.ii, absence of rhyme is a characteristic of relatively older language, the fully articulated versification of the Shi.i.ing appearing only in the late Western Zhou and not being systematized until the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. Nevertheless, this line even as it stands in the received text also displays a sophisticated rhyme; indeed, one could argue that its secondary rhyme is more unique than the consistent Yang class rhyme of the Zuozhuan passage. But aside from these literary considerations, two linguistic features of the Zuozhuan version attest that it is derivative. First, the greater grammatical elaboration gained through the particles y_i #W and vje -t*i is consistent with the grammar elsewhere in the Zuozhuan. but certainly not with that of the archaic language of the Zhouyi.     And second, the word wu written is
321
inconsistent with and later than the archaic form used in the received version of this line and indeed throughout the Zhouyi. Thus, I see no reason to question the line as it stands in the received text. For more discussion of this line, especially with regard to its significance within "Guimei" (54) hexagram, see Us low, Sec. IV.3.iv.
58. Gu Jiegang, 1931: 5-9.
59. But see the study of "Mingyi" (36) hexagram in Sec. IV.2.iv, for a discussion of possible other historical associations.
60. In rather a cause celebre. Guo Moruo (1940: 13ff) has insisted that this and four other occurrences of the compound zhong xing/hang *j* ^ be read as a personal name and refer in general to the Spring and Autumn family of that name in the state of Jin, and in particular to Xun Lin fu
ifr- 'A. of that family. Although Chen Mengjia, 1940: 66-67, has shown that this argument is quite unfounded in most of the cases, in this particular case his grammatical refutation seems unfounded. I provisionally accept the personal name (or official position) theory here but not Guo's identification with Xun Lin fu.
61. See, for instance, Qu Wanli, 1950: 94-98.
62. Li Jingchi, 1931b: 205-207; Guo Moruo, 1931.
63. Discussed in Kunst, 1982a: 10.
64. For examples of da ji A $. .see "Jiaren" (37/4), "Ding" (50/6) and "Xiaoguo" (62); for yin ji       %    , see "Cui" (45/2).
65. It should be noted again however, that the oracle-bone charges were prescriptive; i.e., the charge "xun wang huo" iQU was an attempt to ensure that there would not be any harm in the coming "week."
It   probably also is worth noting that whereas the term wu iiu (no harm) occurs 84 times,   there is not a single occurrence of its opposite you jiu   yflj  ^   (there is harm).     This tendency to record only positive verifications might reflect the same development in divination
322
as was seen in the late Shang dynasty; see Sec. Il.l.i above.
66. "Hui wane" •jUJ *£. (trouble gone) is the only term among these where there exists any substantive disagreement as to the basic meaning. Li Jingchi, 1978: 107-08, regards this as a negative determination, presumably understanding it as a compound phrase "problems and loss." This reading seems to me to be needlessly forced.
67. It   is perhaps interesting to note that in both occurrences of the terms   "wu   jiu"  ji        and "hui wane" after zhen t"Bi" (8)   and "Cui" (45/5),   respectively], zhen is specified as being a "vong zhen" ^ (permanent divination).
69. Gao Heng, 1981: 60.
70. Li Jingchi, 1978: 3.
71. Due to this phenomenon in this and a number of other hexagrams, Kaizuka Shigeki 1947: 481-84 (following Naito Torajiro, 1923), proposes that Yiiing hexagrams were originally composed of five lines rather than six. Although the feature is indeed intriguing and deserving of further study,' the discovery of the six-number "bagua numerical symbols" undercuts the basis for Kaizuka*s theory.
72. For a fuller discussion of these hexagrams, see Sees. IV.l.ii and IV.l.iii.
73. The only other occurrence of the word zu ^^(foot) is in the fourth line of "Ding" (50/4): "ding zhe zu" 7L. (the cauldron's broken foot). Given the consistency with which zu occurs in bottom lines and the ubiquity of bagua 3ycibology in the early Spring and Autumn period, one cannot help speculating that zu is found here in the fourth position of the hexagram because that position is the bottom line of the upper trigram.
74. Exceptions are made for the word's occurrences in the third lines of "Dayou" 14/3: "gong vong xiang vu tianzi" ft %■ f f\.^T (the duke   herewith makes an offering to the son of heaven) and   "Kui" 38/3:
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"gi ren tian gie bi" ]i. ^ (the man is branded on the forehead
and has his nose cut off), in neither of which cases does tian ^ refer to "heaven" or the "sky."
75. To cite just one example where yuan \^ (depths) is paired with tian ,   note the following line from the Shiiing poem "Han lu" %
% (Mao 239):
t %k K, 4 & i W
The falcon soars through the heavens, The fish plunges in the depths.
For   a more detailed justification of this interpretation,   see Ch. IV,
n. 135.
76. Gao Heng, 1947: 5.
77. Kunst, 1982a: 35.
78. Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.45-48.
79. Hunan sheng bowuguan, 1974: 39 (and PI. I). The full sequence i» noted in Gao Heng, 1979: 9-10.
80. Yan Lingfeng, 1975a: 45, has suggested that the "Wenyan" commentary originally comprised a larger corpus than that now included in the text, but there is no report that the Mawangdui manuscript version of this commentary differs from the received text.
81. Even disregarding this textual evidence, the mechanical way in which the Mawangdui manuscript is ordered should cause any student of ancient China to suspect its authenticity. I should like to add here a personal observation regarding this manuscript (knowing full-well that lacking formal publication of the text my opinion may well be premature.) While recognizing the indispensable role archaeological discoveries play in the study of ancient China (indeed, the present study could never have been conceived without them), we should never allow ourselves to blindly reject materials received by way of traditional transmission simply because conflicting materials have been recovered from the ground.     Archaeological science in China is now precise enough
324
that there is little danger of unwittingly unearthing clumsy 19th century versions of ancient bronze vessels (although precedents for this are not lacking). But how are we to deal with clumsy 2nd century B.C. versions of ancient texts. Every principle of textual criticism requires that, as the earliest version of the text, we accord it the most serious consideration in questions of textual variora. But this does not imply that it is necessarily to be preferred to transmitted versions of the text. Three features of the Mawangdui manuscript should cause us to treat it with great circumspection: first, although it is indeed much earlier than any other extant text of the Zhouyi, and earlier even than the Fei Zhi line of transmission to which we owe our present text, the manuscript, put into the ground in 168 B.C., is still over 600 years removed from the time of the text's original composition. Even more important than the number of years separating the two writings, the milieu, intellectual and otherwise, from which they stem are so radically different as to be incomparable. Second, as the re-ordering of the Mawangdui Laozi ^- manuscript shows, philosophical prejudices have a way of affecting the way ancient material is handled. And third, but perhaps most important even if decidedly impressionistic, the quality of the Mawangdui library is not such to instill any great confidence. Indeed, Zhu Dexi ^ |^ ,. Professor of Chinese at Peking University who has had considerable opportunity to study the manuscripts up close, characterized them in one public lecture (Stanford University, December, 1980) as a "merchant's library." Given the erudition of such later scholars as Kong Yingda and Li Dingzuo, one is tempted even to disregard these copies made for a petty bureaucrat far from the centers of learning.
That, of course, we must not do. In the study of ancient China there is so little evidence of any kind that to reject any of it out of hand would be foolhardy. What we must do is carefully consider all of the evidence; when conflicts arise, as they do in the case of the Zhouyi's textual sequence, we evaluate the options available and make as informed a decision as possible.     In this case I am confident that the
325
evidence received via traditional transmission proves to be superior to that of archaeological discovery.
82. I had hoped to be able to make at this point a preliminary apportioning of the text among various editorial styles. I believe there are certain patterns in the types of themes and the use of prognosticatory vocabulary that allow one to differentiate a Human Activities editor (HA: hexagrams 3-14), an Omenist (0: hexagrams 18-34), a Narrativist (N: hexagrams: 35-44), and a Moralist (M: hexagrams 45-60). To make a broad characterization, the hexagrams of the M group display the greatest coherence, those of the N group the least. Moreover, the first and last hexagram pairs, (i.e., "Qian" and "Kun" and "Jiji" and "Weiji") were undoubtedly consciously selected by the final redactor for their respective significant positions. My guess is that this fiual redactor must have been M.
The reason that I have not proceeded with this study is two-fold: first, my own study of the text is still too immature and this thesis too tentative to warrant serious consideration; and second, a proof of this distribution could be accomplished only through consideration of the entire text. The first step in that demanding task is presently being made by Richard Kunst with his Ph.D. dissertation, "The Original Yiiing: A Text, Phonetic Transcription, Translation, and Glosses based on Recent Scholarship." The completion of Kunst's study will mark a major advance in our ability to penetrate the archaic language of the text, and I for one will be content to await its completion before attempting to document the various editorial strata in the Zhouvi.
83. Li Jingchi, 1978: 291.
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Notes to Chapter Four
1. As pointed out in Sec.   III.4.i, the technical determination yuan heng    fu (primary   receipt)   is   commonly   found   in hexagram statements; moreover, it vas noted there that the Prognostication ji, "£ (auspicious)   is   normatively associated with line statements   and only irregularly found in hexagram statements.   That it here not only appears in   the   hexagram   statement but also disrupts the   syntagma   yuan heng suggests that it is a corruption and should be deleted.
2. The received reading of this passage, nqi xing wu" ^ ft) Vl (.ite form is moistened) is almost certainly corrupt [even though Wang Bi is able to associate it with the preceding phrase "overturns the duke's stew" by arguing that the spilled stew would give the cauldron a wet appearance (see his Zhouvi zhu;   2.108)]*     The emendation "xing wu" jb\
fc\ was proposed by IM Zuqian £ ^& (Gu_ Yi vinxun:   142.32) on the
basis of a statement by a certain Mr. Zhao , that the texts of Jing Fang, Shun Xuang, and Yu Fan all nad\ that reading. Confirmation of this is found in a comment of Zheng Xuan's to the phrase "bane ruo wu zhu" f1 &  %. i&w in the Zh0"li (36.14a), "wu du ru ^ai xing wu' zhi wu" g_
"S$t &   ^'■i K\ ^ A\ ^—    " read ^^ke the —>i'| "* ^the ZnouvJ
phrase) "qi xing wu"].
3. Kong Yingda, Zhouvi zhengyi; 4.282.
4. Li Jingchi, 1981: 100.
5. For the emendation of sui for sui fj^ , see p. 184. Based on the rhyme between ^# fei/b'fear (GSR 579q) and C?Jl.:) f% sui/t'wS (GSR lib), and a comparison with the second line of "Gen" (52/2), where sui is found together with fei. it is possible that this phrase "zhi qi sui" ^ £       belongs instead in line 31/2.
6. Gao Heng, 1947: 110; suggests, plausibly, that she (tongue) here represents a graphic corruption of ji. ^ (auspicious). But, as Gao himself notes in a later study (1979: 294), it would be very difficult under any circumstances to construe an injury to the face as being auspicious.
327
7. Waley, 1933: 123.   See further, above, Sec. III.5.ii.l, p. 139.
8. This graphemic analysis is elaborated by Li Jingchi, 1981: 63, and is paralleled by Gao Heng, 1947: 108.
9. Raizuka, 1947: 481-84.   See above, Ch. Ill, n. 7.1.
10. For this arrangement of the hexagram statement and lines five (52/5) and six (52/6), see below, p. 188.
11. Gao Heng,   1947:   179.   In a recent publication, the late Tang Lan fL  1$,    arrived at the same conclusion apparently   independently; see
Tang Lan,   1981:   102.   Evidence of this can be seen most clearly in the inscription   on the mid-Western Zhou bronze vessel,   "Yao ding" "$3 J$/ (also   known as the "Hu ding").   where the graph xian fti^ (barrier) is written ^    , with the gen ^ component clearly written ^ .
12. The received text here reads "xiaozi li youyan wujiu" >i» $\ -t ^ 9£ . The emendation is based on three factors: first, the near-rhyme between <f gan/k&n (GSR 139a) and ~% yan/ngian (GSR 251a), which is consistent with the rhymes found in each of the other four line*; second, a comparison with the line "zhuren vou van" 7fa (the master has difficulties) in the bottom line of "Mingyi" [36/1; but note the independent occurrence of "(xiao) vou van" ?ft in "Xu" (5/2) and "Song" (6/1)]; and third, the common juxtaposition of the Prognostication li Jj, with the Verification wu jiu [see "Shihe" (21/5), "Jin" (35/6), "Kui" (38/4), and "Gou" (44/3)].
For van X. interpreted as "difficulty" (i.e., as van fj3 ), see Wen Yiduo, 1956: II.63-4.
13. For the emendation of e.       for lu f£ » see below, pp. 192-93.
14. Kunst, 1982a: see especially p. 8.
Patterns of regularity in incremental repetition may also aid in dating the Zhouyi. In the Shijing no incremental repetition is found in the "Zhou song," the earliest section of the text. In the "Da ya," poems   are found irregularly in groups of 7 (Mao 255),   6 (Mao   250), 5
328
(Mao 253, 248), and 3 (Mao 251) incrementally repetitive stanzas. By the "Xiao ya," however, the regular number of stanzas featuring such repetition is 3 (23 out of 30 poems in the section featuring incremental repetition of the xing-evocation do so in three stanzas), a pattern that becomes nearly automatic in the poems of the "Guo feng" section. As pointed out in Sec. III.3.ii, 41 of the 64 Zhouvi hexagrams (64%) show some sort of repetition in four or more lines. This could be considered formalistic evidence that the composition of the Zhouvi dates after that of the "Zhou song" (probably achieved by the time of King Mu) and contemporary with the two "Ya" section*; which corroborates the dating arrived at on different grounds in Ch. I.
15. Lu Deming, Jingdian shiwen (Sibu congkan \"S>5.18a.
16. Li Jingchi,   1978:   126,   cites Gu Yanwu jjj^ jfj ^  ,   (Yi vin g % ), Yu Yue fa ijfig. (Genhuan Yi shuo ^ ^ ^ "gfa ), Li Guangdij£ j£ -tfej   (Zhouvi zhezhong ^ S        ^    ^'   and J*an8 Yon8 JiX. fa (Ojinjisfi. buvi jfy ^) as all proposing this loan.   For another emendation t"]5S^Bi/pia (GSR 251i; resevoir)], see Gao Heng, 1947: 185-86.
17. Cited in Li Jingchi, 1978: 126.
18. Kunst, 1982a: 10.
19. Tr. Karlgreu, 1974: 104.
20. For a fascinating study of the "fish" as a symbol in ancient China of sexual union, see Wen Yiduo, 1956: 1.117-38.
21. For <ji. ^ as a particle introducing or marking subordinate clauses, see Chang Tsung-tung, 1970: 117, n.l, and Serruys, 1974: 48-58. Zheng j£ appears in the Zhouyuan oracle-bone inscriptions as a common technical divination term; see, e.g., Hll:82: A jL 'i- » .2 *^ k (Would that it is upright and without gaucheness, the king (will then) receive aid.)
22. For the emendation of wu ^ for wu ^j)   , see below, pp. 199-200.
23. Waley, 1933.   Cf. Sec. III.5.ii.l.
329
24. R. Wiihelra, 1950: 100-01.
25. R. Wilhelio, 1950: 103.
26. Waley, 1933: 131-32. Valey goes on to note that "we may guess that this spirit was feminine, which is the rule for disease-demons in China as elsewhere."
27. This line has resulted in some of the more strained glosses of the YiHng commentarial tradition. . Wang Bi interprets "bu geng huo. bu zi vu" A £tl y5§L   i ^ 88 gepg er hu0«    bu zi er yu"       £fi ^
> A* % ^ ^t0 harvest without plowing, to tend (mature) fields without breaking ground; (Zhouvi zhu: 2.67)], which is elaborated by Kong Yingda in the following manner: "the farmer dares not start up and plow; instead, iu the end he harvests and that is all. He dares not break new fields and instead ouiy takes care of mature lands," which he concludes with the philosophized maxim "bu. wei oi chu er cheng qi mo" ft- /j$ \t? jfyk Uo not bother with the beginning but (only)
to complete the result; (Zhouvi zhengyi: 4.178)]. Gao Heng, 1947: 88, also relying on Wang Bi'e grammatical reading, arrives at the following interpretation: "only by working on the outside, only by not pursuing agriculture, but instead by being a merchant or a government official will it be acceptable."
28. Waley, 1933: 131-32. The Golden Bough is of course a reference to Sir James Frazer's classic ntudy of comparative mythology.
29. Kunst, 1982b: 12-13, rightly points out the different grammatical functions of ft wu/miw»t (GSR 503a) and ft wu/miwo (GSR 106a), and suggests that in its 26 appearances in the Zhouyi. wu is "always" used as the negative imperative. What I am suggesting here is not that wu 4£] is to be interpreted as the negative indicative, but rather that it represents a textual corruption.
30. The first couplet of this hexagram statement, "thunder comes crackling-crackling: laughter and talk ya-ya." is identical with the bottom line statement [51/1;   with the exception of the added copula hou
330
^ (afterwards)]. Such redundancy is without parallel in the Zhouvi [the hexagram statement of "Weiji" (64) repeats the Topic of the bottom line statement of the same hexagram (64/1)], and obviously signals a textual corruption. Since the onomatopoeic reduplicative is standard in the line statements, it would seem that this couplet properly belongs in line 51/1. Since the second couplet, "thunder arouses a hundred li: do not lose the ladle and fragrant wine," is both consistent with the first couplet and also a non-normative form for hexagram statements, it perhaps should also be relocated. The result of this would be to leave only the normative heng "|   (receipt) as the hexagram statement*
31. This line is generally punctuated after "zhen lai li" , with vjL. regarded as an exclamatory particle beginning the next clause (the same is also true of yi ^ in line 51/5). Although I have no evidence, reading livi jjfc Jfy^ as an onomatopoeic description of thunder, akin to the common bili J% , would be consistent with the onomatopoeic reduplicatives xi-xi. su-su. and suo-suo and therefore seems preferable. It should be noted that this usage of li. is its only non-Prognosticatory occurrence in the text [with the possible exception of "Qi±n" (1/3), see below, n. 129].
32. For the reading of van as van (difficulty), see Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.63-64.
33. Kong Yingda, Zhouvi zhenevi: 4.285.
34. Quoted in Li Dingzuo, Zhouvi iiiie: 10.515-16.
35. Huainanzi  V^L \ 3r: 3.1b.
36. See Shima, 1971: 171.2; every occurrence of "thunder" that bears a date is to either "first month" or "second month."
37. In his commentary to this inscription, Zhang Bingquan £6. ^L-^ gives as a transcription for this graph xian (sleet); other proposed transcriptions are bao ^ (hail), hong "jtl. (rainbow), qi "fctj* (grub), dian (lightning), and lei (thunder; for the various explanations,   see   Li Xiaoding,   1965:   3425-33).     Of these,   dian is
331
plausible on both graphic and phonetic grounds. ^ dian/d'ien (GSR 385m) is obviously derivative of \J) shen/sien (GSR 385a), the oracle-bone form of which, J , is the root component of our graph. Despite this not inconsiderable evidence, I resist the reading of dian in favor of lei ^ . My reason for this is that although the element •»' is explained by some as a pictographic representation of "lightning," this element occurs commonly in the variant forms a , tc , and a . This element descends through the bronze-inscriptional form, /^\ , and seal form, fa   , of "thunder" to become the element        of lei 'Jig •
38. Serruys, 1974: 25-28, 36ff, argues that the use of gjL jjj^ in one half of a paired divination (duizhen) "marks the proposition or the alternative among possible courses of action, which is considered less desirable, less preferred, often positively feared and resorted to only if really unavoidable." If this is correct, and in general it seems to be, then this inscription implies that not to have thunder is undesirable; i.e., thunder is desirable. This is corroborated in j?) 66.5, where the king's prognostication of "thunder" is concluded by the word "auspicious" (ji "{£ ). With regard to Serruys' theory of this modal sense of ajl, 65.1 and 66.1 below would imply that "rain" was also deemed desirable. As will be discussed below (p. 206), spring rains are obviously welcome to an agricultural society.
39. From   the syntax it would seem that a graph is missing between £1. and the final ji.       *   but since this prognostication is inscribed
on the reverso side of the plastron (the side prepared with divination zuan fajfc ). the inscription is extremely difficult to read.
40. See, e.g., Bodde, 1975: 223-41.
41. Granet, 1926: 570-72.
42. Granet, 1934: 152-53.
43. See Bodde, 1975: 229; Granet, 1932: 147-66.
44. In Chinese mythology, thunder announces the release of the dragon, the life-force   that later became institutionalized as vang.   from the
332
sub-terranean waters where it had been trapped during the winter. As we will see in Sec. IV.4.iv, this myth originates in a corellation of the meterological phenomenon with a separate astronomical phenomenon. In reality the "dragon" is a constellation of stars (parts of the Western constellations Libra, Virgo, and Scorpius; in China the lunar-lodges Jiao , Gang A , Di , Fang , Xin J\* , and Wei flj ), which during the winter months is invisible beneath the horizon, a realm that Chinese astro-mythology has always called the "watery depths". The time in the year when thunder is said first to sound is exactly the time when this dragon constellation makes its first appearance above the horizon. Thus, thunder is said to crack the frozen earth and "release" the dragon.
45. See, for instance, Kong Yingda, Zhouyi zhengyi: 4.285.
46. Lu Deming, Zhouvi vinvi: 142.32.
47. Chungiu Zuozhuan zhengyi        4k      i$ jE %; : 31.2b.
48. For tian "fv defined as "brand on the forehead," Lu Deming (Zhouyi vinvi: 142.29) gives the gloss "Upg ye" *tt » 2=d cites Ma Rong, "iing zao q,i ke yue tian" %\ ^ ^ \i f^ito brand the forehead is called tian); a similar definition ("iing wei ke tian" %^ J^) is given by Yu Fan (cited in Li Dingzuo, Zhouvi iiiie: 9.394).
49. For the emendation of hu        (fox) for gu. J/ly, (orphan), see below, pp. 216-17.
50. Jue        (possessive pronoun) is emended to deng 3£  (ascend) on the basis of the Mawangdui manuscript; cited in Gao heng, 1979: 339.
51. Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.48-50, suggests that "wang yu yu ze j.i" :5a. \tft   $4 ^1 (if iQ travelling you meet rain then it is auspicious) should follow   immediately after "Han shi fu tu" jfr % vl ^see the swine shouldering   mud);     see   below,   p.   215,   for   a   discussion   of this emendat ion.
52. R. Wilhelm, 1950: 150.
53. Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.48-50.
333
54. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 184.
55. Quoted in Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.49.
56. Shiii: 3.1305.
57. Schlegel,   1875:   320,   cites   several almanacs attesting to this phenomenon.     Among   these   the   most explicit is the "Shixun"  rt\ "s"^ chapter of the Yizhou shu. which states:
Ten days after the fortnight "Great Heat" (i.e., mid-July), the great rains timely fall.
58. See Schlegel, 1875: 322.
59. It is possible that this "primary father" also represents the anthropomorphosis of an astral image. Situated just to the southwest of Sirius, the "Heavenly Wolf (Fox?)," and the celestial Bow and Arrow, the beautiful red star Canopus is known to the Chinese as "Lao ren" ^ , the "Old Man." As Schlegel (1875: 426-27) notes, seeing this "Old Man" was an omen of peace; the Xing Una ^ says of it, "laoren mingda m. ISS. vou shou. tianxia aiming" j>. ^ "/v Ö'j K fa % * t» % (When the "Old Man" is bright and large then men will have longevity and the world will be at peace), and Sima Qian's "Tian guan" chapter says, "laoren Uan zhi an^ bu iian bing gi" % & j&. » ^' 'jLi A. (when the "Old Man" is seen, there will be peace; when it is not seen, arms will be taken up.) Could it be that the Injunction in this line "to exchange prisoners" is predicated on having "met," i.e., seen, this "primary father?"
60. Not only is this the gloss given by the "Xugua" commentary, but it is also the title of the hexagram in the Mawangdui manuscript.
61. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 33.
62. Tr. Hawkes, 1957: 50.
63. Tr. Hawkes, 1957: 27.
334
64. The mythologization of a similar astronomical phenomenon suggests
this possibility.   The constellation Scorpius (in China the lunar lodges
Xin   ; s;»  and Wei        ) and Orion (in China the lunar-lodge Shen    ^ )
never appear together in the night sky;   when Orion rises Scorpius sets,
and   when   Scorpius rises Orion sets.     In Greece,   this phenomenon has
given   birth to the myth that the warrior Orion died after   having been
bitten   by a scorpion.     In China as well,   this phenomenon has not gone
unnoticed.   There, Orion is known as the warrior Shishen 1^ \%j   , whose
constant   fighting   with   his elder brother Ebo |$ -f(a     caused   Di to
eternally separate them.     Their story is told in the Zuozhuan (1st year
of Duke Zhao; Tr. Legge, 1872: 580).
Anciently, the emperor Gaoxin shi had two sons, of whom the elder was called Ebo, and the younger Shishen. They dwelt in Kwanglin, but could not agree, and daily carried their shields and spears against each other. The sovereign emperor (Vao) did not approve of this, and removed Ebo to Shangqiu, to preside over the star Da Huo (i.e., AntaresJ. The ancestors of Shang followed him. and hence Da Huo is the star of Shang. (Yao also) removed Shishen to Da Xia, to preside over the star Shen (in Orion). The descendants of Tang followed him, and in Da Xia served the dynasties of Xia and Shang.
For more information on this comparative astro-mytholcgical   motif, see
Schlegel, 1875: 395-97.
65. Schlegel, 1875: 436-37.
66. The   word zuo "jL (left) is inserted on the basis of the Hawangdui manuscript; see Gao Heng, 1979: 322.
67. R. Wilhelm, 1950: 139.
68. This paper was originally published in Gu Jiegaag, 1931: 187-251; the sub-section with which we are here concerned is entitled "Zhouyi zhong de bixing shige" /(j $ <j» H\ lit "%\ (Metaphorical and evocative poems and songs is the Zhouvi). pp. 211-225.
69. Gao Heng, 1947: 124.
70. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 20. The other poems in which this omen is . found   are "Pao you ku ye"        -f[ £ ^ (Mao 34) and "Xiao pan"/J»
(Mao 197).
335
71. Tr. Karlgrea, 1950: 20.
72. Shiii: 3.103. For another reference to this notably persistent legend, the Bamboo Annals records for the 29th year of Wu Ding (Tr. Legge: 1865: 136), "at the supplementary sacrifice in the Grand Ancestral Temple a pheasant made its appearance." For yet another instance of this omen, see Hanshu   $x ^   : 10.303.
73. ML : 36. For a brief discussion of this inscription and the omen, see Qi Wenxin, 1979: 71-72; see also, Hu Houxuan, 1964: 153.
74. Wenxuan : 14.4b.
75. For an extremely lucid discussion of this question, see Huang Peirong, 1976: 62-82.
76. Tr. Havkes, 1957: 53 (modified). Hawkes (1957: 190) follows Wen Yiduo U956: II.4G4-05) in emending fcfiL zhi/d'iar (GSR 560e) to si/dzi-ar (GSR 556a). Wen's primary evidence for this emendation is the notation in the Baaboo Annals for the 16th year of King Zhao that "the king attacked Chu, and in crossing the Han met with a large rhinoceros (si i^j );" (see Legge, 1865: 149). But, as Wen has shown that zhi and si were inter-changeable in ancient Chinese texts, and since he notes that in Shang oracle-bone inscriptions the capture of a "s_i is considered an auspicious omen, which would be manifestly inappropriate in this case where the king lost his life shortly after having encountered the omen, and, most important, since Wen cites no textual support for his emendation, I remain unpersuaded.
77. The Mawangdui manuscript for this phrase reads "He qi mu" ^ "f^; see Gao Heng, 1979: 352. Since no change in meaning is involved, I follow the received text.
78. Li Jingchi, 1978: 6-7, argues that the original source of the Zhouvi lay in divination records similar to those on oracle-bone inscriptions, but that in the editorial process the specifics of those records, e.g., the diviner's name, the place and date of divination, and any proper names included in the divination charge,   were excised iu an
336
attempt to transform the particular into the universal. While the correlation with the oracle-bone inscriptions has been demonstrated to be false, there is a notable lack of proper nouns in the Zhouyi.
79. Waley, 1933: 126.
80. I have previously devoted a rather lengthy study to the meaning of the technical term "you fu" rf\ 'fy- in the Zhouvi. concluding that it is the   original   form of the significally elaborated compound you   fu jfa
and aeans "to offer a captive;" see Shaughnessy, 1980b.
81. See Yao Xiaosui, 1979: 363-68.
82. Reading oeng (alliance) for mine Hf\ (bright) with Li Jingchi, 1981: 37.
83. Reading   xiang       (to offer) for heng *f   (to penetrate)   on the basis   of a comparison with "Yi" (42/6):   "wang yong xiang yu diw % ft "%~ %   "fy     (tne *ia£ herewith makes an offering   to   Di).     The close graphic and etymological relationship between these two words has led to their confusion here, as well as in "Dayou" (14/3) and "Sheng" (46/4).
84. Zhang Liwen, 1980: 70, alludes to such an interpretation.
85. See above, n. 80.
86. Qu Wanli, 1950: 91-94; King Wu's human sacrifice in Zhou is described in the "Shifu" chapter of the Yizhou shu.
87. Reading "buzang" 3^ for "fou zang" 4* $ on the basis of the Hawangdui manuscript; see Gao Heng, 1979: 121. For the implications of this emendation, see below, n. 90.
88. In the r-sceived text the line reads, "zai shi zhong. ii wu iiu. wang san xi mine" & f$ ^ » % 7b Q , 2. 2- ^[ 1 the grouping together of the phrases "zai shi zhong" and "wane san xi ming" is dictated not only by their conceptual complementarity, but also by the normative post-positioning of the divination determinations.
337
89. The reading of xun (prisoner) for yan *% is adopted from Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.16.
90. The   traditional   interpretation   places "fou sang" ^   yjj*    in a conditional   relationship   with   "xiong";   i.e.,   "whether   fou (defeat; "pobai" ftX. ) or zang [succes;   "you gong"  j\ JSv- ),   it   will be xiong,;" see e.g., Kong Yingda, Zhouyi zhengyi: 4.96.   Not only does such an     interpretation   violate   the   distinction   between   Injunction and Prognostication,   but it also fails to take into account the relatively common expression "buzang"       jf^t,   (not good) in the Shiiing; see, e.g., "Xiaomin" 4"» ^L.   (Mao 195):   "mou zang bu cong.   buzang fu yong" 73?v 0i /• \%^t 7* ft)L 1t $   ("when the Counsels are good, they are not followed; when   not good on the contrary they are followed;" Tr.   Karlgren, 1974: 142),   "Shiyue zhi jiao" -f f\ X. ^ (Mao 193):   "ci ri er shi.   yu he buzang" £k 4 »5i ^ , %      A"        ("that this sun is eclipsed - wherein lies the evil;" Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 138), "Bin ji zui zhi" ^ ?fa
(Mao 220): "bi zui buzang" ^^.^ ft* $L ("when those drunken ones are (not good-) misbehaving;" Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 174) and "Zai chi" %fts (Mao 54): "shi er buzang" ^j, ffi /r $ ("I regard you as in the wrong;" Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 36). The parallelism between this Injunction (it is not good) and the Prognostication (inauspicious) is entirely normative in the Zhouvi.
91. See Yu Xingwu, 1979: 275-77; cf., Shaughnessy, 1980-81: 74, n. 27.
92. Quoted in Li Dingzuo, Zhouyi iiiie: 9.131.
93. While the question of whether the Zhou people at the time of the conquest already conceived of a divine mandate controlling their destiny is still open, there can be no doubt that by the end of the Western Zhou, when the final redaction of the Zhouyi took place, the concept was already firmly established.
94. The Zuozhuan (15th year of Duke Xi) quotes this line as:
•i.   51'            ft* %. The man stabs the sheep
... ... ziang......xmw3ng        and there is no blood
*    &    £     & The lady holds the basket ...... k'iwang .. .. xiwang        and there is no present.
338
A discussion of the relative merits of these two readings can be found in Ch. Ill, n. 57.
95. Gu Jiegang, 1929, reprinted in Gu Jiegang, 1931: 1-44; see especially, pp. 11-15.
96. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 188.
97. In the Zuozhuan (28th year of Duke Xi) description of the battle between Jin % and Chu at Chengpu 2$ Jjj^ f Duke Wen of Jin is said   to   have ascended the "waste of Shen" (you Shen zhi xa ;J-q ^ .
to review his troops;   this place was located in the Chunqiu period state of Wei        , the area formerly occupied by the Shang capital.
98. By "daughter" of the Shang king I do not necessarily intend any biological relationship, but one would at least expect such a princess to be a member of the Shang Zi lineage.
99. The traditional interpretation is that Wen Wang's bride was "carrying on" the womanly virtues of Wang Ji's  jfL        wife Tai Ren
100. Se»» Li Jingchi, 1981: 107-09; Gao heng, 1947: 187-88. For a thorough study of this institution, see Granet, 1953.
101. H. Wilhelm, 1977: 61-62.
102. Li Jingchi, 1981: 109.
103. Harper, 1983, has found evidence in Han materials that the compound "cheng kuang" , which he translates as "receiving cannister," was a euphemism for the vagina, and moreover interprets it in this line of the Zhouyi in the same way. As much as I would like to agree with this reading, three questions in my mind prevent me from doing so. First, to interpret these two words as a nominative compound would require an appositional reading of the line (e.g., "as for the woman, her vagina is without fruit") which would be without grammatical parallel elsewhere in the Zhouyi. Second, one would like to see similar evidence   that   the   words ''kui yang" ^.-J 5   were likewise   a compound
339
euphemism for the male genitals. Harper has offered no such evidence* And third, the one occurrence of this compound in the Shiiins ["Lu ming" (Mao 161)] does not seem at all susceptible of such an interpretation. Still, Harper's demonstration of this usage during the Han is a fascinating example of the way in which the Zhouyi images were later developed and re-worked.
104. The word 2X <3i here should be considered an the hexagram name, and the words "zhi_ fei ren" -i, /jfr are probably an intrusion from the third line of "Bi" (8/3) hexagram, "bi zhi fei ren" fcfc A» ; see above, Sec* IIZ.3.iii.
105. The occurrence of hene here as well an in line 12/1 above is anomalous; cf. Ch. Ill, n. 34.
106. As discussed in Sec. III.3.iii, the phrase "tong ren vu ve" fi{ Jv ^ ^   is a normative line statement sharing the "tong ren vu   X" form
with lines 13/1, 13/2, and 13/6. For a discussion of its probable place in the hexagram text, see below, p. 253.
107. For an argument that this image, as well as that in line 13/2, may also have been displaced, see below, p. 253.
108. Heng is read as xiang jj_ , on the basis of a comparison with "Yi" (42/4): "wang vong xiang vu di" Z ft % <f ^ (the king herewith makes an offering to Di); indeed, this line is quoted in the Zuozhuan (25th year of Duke Xi) as reading xiang.
109. The placement in the text of "Tongren" and "Dayou" might in itself be reason to suspect a hexagram-pair relationship here. In addition to the hexagram-pair "Tai" (11) and "Pi" (12) immediately preceding them, "Tongren" (13) and "Dayou" (14) are followed immediately by "Qian" (15; Modesty) and "Yu" (16; Prudence), and then, after an interval of two hexagrams, by "Lin" (19; Look Down At) and "Guan" (20; Look Up At), all of which are almost certainly hexagram-pairs.
110. Gao Heng, 1979: 163; Li Jingchi, 1981: 29. This is markedly at variance    with   the   traditional   interpretation   which   stresses the
340
"fellowship with man" (apucl R. Wilhelm, 19S0: 56) theme of the hexagram.
111. Shaughnessy, 1980-81: 59 (empasis added).
112. See,   for instance,   Gao Heng, 1947: 53, and Li Jingchi, 1981: 31; for the Gongyang gloss, see Chunoiu Gongvang zhuan Heshi iiegu i&i M UK A. A$ 4.7«.
113. See above, Ch. IV, n. 107, for the emendation of xiang ^ for heng J   , which is quite certain.
114. For a more detailed discussion of the etymology of you ^ , see Takashima, 1980: esp. pp. 91-92.
115. Schmitt, 1970: 108-110, translates the phrase "chu i_i zhong luan" /ffl á% jl^li 38 "on tne tnird day of tne month one finally makes his way across the stream," interpreting c_hu ii as the lunar-phase term familiar in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions [but following Chen Hengjia, 1955: 112-115, in identifying it with the single day fei , i.e., the Cseccnd or) third day of a lunation], and referring to an occurrence of luan in the "Yu gong" $j> ^ chapter of the Shangshu where it is glossed as she >^ (to ford a stream). Innovative though the reading is, it totally neglects the chu-zhong parallelism seen in such lines as "Kui" (38/3) and "Dui" (57/5):   "wu chu you zhong" fí, M
ff\ ait   (there is no beginning but there is an end).
116. Emending ru i;f to ru \%  with Gao Heng, 1947: 219.
117. The   phrase "ru qi wei"      -JÍ j$j    is probably redundant from the bottom line statement (64/1); cf. above, n. 30.
118. See Legge, 1865: 136.
119. Gu Jiegang, 1931: 10.
120. For the classic study of this state and its relations with both the Shang and the Zhou states, see Wang Guowei, 1923: ch. 13.
121. Wang Guowei, 1923: ch. 13.
341
122. The most complete exposition of these arguments can be found in Schmitt, 1970: 107-162; most of the crucial points, however, are derivative from Li Jingchi, 1978: 93-98, and Ping Xin, 1963b: 151-58.
123. Ping Xin, 1963b: 158.
124. Ding Shan, 1960: 78. Ding is followed by Liu Xianmei, 1962: 287, who cites p. 238 of the 1951 Qunvi chubanshe fif fa # HfLM edition of Guo Moruo, 1931, as also supplying evidence for this interpretation. Unfortunately, this edition is unavailable to me and in a search of avaliable editions I have found no such evidence*
125. Legge, 1865: 138.
126. Keightley, 1978a: 11-12, demonstrates that there was a relatively strong degree of intercourse between the Zhou and Shang during the reign of Kirg tfu Ding, but that the Zhou of that time do not appear as either particularly close allies or as opponents of the Shang.
127. For example, Wang Bi, Zhouvi zhu: 2.133, says "niu. H zhi sheng 2Si vue. ji zhi bo ye." , £ ^ $ H2» ; , & X* If ^ (the oxen is an extravagant sacrifice, but the yue is a meager sacrifice).
128. See Li Jingchi, 1978: 183-87; Schmitt, 1970: 129-131.
129. An alternative reading, first suggested by Kong Yingda, Zhouyi zhengyi: 4.26, punctuates this line after ruo *j£ , with li. M,  
understood in its normative Zhouyi prognosticatory sense (i.e., in the evening frightened-like: danger). Whichever of these readings is adopted, this line is obviously not of a piece with the hexagram's other line statements. While I have argued elsewhere (Shaughnessy, 1982: 9-10, n. 4) that the intent of the line is not necessarily inconsistent with that of the other lines, I suspect that it is in fact the remnant of an early commentarial stratum.
130. In an earlier discussion (Shaughnessy, .1982: 4-5) of "Qian" hexagram, I concluded that lines 1/6 and 1/7 "not only evoke the same astronomical phenomenon but that they are also linked as a literary unit."   An important criterion on which this conclusion was based is the
342
near-rhyme   between   H&\    hui/xmw*g (GSR 947s) and shou/siog (GSR
1102a). However, this in itself was predicated on the technical determination you hui ^ ."iS] functioning as an integral part of the TOpic "gang long" f\ fifc . 1 now doubt that there is sufficient justification for such a reading.
131. Deleting da "j^ , apud Gao Heng, 1947: 8. Traditionally, the line has   been parsed as zhi.   fang,   da. buxi
(straight, square, and great: not timely), but comparsions with the other lines of "Kun" I J^f Iff shuang/siang (GSR 731a), ^ has zhane/tiang   (GSR 723a), (kuo nang/nSng (GSR 7301),   and huang
chang/cifong (GSR 725d)] leave little doubt that ^ "fi zhi fang/piwang (GSR 740a) constitutes a single phrase. In further support of this reading, the lack of any gloss for da       in the "Xiang" commentary:
The movement of Kun is straight and square; that.not timely there is nothing not beneficial is the brightness of the Earthly Way,
suggests that da is indeed an intrusion into the text.
132. R. Wilhelm, 1950: 3.
133. Xiong Shili, 1976: 419-422.
134. These star-charts are not intended to be precisely calibrated, but for our purposes it suffices that the Dragon constellation's relative change of position be portrayed.
135. In addition to appearing in oracle-bone inscriptions (e.g., 1^"h 9.1, •£ ^ 12488), the Fire Star (Antares) is said by later sources (see, e.g., Zuozhuan 9th year of Duke Xiang, Legge, 1872: 439; Shiii: 3.1257; cf. Chen. Zungui, 1980: 196-97) to have been the object of observation by a Shang official, the "Huo zheng" ^ , specifically charged with determining the agricultural seasons.
In addition to the logic of a conscientious editor of the Zhouvi wishing to include the appearance of the Fire Star in his outline of the dragon's celestial progress, there are three linguistic factors in support of interpreting this line as alluding to the dragon.   First, the
343
action here is specified as taking place in the watery "depths" (yuan l/f/f ). Comparing the Shuowen (llB.21b) definition of the dragon, "qiu-f.en er qian yuan" -tyl fa \b Iff iJ^t (at the autumn equinox he submerges into the depths),   with the bottom line of "Qian" (1/1), "qian long"
(submerged dragon), there is an obvious relationship between the words qian (submerge) of line 1/1 and yuan (depths) of 1/4. Moreover, the Shijinft poem "Han lu" ^ $L   (Mao 239) contains the couplet:
11ft A K. h    i w
The hawk flies through the skies, The fish jumps in the depths,
wherein   the contrast between "fei tian" ^ ^ and "vue yuan" j/^jl
is   precisely   the same as that in lines 1/4 and 1/5 of   this hexagram.
Second,   yuan is in the same rhyme category (zhen        class) as tian VB
of   line 1/2 and tian   fvof line 1/5.     This suggests that these three
lines   not   only belong to a common rhyme-scheme but also   to   a common
conceptual scheme*   Third, just as both lines of the couplet:
* # 3     & W A
The fish is on the sand bar, And now submerges in the depths,
in the Shiiing poem "He ming" (Mao 184) refer to the fish, with
huo ^ acting as a copula (and now, and then), so too should the huo of
this   line   be   read as a copula grammatically linking this   Topic with
those of lines 1/1 and 1/2.    For all of these reasons, despite the lack
of   an   explicit   reference   to the dragon,   line   1/4   should   also be
interpreted   as   a   reference   to the   relative   motion   of   the dragon
constellation.
136. I suspect that the reason that there is a reference here to a "flock" of dragons is due to the ancient Chinese astro-mythological conception that celestial luminaries, because of their nightly rising in the east and setting in the west, had to be plural, as for example with the case of the ten suns and twelve moons. Later tradition holds that there were "six" dragons; whether this represents the original astonomi-cal myth or is a later elaboration due to the six positions of "Qian" hexagram, I prefer not to speculate.
Pages   5-7 have been adapted substantially intact from my previous paper on this topic (Shaughnessy,   1982:   2-4).   Somewhat more technical
344
discussion of the astronomical imagery of "Qian" is available in th~f paper. For more detail, see also my revised and expanded Chinese version of the paper (Shaughnessy, 1983a).
137. This is not to say that I am the first to have noticed the astronomical significance of "Qian's" dragon image. As early as 1911 the Swiss historian of Chinese astronomy Leopold de Saussure said of the dragon constellation, "in the course of the months a larger and larger part of the dragon emerged at twilight; by the end of Spring the entire dragon was found above the horizon and seemed to take flight in the sky," to which he appended the note, "this process of the dragon's Spring appearance is manifest in the first pages of the Yiiing. a book in which the developments of the ethical order always repose on an astronomical canvas" and continued by citing Legge's translation of lines 1/1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/5 of "Qian" hexagram (Saussure, 1967: 378). Unfortunately, Saussure did not expand on this insight.
In China it was not until 1941 that Wen Yiduo made a similar association (Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.45-48). However, Wen did not perceive the relationship among the lines and the process they describe, but rather interpreted each line as an individual omen. Correlating them with the Shuowen (llB.21b) definition, "at the Spring equinox the dragon rises into the skies, and at the autumn equinox submerges into the depths," he was led to interpret the bottom line, "submerged dragon," as an omen of autumn, the second ("see the dragon in the fields") and fifth ("flying dragon in the skies") lines as omens of Spring.
Twenty years later the calendrical development of the lines was finally related systematically to the astronomical phenomena by Gao Wence (1961: 4). Unfortunately again, Gao was unaware of the sidero-lunar nature of pre-Chunqiu astronomy and this led him to interpret "Qian" as being related to the winter months and "Kun" as related to the summer months.     The first line of "Kun" (2/1),   "ltf shuang:    iian bing
suffices to demonstrate the incongruity of this argument; cf. below pp. 278. Despite this, Gao's essay was a significant step forward in interpreting   this   imagery;   only a proper understanding of the   history of
X    (treading on frost:   the solid ice   is coming)
345
Chinese astronomy is necessary to return the lines of "Qian" to their proper seasonal associations.
138. Akatsuka, 1972, and Chow. 1978: S3 have both treated the image of "treading on frost" as a symbol for Spring nuptials. This totally neglects the association of "frost" with the ninth month, ubiquitous in early stars-and-seasons texts, and also disrupts the calendrical associations of "Kun" hexagram.
139. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 99.
140. This meaning is based on the common oracle-bone inscriptional compound ^ . The graph has been subject to considerable analysis, with such transcriptions as xing ^ , xun ^jfi , and d_e proposed; see Li Xiaoding, 1965: 1.563-69; cf. Nivison, 1978-79. While there is no doubt that all three of these words are related, both to each other and to the oracle-bone graph ^ , there is also no doubt that a "literal" transcription   of   that graph would be zhi   ^ (with   '  -)        and 9
i| ; see Serruys, 1981: 359, n. 1). That the compound occurs here in this archaic form (i.e., zhi fang) rather than in the form xing fang, which later became common, is an interesting indication of the Zhouvi's antiquity. For a discussion of this compound (albeit proposing the transcription xing fang). with special emphasis on its agricultural associations and meaning in this line of "Kun" hexagram, see Wen Yiduo, 1956: 11.41.
141. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 207.
142. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 98.
143. Schlegel, 1875: 64.
144. schlegel, 1875: 172.
145. I should like to clarify here that "Xuan Wu" X , the Dark Warrior, is not strictly identifiable with "Bi" ^ , the Turtle. "Xuan Wu" is generally considered to be the seven lunar-lodges of the northern quadrant (i.e., "Dou" ^ , "Niu" 4 » * , "Xu" f& , "Wei" ftj , "Shi"   ^    ,   and "Bi"        ),   while "Bi" ^  ,   the Turtle,   is but a
346
paranatellon of "Dou." Yet, unlike the Dragon and Bird constellations, which do have a certain resemblance to the creatures for which they are named, it would be very difficult to see the shape of a turtle in th*» composite appearance of these seven lunar-lodges. Rather, I suspect that the entire quadrant received its name (whenever the concept of four roughly equilateral quadrants was formalized) by virtue of this ore constellation at its head, which so definitely does resemble a turtle. And it is this constellation that virtually touches the tail of the Dragon.
146. Cited in Horiyasu, 1979: 195.
147. He is commonly depicted as ascending to heaven on the back of a dragon. For a complete discussion on the identification of the Yellow Emperor with the dragon, see Horiyasu, 1979: 175-202 and 215-240.
148. See, e.g., Lushi chunqiu: 6.9b, and Shiii: 27.1335.
149. Especially interesting here is the account of the invention of the compass,   and   the   explicit relationship of this in the Guanzi ^ (41.10a-b) to the succession of the seasons:
4**   £ «1
Of old, the Yellow Emperor took Chi You and became aware of the celestial way ... Chi You made bright the the celstial way and caused there to be the proper seasons.
[Cf. the comment by Fang Xuanling ^ £^ » "we.i zhj tian shi zhi suo chana ye" yx ^^ll JL 2j? H*j (this means that he knew the constancy of the celestial seasons*)] In this regard it is useful to compare the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You with the other great battle of Chinese mythology,   that between Yu the Great (Da Yu
) and Gong Gong ^ Jl» . It will be recalled that in the course of losing   this battle,   Gong Gong butted his head against Mount Buzhou
, the northwestern pillar of heaven, snapping it and causing the heavens to tilt downwards in the northwest. It is commonly, if not explicitly, understood by Chinese commentators that this myth is basically   astronomical   in   nature,   beiag an attempt   to   explain the
347
obliquity   of the ecliptic.     It is this obliquity of the ecliptic that
causes   the stars to appear at different times of the year,   thus making
them   markpoints par excellence of the changing seasons.     In   a sense,
this   displacement   of the ecliptic from the celestial equator could be
described   as the beginning of cosmic time,   and is thus   an especially
appropriate   topic   for   mythologization.     Such myths can be   found in
cultures   throughout the world,   a number of them having been collected
and discussed by Giorgio He Santillana and Hertha von Dechend.    To cite
just one example, they quote a popular identification of Kronos (Saturn)
with Chronos (Time) by Hacrobius:
They say, that Saturn cut off the private parts of his father Caelus (Ouranos),   threw them into the sea, and
?ut of them Venus was born who, after the foam aphros) from which she was formed, accepted the name of Aphrodite. From this they conclude that, when there was chaos, no time existed, insofar as time is a fixed measure derived from the revolution of the sky. Time begins there; and of this is believed to have been born Kronos who is Chronos, as was said before.
To this, de Santillana and Dechend add (1977: 135), "the fact is that the 'separation of the parents of the world,' accomplished by means of the emasculation of Ouranos, stands for the establishing of the obliquity of the ecliptic: the beginning of measurable time."
We should note, as do de Santillana and Dechend, that Saturn, the master of time, corresponds in China to the Yellow Emperor, who became the master of time through his battle with Chi You. This suggests that, like the battle between Yu the Great and Gong Gong, the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi. You is but another mythological manifestation of this same astral phenomenon. In fact, Marcel Granet has pointed out several features in the myths of Chi You and Gong Gong so similar as virtually to require identification: both are gods of the eight winds, both belong to. the Jiang family, both are associated with the Kong-sang ^ ^ tree, both were punished at Shangqiu jl. , and most important, both were rebels said to have "zheng wei di" ^ ^5* (fought to be theocrat); see Granet, 1926: 351-60, 482ff. All of this suggests that while its astronomical associations have not been as readily recognized as those of Gong Gong's breaking the pillar of heaven, the compass-chariot fashioned by the Yellow Emperor in response to the   great   fog   (chaos?;   recall the "foam" from   which   Aphrodite was
348
formed) of Chi You is also a representation of the beginning of cosmic time.
150. See Shiji: 1.5.
151. Quoted in Li Dingzuo, Zhouyi iijie; 9.69-70, 80.
152. Tr. Karlgren, 1974: 98-99. It should also be noted that this poetic almanac employs two distinct calendrical enumerations. Months designated as "siyue" \X3 f\ through "shivue" -f )*\ correspond to the Xia ^ calendar; i.e., to the calendar that begins with the yin month, the sebnd month after the month containing the winter solstice. Other months, correponding to the Zhou calendar; i.e., the calendar beginning with the z_i 3r month, the month containing the winter solstice, are referred to as "vi zhi ri" -*   Ju.   ii   , "er zhi ri" *Z- -A.
Y2 , and so on through "si zhi ri" va ft ; for a discussion of this poem coirellating these months with natural phenomena described in other almanacs, see Hua Zhongyan, 1959: 151-162. This is interesting evidence of the simultaneous existence of dual calendars, one popular and one governmental, and also serves to underscore the rite of passage from the hai motth, the tenth month of the Xia calendar, to the zi. month, the first month of the Zhou calendar, which has been shown to be so important in the cycle of "Qian" and "Kun" hexagrams.
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