Wen | original to Xinzhitang
To do any kind of learning, philosophical speculation is the most basic method. The study of Sinology and the study of the I Ching are no exception. It is only a sutra tradition of more than two thousand years that has formed the habit of superstitious classics and superstitious saints. When we study the I Ching today, we must break through this ideological inhibition. In addition, the method of historical analysis should also be the method that we need to adhere to in the process of studying the I Ching. We're going to talk about it today.
The process of writing the book "Zhou Yi" is not as described in "Yi Chuan", which is composed of Fu Xi painting gua, Wen Wang Yan Gua, and Confucius. Everything arises from need. In ancient times, people generally believed in gods, and at the same time, the various technologies that served production and life were in their infancy, and science and technology could not be talked about.
For example, in ancient times, the roads were not developed, the traffic was not convenient, the domestication of cattle and horses, the use of vehicles were not yet popular, and it would be extremely difficult to travel in close proximity. Communication is not developed, the two places can not be contacted, the family is away for a long time, the family can not know the situation. Medicine is not developed, and when people are sick and cannot be treated and prognostically, they can only beg the witches to pray and ask God for blessings.
Under the conditions of extremely underdeveloped technology, when people encounter difficulties or difficulties, it is easiest to think of using the power of the gods to solve problems. It is precisely to meet this need that various techniques aimed at communicating with gods and human affairs have been produced, and activities such as witchcraft and divination have come into being. Therefore, activities such as witchcraft and divination actually replace the practical techniques that serve production and life and play the same social effect.
The culture of belief in the gods of the ancient times filled the gap of practical technology in the social life of the ancient period, and was applicable to the specific historical stage of culture and technology that were extremely underdeveloped. Although in the present moment of rationality and wisdom, asking gods for divinity is regarded as a feudal superstitious activity, the various technologies and activities adapted to the beliefs of the gods in ancient times cannot be simply superstitious.
For example, if the husband does not come out for a few years after leaving the house, and there is no technical means to get in touch between the two sides, it is impossible to know whether he is alive or dead. But the husbands have not returned for a long time, and the livelihood of orphans and widows has become a problem, and they must not be allowed to starve to death. At this time, the husband is alive and dead, whether he can return, and when he will return has become a question that urgently needs to be answered. If the husband is dead and never comes back, can the woman remarry someone else and get a chance to continue to live? This requires an unquestionable authority to make decisions for her.
We know that under the current conditions, when the husband has not returned for a long time, the wife can apply to the court to declare that the husband has died, and then the court will make a public announcement, and after a few years, the husband cannot return it, and the wife can automatically dissolve the marriage contract with him, so as to legally remarry. The government and the organs of state power are the authoritative forces that make such decisions.
In ancient times, people could only regard the gods they shared as this authority, and the decisions made by the gods could not be doubted. Therefore, witchcraft and divination are premised on the belief of the gods, which is a reasonable product of the culture of the gods' belief, and the social functions they undertake are the same as those of modern technology and even some government functions. Therefore, the divination activities represented by the I Ching cannot be viewed as feudal superstitions, it reflects the culture under the specific historical conditions of the ancient times, and also reflects the thoughts and activities of the people in the current era.
Therefore, when we read Zhou Yi, we should read it as history, not just as a tool for predicting the future. In fact, the Zhou Yi never had this function, and the ancients did not design the gua xiang to predict the future, but to determine the will of the gods. The goal of divination by the ancients was to ask the gods to make decisions about the difficulties of the moment, not to predict them.
For example, the husband is delayed after leaving the house. What special circumstances did he encounter outside that he couldn't return? Since the conditions at that time could not enable the wife to contact her husband who was away, the wife could not be informed of her husband's situation outside. But the ancients believed that the gods could know everything, so the purpose of the wife to ask for this was to let the gods tell her about her husband's situation outside, that is, to let the gods help her find a husband. If both sides had mobile phones at that time, there would have been no need to ask God for advice. At this time, the role of praying to God is the same as that of mobile phones.
The guaxiang of the Zhou Yi has nothing to do with the scriptures, esoteric philosophies or cosmic laws, they are closely related to people's daily lives. For example, the gua gua is about using prison, which means that this gua is beneficial to the chastity of prisoners in prison. If someone in your family is in prison, if you want to know the specific situation in his cell, you can go to the master to ask him about it. If we read the words carefully, we can see that their contents are all about the situation of the prisoner's life in prison.
If we were to ask, would the gods really know what the prisoner was really like in prison? Or is the post-gossip conclusion consistent with the prisoner's true condition in prison? The answer, of course, is no.
The purpose of the confession is not to reflect the true condition of the prisoner, and the meaning of the gossip is not to reflect the truth. It simply relies on the authority of the gods in people's minds to solve people's thirst for problems. For example, as a mother, no matter how heinous her son is, she will worry about his son's condition in prison. She was anxious to know, eager to know, but the prison where her son was being held was so far from her home that she could not communicate with each other.
But if you can't know, the old mother will not think about tea and dinner, thinking day and night, and life will be boring. What to do? Ancient people could only turn to the gods, because the gods were omnipotent in people's minds, omniscient and omniscient. Moreover, the gods do not deceive us, so the conclusions after divination are regarded as the real situation.
It does not matter whether it is consistent with the real situation, when the old mother is informed of the conclusion of God's revelation, the old mother will also feel at ease, and the mood of missing her son will be comforted, and the rest of life will be more meaningful. This is the meaning of the ancient Bu Zheng.
The principle of the I Ching is not to understand the principle of everything as a thing, so as to realize the function of predicting the future. It is designed purely to solve people's practical problems in daily life, so studying the I Ching requires adhering to a historical, social, and humanistic analytical stance.
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