Wen | original to Xinzhitang
What is it to understand the I Ching? It contains nothing more than two aspects: First, to understand the gua xiang and know what the meaning of those strange gua xiang symbols represents. Second, understand the scriptures and know the message that our ancestors wanted to convey to us through these words. Proceeding from these two aspects, we studied the I Ching with the goal of seeking truth and seeking truth, and strived to restore the truth of the ancient scriptures. Before we officially begin, let's talk about the methodology.
What is the significance of studying Zhou Yi? There are many people who hope to discover a new continent of science by studying it, but these ideas are actually unrealistic. Because the foundation of science could not have been established in the early Zhou Dynasty. "Zhou Yi" does not represent a very profound science, it is just an ancient book that has not been correctly interpreted.
If you look at Zhou Yi from this point of view, then it is really a boring thing to spend time and energy studying it. So why should we continue to study it? Personally, I think that the interpretation of zhou yi is still a task of philosophical research.
"Zhou Yi" is one of the small number of classics handed down from the Zhou Dynasty, is an ancient historical document, correct interpretation of it helps us to understand the details of social life such as people's ideological concepts, living habits, customs and customs in the early Zhou Dynasty, and has certain significance for philosophy, history, sociology, etc.
In this way, everyone can't help but have doubts, studying "Zhou Yi" can also understand the details of the ancient people's thoughts and lives, it is a fantasy! What I want to tell you is that the Zhou Yi is a tool for the divination activities of the Zhou Dynasty. Divination occupies a very important position in the daily life of ancient people, and when people encounter in their daily lives that they cannot decide questions or problems, they must ask the help of the gods.
Although from today's point of view, asking God for divinity is a superstitious activity, but because the scope of the question involves all aspects of people's social life, the scriptures must reflect the details of people's daily lives. Divination activities themselves constitute a mirror reflecting the daily life of ancient people, so correct reading of the I Ching can understand the thinking and life of the ancients.
For example, through the study of the I Ching, we can understand that people in the early Zhou Dynasty believed in gods, believing that gods were the masters of natural phenomena and social life. Around this belief inevitably arises a culture associated with the belief in the gods. Therefore, the ancients built ancestral halls as places to worship the gods, and they also had to make regular sacrifices to achieve the purpose of pleasing the gods.
Since people believe that the gods really exist, some people will claim to communicate directly with the gods in order to convey the gods' instructions to the human world, which has the profession of witchcraft, and these occupations are more likely to occupy high positions in society. The lord of man also often presents himself as a divine speaker, so the ruling class is also the leader of religious sacrifices, and the witches can often hold high power.
Because people believe in gods, gods become the representatives of the most sacred power and highest ability in people's minds, so when people encounter problems in their daily lives, they have the need to use the power of gods to solve problems. Divination is actually a product of the culture of belief in the gods, and the goal of divination is to inquire into the will of the gods.
Witches claim to communicate directly with the gods, so the gods' will is conveyed through the witches' tongues. Divination, on the other hand, is the indirect inference of the will of the gods through the use of prophecy. In the Shang Dynasty, the tools were turtle plates or ox-horse shoulder blades. The Zhou Dynasty, on the other hand, used the Gua Xiang as a prophecy. The conclusions obtained by divination are regarded as the revelation of the gods, and the belief of the gods is the basis for the existence of divination activities. Therefore, we believe that the period of divination flourished as a manifestation of the culture of divine belief.
The beliefs of the people of the early Zhou Dynasty, as shown in the Zhou Yi gua xiang and scriptures, were not only superstitious to the almighty gods, but also included the tenets of their natural philosophy. The natural philosophy of the early Zhou Dynasty was also our early theory of yin and yang. Through this theory, we can see that the earliest concept of yin and yang of the ancients was summarized through the observation of the four-hour alternation and the corresponding phenomenon of change in the image of the object.
Therefore, the earliest form of China's yin and yang theory is the four qi and four elephants theory, of which the concept of yin and yang refers to the cold and summer two qi, spring, summer, autumn and winter four seasons. Spring is xiaoyang (少阳), summer is dayang (sun), autumn is small yin (less yin), and winter is dayin (taiyin). The objects corresponding to the four hours are summarized as the four elephants of birth, growth, harvest, and hiding. The I Ching is derived from the content of this doctrine.
There are four elephants in the two gua gua, which are called shaoyang, sun, shaoyin, and taiyin in ancient times. These four symbols correspond to the four qi of spring, summer, autumn and winter and the four elephants of birth, growth, harvest and Tibet, respectively, and the basic content of the theory of four qi and four elephants is condensed into four simple symbols. This should be the earliest gua xiang.
The meaning of the four qi and four elephants theory is the basis for the popularization of the guaxiang symbol system. Bagua is an evolution of the Four Elephant Gua and is not a Fu Xi Guan Object Taking Image Painting System as Yi Chuan said. The weight of the two halves of the Bagua evolved into sixty-four trigrams. Therefore, the Zhou Yi Gua Xiang is actually the yin and yang theory of the four qi and four elephants to promote and apply to the social and personnel fields with the help of the gua xiang symbol.
This conclusion may seem strange to you, but if we set aside the basic content of the doctrine of the four qi and four elephants, we will not be able to understand the scriptures. On the contrary, on the basis of the basic content of this doctrine we can understand the intention expressed in Scripture. This fully shows that the meaning of the guaxiang is based on the content of the theory of the four qi and four elephants. Understanding this truth, our understanding of the I Ching really begins.
The 21st Gua of the I Ching, at first glance, it is difficult to understand the meaning of the word "phagocytosis" in the name of the gua. At this point, we can first refer to the interpretations of the various families in order to open up our minds. Li Jingchi explained that the meaning of eating and drinking is similar to that of modern Chinese, based on the fact that quan gua is about food-related matters. Nan Huaijin and Xu Qinting explained that phagocytosis means eating, and eating means closing. Yang Tiancai, Zhang Shanwen explained as, phagocytosis, bite. Uh-huh.
This is actually the same as the explanation of Nan and Xu. Gao Heng's decapitation of the word is "nibbling" and not swallowing, which means chewing food. The word is unanswered. By referring to the commentaries of various families, it can be seen that the word "phagocyte" is related to chewing food, but it is still not the point. At this time, we must give up blindly searching for the meaning of words, but we must look at the gua xiang and the content of the scriptures.
The two trigrams are derived from the separation of gua and the zhen gua, and the two gua of the separation are evolved from the Shaoyang gua, the departure of the gua represents the Xiaoyang Xingjian, and the zhengua represents the Xiaoyang being blocked in the living place. At first glance, it may also be difficult to grasp the essentials. So, we have only one way to read the scriptures directly. Let's first look at the gua ci and use the prison, which means that the eating of the gua gua is conducive to the interrogation of the prisoners in the prison. The reason for this statement can only be doubted for the time being, because these three alone cannot understand the original reason.
Next, let's look at the words. In the ninth year of junior high school, the school was extinguished. He wore a heavy shackle on his foot, and the shackles were so bulky that they drowned their toes. It is clear that it depicts prisoners locked in with heavy shackles. Six two, skin phagocytosis and nose destruction. Chew in your mouth a chunk of fat that is so fat that it covers your nose. In connection with the background of the use of prison, it can be imagined that this passage describes the situation in which prisoners in prison eat fat. Look at the following words, six three, eating bacon is poisoned. Ninety-four, eat dry gizzard to get golden arrows. Six-five, eat dry gizzard to get gold. This indicates that the diet of a prisoner in prison is mixed with impurities and hard objects.
When I was a child, I watched the TV series "Sister Jiang", and in the play, Sister Jiang and Xiao Radish Head were imprisoned in the Prison of the Kuomintang, and they were often mixed with stones in their prison meals. At first, I didn't understand this situation, but later I realized that it was actually deliberate, a way of torturing prisoners. Prisoners in prison are not only put in heavy shackles, but also do not have good treatment in terms of diet, that is, occasionally let prisoners eat meat, often not good meat, and even sometimes deliberately mix hard debris into the meal, such as stones, metals, etc.
On the ninth, the Dutch school extinguished the ear. The shackles worn on the shoulders were so thick that they drowned the ears of the prisoners. Combining the contents of the six paragraphs and the words, we can see that they clearly depict prisoners wearing heavy shackles and heavy shackles, which restrict the freedom of movement. The diet is often mixed with impurities or bad ingredients. There may also be occasional cases of eating white flower fat, but unfortunately it is unattainable. It can be seen that the different situations of prisoners in prison are talked about in the speech of the gua zi, which echoes the meaning of the use of the prison by the gua ci.
Considering that the words describe the situation in which prisoners' diets are often poisoned, eating golden arrows, and eating gold, we define the meaning of the word "phagocytosis" as eating impurities or hard objects in the process of chewing food. It cannot simply be understood as the opening and closing of the mouth during the process of chewing food.
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