Hermeneutics in the Yizhuan: Stimulus-Response and Communication
Lin Zhongjun
(Center for Zhouyi & Ancient Chinese Philosophy, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China)
Translated from Chinese by Zhang Jiwen
(Foreign Language College, Weifang University, Weifang 261061, China)
I. The Probability of Comprehension and Interpretation: the Same Origin, Construction and Attribution Shared in the Text of the Yi and the Interpreters
The biggest difference between the Text of the Yi and other Chinese classics lies in the set of well-arranged logical symbols which directly originated from the things on earth and were the imitation and simulation of these things, and entirely expressed the meaning of the world.
According to the Yizhuan易传 (Commentaries on the Change), the Text of the Yi resulted from the sages' long-term observation of the nature, namely, by imitating heaven and earth then the sages invented Yin and Yang; by observing alternations of Yin and Yang, then the sages invented the hexagrams; by demonstrating the hardness and softness, then the divinatory symbols were established; by observing the images then the words were affiliated to them. The words affiliated expressed the meanings of the images, while the images conceived the meaning of the world. Thus, according to Xi Ci系辞 (the Great Treatise), “the Yi is made up of the images which are the reflections of the whole world.” In the Text of the Yi the images and the words affiliated to them are the symbols of things in the world, and conceive the meanings of the world. Therefore, the Dao (Way) of the Yi is the Dao of all things. Xi Ci asserts: “The Yi simulates the principles of heaven and earth, therefore it can include all Daos of things.” “The Zhouyi contains a wide range of principles, including the principles of heaven, earth, and humanity. The Yi has these three principles with two three-line hexagrams, then came the six-line hexagrams which symbolize the principles of heaven, man and earth rather than other things.” In addition, as long as the number of the yarrow stalks is arranged in different ways, then the images of the myriad things can be determined, and hence the hexagram and line statements. The images and statements thus obtained are the symbols of the hexagrams in the Yi as well as the true things in the world. The movements and changes of the symbols of Yin (
) and Yang (
) are not a process of absolute and empty deduction of symbols, they present the constant changing of the real world. It is said in Xi Ci系辞（the Great Treatise）that the movements and alternations of the six lines inside a hexagram symbolize the auspiciousness and ominousness of the outside world. On this point, the Text of Yi is not only an imitation of the harmonious construction of the world in form, expressing the whole meaning of the world, but also a special way of the existence of the world.
Like other things on the earth, man, as an interpreter, originated from the intercourse of heaven and earth, standing between heaven and earth, keeping in harmony with heaven and earth, with the Dao of Yin and Yang and the good conduct inside. Here, the so-called Dao of Yin and Yang was manifested in the ethics with the relationship between king and subject, husband and wife, father and son with benevolence (Ren, 仁) and righteousness (Yi, 义) at its core. It says in Shuo Gua说卦 (Discussion on the Trigrams): “In ancient times the holy sages made the Book of Changes thus: their purpose was to follow the order of nature and fate. Therefore they determined the Dao of heaven and called it Yin and Yang. They determined the Dao of the earth and called it the softness and hardness. They determined the Dao of man and called it benevolence and righteousness.” “The Dao of heaven and earth connotes Yin-Yang and Softness-Hardness, indicating the construction and functions of nature; the Dao of Man is Benevolence and Righteousness, indicating the ethics of the human society. Obviously, the Dao of heaven and earth and the Dao of Man differ from each other in nature. …Although Man is one of the products of nature, it is the subject of the society. Benevolence and Righteousness are not equal to Yin-Yang and Softness-Hardness.” But they share the same category of construction: Benevolence displays the aspect of Yin and Softness, while Righteousness, the side of Yang and Hardness. On the point of category, they are identical to each other; on the point of nature, they have not deviated from the Dao of heaven and earth. The interpreter and all the other things in the world originated from heaven and earth, so he shares the same attribution with them. The Wen Yan文言(Commentary on the Words of the Text) states:
The great man accords in his virtue with heaven and earth; in his light, with the sun and moon; in his consistency, with the four seasons; in the good and evil fortune that he creates, with gods and spirits. When he acts in advance of heaven, heaven does not contradict him. When he follows heaven, he adapts himself to the time of heaven. If heaven itself does not resist him, how much less do men, gods, and spirits!
These words mean that the great man, as one of the interpreters, should possess morality and ideal. In the Yizhuan (Commentaries on the Changes), the great man, besides their power and influence, should, like the sages, have ability and integrity. They should be the embodiment of the world. The sages' idea is the Dao of Yin and Yang and the Dao of Change. The text of Yi was composed by the sages, thus, theoretically, the interpreter with the text of Yi shares the same origin, construction and attribution. The interrelation between Man and the Dao conceived in the text of Yi or the identity in their nature is the reason why Dao can be understood and interpreted by Man or, to say it more accurately, the very reason why this interpretation can be done.
If all the interpreters and the text of Yi share the same notion, Dao and attribution which are completely identical to each other, it will be unnecessary to understand and interpret it. However, it is not so in the world. According to the Yizhuan, human beings can be classified into two kinds owing to the Qi气 received from heaven and earth. There are those who have obtained Qi from heaven and those who have got Qi from the earth. Things of a kind come together, people of a mind fall into the same group. The Dao of Qian symbolizes the male; while the Dao of Kun, the female. Therefore, there are two kinds of human nature—the Yin and Yang, which not only refer to the male and female, but also connote the good and the evil, the auspicious and ominous. Yang symbolizes the good and the auspicious, and Yin the evil and ominous. Yet no absolute dividing line exists between the Yin and Yang, the good and evil. The two sides usually intercourse with each other. There is Yin in Yang and vice versa. That is to say, human nature is complicated. It can not be and it is impossible to be identical to the Dao, even the perfect sages can not be so. The sages in the real world are physical, visible, emotional and conscious, while the Dao is metaphysical without thinking and doings. The Xi Ci系辞 (Great Treatise) asserts: “(The Dao of Change) manifests itself as kindness but conceals its wordings. It gives life to all things, but it does not share the anxieties of the holy sage.” This demonstrates the basic difference between the sage and the Dao. In short, Man inherited the Dao and developed his nature, but Man can not manifest completely the attributions of Dao. That is why Man can comprehend and interpret the text of Yi or the Dao of Yi.
II. The Process of Comprehension and Interpretation: Stimulus & Response and Communication between the Interpreter and the Text
The theory of stimulus-response and communication plays an essential role in the Yin-Yang theory conceived in the Yizhuan. It is the most important theory of the Yi-ological hermeneutics, too. It is well-known that there a hexagram called Xian咸 (
, the 31st hexagram in the received version of the Zhouyi) which was interpreted as stimulation (Gan, 感) in the Yizhuan with which the Dao of Gan (influence) was expounded. The Yizhuan upheld that stimulus-response was the universal law existing in the world, and was the fundamental cause of the production of all things: “Influence means stimulation. The soft is above, the hard below. The forces (qi) of the two stimulate and respond to each other, so that they unite. Keeping Still and joyousness. The masculine subordinates itself to the feminine. Hence it is said: ‘Success. Perseverance furthers. To take a maiden to wife brings good fortune.' Heaven and earth stimulate each other, and all things take shape and come into being. The holy sages stimulate the hearts of men, and the world attains peace and rest. If we contemplate the outgoing stimulating influences, we can know the nature of heaven and earth and all beings.” That is to say, hexagram Xan (Influence or Wooing) can reveal the Dao of stimulation-response between Yin and Yang. The image of this hexagram is, the upper trigram is Dui兑
which means “marsh” and symbolizes “the youngest daughter”; The lower part is Gen艮
which symbolizes “mountain” and “the youngest son”. The stimulation-response between marsh and mountain and that between Yin (female) and Yang (male) reflect the stimulation-response between things and man. To grasp the Dao of Gan 感(stimulation and response) means to master the Dao (Way) of all things. Although the Yizhuan did not put forward the idea of the stimulation and response between Man and other things, or that between Man and the Dao, it regarded stimulation-response as a universal law and considered it as a way and principle of thinking and cognition. This stimulation-response theory which bears a universal meaning treats the symbol of the Xian hexagram in the text of the Yi as the object and the interpreter as its subject. As far as the interpreter is concerned, “observing stimulus-response” is a representation of the stimulation-response between the interpreter and the text of Yi, and that between Man and nature.
The interpreter's repeated studies on the text of the Yi with a certain method are one of the ways presenting the stimulation-response between the interpreter and the text of the Yi. Generally speaking, the comprehension and interpretation of the Yi are based on the Images and Numbers, the Confucian ideas and the exegetical studies of Yi. According to the Xi Ci (Great Treatise), the symbols of the hexagrams in the Change are not only marks in divinations, but also the important basis in attaching the statements to the hexagrams and lines. The symbols of the hexagrams came into being first; then came the statements based on the Images. This is the so-called “observing the images and then attaching the statements.”
Now that statements originated from the images, demonstrate the meanings of the images, the comprehension and interpretation must reveal the basis on which the statements were composed, explore the relationship between the images and statements. This is the so-called “observing the images and ruminating the statements”. The discipline related to this process is called the exegetical studies, which means to explain the meanings of the statements according to the historical background and language system when the text of Yi was composed, and thus to represent its original meanings and the life of its composers. But this image-based interpretation and exegetical studies could only explain the surface meanings of the statements and the composer's original meanings without dealing with the deep meanings of the text of Yi, namely, the meanings of the holy sages. The philosophical hermeneutic method is to explain the text of Yi based on the already-existing Confucian ideas, or to expound the universal meanings or thoughts with the words in Zhouyi. It is held in the Yizhuan that the sages' idea is extensive and abstruse. The book cannot include all the sages' meanings and all the words cannot convey all the meanings of the sages. However, the text of Yi is to include all the words and meanings of the sages. The Yi-ological interpretation lies in overstepping the hermeneutic method based on the images and numbers as well as the exegetical studies, which aimed at restoring the original meanings of the Change. To delve into the abstruse and explore the sages' idea (i.e. the Dao or the Dao of Change) conceived by the symbols of the hexagrams are the purpose of the Yi-ological interpretations. It seems to be difficult to realize this purpose only in the philosophical hermeneutic approach because according to the Yizhuan, the true philosophical comprehension of the Change is not unilateral, namely, stimulation-response is not a passively-receiving process, but a process of actively-moving the other side, just as the emergence of things originated from the intercourse of heaven and earth, the social harmony came from the inter-communication of the king and his subjects, the younger generations are products of the male and the female. It is a process of inter-attraction and interaction of the two sides. The Xi Ci (Great Treatise) depicted the process of comprehension based on the stimulation-response between the interpreters and the text of Change:
Therefore the superior man, whenever he has to make or do something, consults the Changes. It takes up his communications like an echo; neither far nor near, neither dark nor deep exist for it, and thus he learns of the things of the future. If this book were not the most spiritual thing on earth, how could it do this? The three and five operations are undertaken in order to obtain a change. Divisions and combinations of the numbers are made. If one proceeds through the changes, they complete the forms of heaven and earth. If the number of changes is increased to the utmost, they determine all images on earth. If this were not the most changing things on earth, how could it do this? The Changes have no consciousness, no action; they are quiescent and do not move. But if they are stimulated, they penetrate all situations under heaven. If they were not the most divine thing on earth, how could they do this? The Changes are what has enabled the holy sages to reach all depths and to grasp the seeds of all things. Only through what is deep can one penetrate all wills on earth. Only through the seeds can one complete all affairs on earth. Only through the divine can one hurry without haste and reach the goal without walking.
These words originally explicate the property and process of divination conceived in the Zhouyi. Although the text of Change neither think, nor behave, nor move, through the process of interchanges of the Yin and Yang and the changes of the deducing numbers, Man can communicate with heaven, just like echoes, decide the images and foretell the auspicious and the ominous. And then he can have a thorough knowledge of all things. Obviously, this process of divination starts with the holy “yarrow stalks” without which man and heaven cannot communicate with each other, and Man can not have the thorough knowledge of all things. However, this process is not completed by the mere holy “yarrow stalks”, in that Man and the text of Change are indispensable. The holy “yarrow stalks” is the holy thing, intelligent but unconscious; the text of Change neither thinks, nor behaves, and nor moves, whereas Man, originated from the intercourse of heaven and earth, is the primate of all things. Man is not only the creator of the Change, but also the key to his communication with other things, as it says in the Xi Ci (Great Treatise): “The spirituality and clarity depend upon the right man.” “If you are not the right man, the Dao of the Change will not manifest itself to you.” Therefore, divination is substantially Man's comprehension of the text of the Change with the “yarrow stalks” as the medium, and is Man's perception of the world with the help of the text of the Change.
In the Yizhuan this comprehension is usually called “communication”. But what is communication? It asserts in the Xi Ci (Great Treatise): “Communication means constant going and coming,” “To practice Dao complying with the changes is called communication.” Metaphysically communication refers to the constant process of deduction, stimulation, collision, intercourse and harmony of the Yin and Yang. As far as its hermeneutics is concerned, “communication” refers to the infiltration and fusion between the interpreter and the text of Yi, and the fusion between the universal Dao contained in the text of the Change and the human nature and its original views, which is manifested in the inner world of the interpreter. In other words, what is manifested in the inner world of the interpreter is the very Dao in the text of the Change showing its benevolence and concealing its functions. Communication means the mutual presentation and interpretation between the interpreter and the text of the Change. It is so just because the Changes is a book reflecting the communication among all things. The images are from the imitation of nature and the communication between the sages and nature. It says in the Xi Ci (Great Treatise): “The holy sages were able to survey all the movements under heaven. They contemplated the way in which these movements met and became interrelated, to take their course according to eternal laws. Then they appended statements, to distinguish between the good fortune and misfortune indicated. These were called the line statements.”
According to the Yizhuan (Commentaries on the Text of the Change), “communication” refers to the stimulation-response between the interpreter and the text of Change, which finds expression in knowing seeds and mystery. Seeds refer to the state of sprouting and the first indications of auspiciousness or ominousness, as it says in the Xi Ci (Great Treatise): “To know the seeds, that is divine indeed. In his association with those above him, the superior man does not flatter. In his association with those beneath him, he is not arrogant, for he knows the seeds. The seeds are the first imperceptible beginning of movement, the first trace of goof fortune (or misfortune) that shows itself. The superior man perceives the seeds and immediately takes action. He does not wait even a whole day.” This is shown in Yizhuan with Yan Hui as the example: “Yan Hui is one who had surely attained it. If he has fault, never fails to recognize it; having recognized it, he never commits the error a second time.” Actually, “knowing the seeds” does not only refer to a man's moral self-examination and actions, but also refer to the mysterious state in which the interpreter and the text of Change “stimulate each other and penetrate all things under heaven,” then the interpreter was suddenly enlightened and reached the goal without any haste. This state is the so-called “empathetic state”. According to Mr. Meng Peiyuan's蒙培元understanding, “empathy” functions as mystifying things, it is the reflection of both the substantial Dao and the spirit-like quality of Man. “Being quiescent and unmoving” describes the manifestation of Dao (Way), while “penetrating all situations under heaven as stimulated” refers to the spirit-like state. “The spirit possesses nor form” shows its dynamicity，nevertheless, the function of Man's heart/mind reflects Man's spirit, as “the spirituality and clarity depend upon the right man”. As Mr. Meng Peiyuan asserted, “The spirit of heaven and earth and that of Man can communicate with each other. To plumb the spirit of the changes of the myriad things is to realize the spirit of Man. This is what the Yi zhuan called ‘communication in the stimulation-response.' Here, it does not mean to know the other side from one's own side, it means to communicate with each other, namely, ‘knowing the quality of spirit'.” This state is the state of “Knowing both the seeds and the manifested, both the Soft and the Hard”, “knowing the circumstances of the dark and the light”, “knowing the lessons of birth and of death”, and “knowing the conditions of outgoing and returning spirits.” Here, it should be pointed out that in the Yizhuan the comprehension and interpretation, namely, the process from stimulation and response to the realization of the seeds and the spirit, is accomplished instantly, since “only arriving at the state of spirituality, can one hurry without haste and reach the goal without walking”, which reveals the rapidity of the communication between the interpreter and the text of Yi. This is difficult to figure out and beyond the expectation of ordinary people. As a matter of fact, this is a unique comprehension and interpretation in the sense of intuition.
III. Substance of Comprehension and Interpretation: Fusion of Horizons of the Past and Future, Manifestation and Minute, Metaphysical Dao and Physical Issues
The substance of comprehension and interpretation based on the stimulation-response between heaven and Man, between the interpreter and the text of Yi is the fusion of horizons of the past and future, manifestation and minute. As far as the interpreter is concerned, the fusion of vision of the past and future is not completely determined by the meaning of the text of Yi, it is but a kind of view relied on different individual talents and knowledge construction. This view is called “Benevolence” and “Wisdom”. It says in the Xi Ci (Great Treatise):
The constant changes of the two contradictory sides (Yin and Yang) reveal the Dao (Way). What succeeds this Dao is called Goodness (shan,善), and that which accomplish this Dao is called human nature (性). The benevolent people comprehend Dao according to the benevolent part of it, while the wise people comprehend it according to the wise part of it. The ordinary people applied it to their everyday life without knowing it. Therefore, seldom had the full implications of Dao bee known to people.
It can be deduced that the implications of Dao are quite certain, including the Yin and Yang, manifested as “Benevolence” and “Wisdom”. The Yin means quietness and honesty and is considered as “Benevolence”; the Yang means constancy and striving and is considered as “Wisdom”. Due to the two aspects (“Benevolence” and “Wisdom”) contained in Dao itself, and the individual differences in talents, the interpretation of Dao is either benevolence-oriented or wisdom-oriented, or neutral, which led to three trends in the comprehension and interpretation of the Dao: the benevolence-oriented interpreted Dao as the Dao of benevolence, the wisdom-oriented interpreted Dao as the Dao of wisdom, while the laboring people applied it to their everyday life without knowing it. The ideas of the Benevolent and the Wise indicate respectively the existence of the prior understanding and admit the reasonableness of the different interpretations of Yi, and thus further demonstrate that the fusion of vision is that of the already-existing ideas and the benevolence and wisdom (the Yin and Yang) of the text of Yi. The different views of interpreters are “the past and manifestation”, the benevolence and wisdom of the text before it communicated with the interpreters are “the future and minute”. The stimulation-response and communication between the interpreter and the text of Yi realized the fusion of the interpreter and the text of Yi.
The text of Yi contains the sage's wisdom, “The nature of the hexagrams is righteousness and wisdom”，“Wisdom can contain all the knowledge obtained in the past.” This wisdom refers to the implications of the Dao of heaven and earth or the sage's implications contained in the symbols of the 64 hexagrams and the words affiliated to them, as the Xi Ci (Great Treatise) asserts:
The names employed are manifold but not superfluous. When we examine their kinds, thoughts about the decline of an era come to mind. The Changes illumine the past and interpret the future. They disclose that which is hidden and open that which is dark. They distinguish things by means of suitable names. Then, when the right words and decisive judgments are added, everything is complete. The names employed sound unimportant, but the possibilities of application are great. The meanings are far-reaching, the judgments are well ordered. The words are roundabout but they hit the mark. Things are openly set forth, but they contain also a deeper secret.
According to the authors of the Yizhuan, the statements of the Zhouyi refer to different things: the names of the hexagrams are various and contain far-reaching significance, but they do not exceed their philosophical meanings. What the Zhouyi reflected is the declining of the Shang dynasty. Therefore, the content of the Zhouyi is full of auspiciousness and ominousness, dangers and changes, and their interchanges. “This is why the judgments of the book so frequently warn against danger. He who is conscious of danger creates peace for himself; he who takes things lightly creates his own downfall. The Dao of this book is great. It omits none of the hundred things. It is concerned about beginning and end, and it is encompassed in the words ‘without blame.' This is the Dao of the Changes.”
What is implied in the Yi is shown by the images, and what is recorded is clear and easy to be understood. So the symbols and the matters recorded by the statements belong to “the manifested”, while the implied Dao of Yi belongs to “the minute”. Mr. Feng Youlan 冯友兰 (1895-1990) once compared the Image of Yi to the mathematic formulae, which is manifested but expresses the abstruse Dao of Yi. He said: “Yi contains different formulae, and each of them expresses one or more Dao. All the formulae can fully express all the Daos in the Change.” In Mr. Feng's opinion, the images belong to the manifested, while the Dao of Yi is the minute just as what he pointed out: “The Zhouyi is the book which indicates the past deeds and foresees the future changes. The mathematic formulae are the manifested, what they express is the minute.” The words affiliated to the images and lines are the manifested, and the Dao conceived in the words is the implied. “The manifested might be close to us and easy to be understood, while the implied might be far from us and difficult to be comprehended. Therefore, ‘the meanings are far-reaching.' The statements usually not directly express things, so this expression may refer other meanings. Hence the words in the Xi Ci (Great Treatise): ‘The words are roundabout but they hit the mark.' What the statements imply might be the matters, but what they express is the Dao. So ‘things are openly set forth, but they contain also a deeper secret'.” Therefore, the relationship between the text of Yi and the Dao implied is the relationship between the manifested and the minute.
Obviously, the Dao of Yi is abstruse, quiet, and invisible. Compared with the text of Yi and even the concrete physical matters, the Dao of Change is the concealed and the minute. But when used to perceive and explain the constant changing things, it is the already-existing. On this point, it is also the past and the manifested. Zhu Xi朱熹(1130-1200), a great Neo-Confucian in the Song Dynasty, once compared the Dao of Change to a clear mirror: “Yi is like a mirror.” This showed that the Dao of Yi is the past and the manifested, while what is about to happen and what is unknown are the future and the minute just as what is mentioned in the Yizhuan: “The seeds are the first imperceptible beginning of movement, the first trace of good fortune (or misfortune) that shows itself.”
Therefore, the fusion of the horizons of this “past” and “future” is not only the fusion of the “Benevolence” and “Wisdom” of the interpreter and the text of Yi itself, but also the thorough fusion of the old and the new, the past and the future. This fusion is reached when the interpreter studied the text of Yi from a traditional point and deduced the new from the old to manifest the sage's wisdom and observe and foretell the future with the sage's wisdom contained in the text of Yi. This is what is mentioned in the Xi Ci (Great Treatise): “The superior man knows what is hidden and what is evident. He knows weakness, he knows strength as well. Hence the myriads look up to him.” According to this, it can be deduced that the comprehension and interpretation of Yizhuan is actually the process of the fusion of horizons of the past and future, the manifested and minute, the metaphysical Dao and physical matters.
IV. The Ultimate Aim of Comprehension and Interpretation: Mutual Interpretation and Demonstration of the Interpreter's Life and the Dao of Yi
Superficially, comprehension and interpretation starts with the innate meanings of the hexagrams and lines explained from the aspects of images and numbers and the exegetics, and ends with the philosophical explanation of the sages' idea. Explaining the sages' idea means that the interpreter and the text of Yi will stimulate and respond mutually, hence realizing the fusion of horizons of the past and future, of the manifested and the minute, and of the old and new. However, It is no so. When we ask further the question “What is the aim of explaining the sages' idea?” we can find that the ultimate aim of the comprehension and interpretation conceived in the Yizhuan is mutual interpretation and demonstration of the interpreter's life and the Dao of Yi. Man, as a living existence, comprehended and interpreted the sages' meanings by means of observing the image and studying the statements, imitating the nature and realizing the Dao of Yi; And then, Man gradually lost the acquired habits, desires and emotions, thus to be mixed with the nature and become a part of the nature, and at last to be unified with the nature. This is a state presented in the comprehension and interpretation which showed the mutual stimulation and response between heaven and man, the interpreter and the text of Yi, and the mutual interpretation and demonstration of the life and the Dao of Yi. Xi Ci (The Great Treatise) depicted such a kind of state:
It reveals Dao and renders nature and action divine. Therefore with its help we can meet everything in the right way, and with its help can even assist the gods themselves.
The man who can reveal the Dao and renders nature and action divine is a man who knows the Dao of Yi well and helps spread it and behaves like gods. This refers to the mutual comprehension, interpretation and demonstration between the interpreter's life and the Dao of Yi included in the text of Yi. As far as the interpreter is concerned, the comprehension was realized through the mutual stimulation-response and communication between the interpreter and the text of Yi. But the text of Yi was composed by the sages, containing the sages' idea, the comprehension and interpretation of the text of Yi is to interpret the full meanings of the sages' idea, emotions and discourses. Thus, it can be said that to comprehend and interpret the text of Yi is to comprehend the interpreter himself. In other words, the comprehension and interpretation of the text of Yi, from a new point of vision, is the re-presentation of the interpreter's constant living and unselfish innate virtues received from the Dao of Yi. Just with such attributions and virtues can the interpreter's life be blended with the nature and passed on endlessly. On this point, the comprehension and interpretation of the text of Yi is not only a process of the interpreter's self-acknowledgement, self-discovery and the self-demonstration of human activities, but also a process of the interpreter's self-enhancement, self-transcendence and self-perfection.
This process is just the process of self-comprehension, self-interpretation and self- demonstration of the Dao of Yi. The text of Yi was the spiritual composition of the sages, while the sages, like the ordinary people, came from the intercourse of the Yin and Yang of the Dao of Yi, inheriting the good and developing it into virtues. What human beings received is the attributions of the Yin and Yang of the Dao of Yi, as Mr. Meng Peiyuan蒙培元 said: “Metaphysically, the existence of human beings embodies the generating virtues of heaven and earth. The constant generating is called the change. The great virtue of heaven and earth is called generation. The existence of human beings embodies the aim of nature.” The text of Yi came from the sages' simulation of the natural attributions of heaven and earth, namely, the sages' idea contained in the text was not fabricated by the sages, but was the prevailing Dao of Yi or the Dao of Yin-Yang of heaven and earth. The reason why the sages were the sages lies in the point that the sages were perfect, bright and pure, unified with the Dao (or the Dao of Yi) and were the embodiment of the Dao. Therefore, Born with the Dao, the interpreter's comprehension and interpretation of the text of Yi is indeed the self-comprehension and self-interpretation the Dao itself: Human beings are from the Dao or the Dao of Yi which entrusted humanity to human beings; Human beings' comprehension of Dao is the Dao's self-reflection and self-comprehension. So, the process of the comprehension and interpretation of the Dao of Yi is the process of mutual interpretation and manifestation of the interpreter's life and the Dao of Yi—the life process of manifesting the virtues of the Dao of Yi. Hence the words “Therefore with its help we can meet everything in the right way, and with its help can even assist the gods themselves.”
V. Hermeneutic Features of the Yizhuan: Incorporation of Creation and Itineration, of Rationality and Intuition, of Methodical and Philosophical Interpretations
The Yi-ological interpretation is a kind of interpretation of classics which can not be done without the text. Zhouyi originally is a book of divination, while Yizhuan treated it in two ways: on one hand, Yizhuan agreed that the text of Yi is for divination, explaining some theoretical issues such as the form of divination, its basis and functions; on the other hand, Yizhuan found some discoures of the sages in the text of Yi, namely, the so-called the Dao of King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty and its cultivating functions shown in practices “to make the hard people know fears, the soft know firmness, foolish men conduct action by the discourses, and false persons abandon their cheating.” Thus Yizhuan comprehended and interpreted the text of Yi initiatively, and transformed the discourse system in unique Confucian horizons, and changed the nature of the text of Yi from a book of divination to a book of morality, wisdom and philosophy which marked the establishment of the comparatively mature hermeneutics of Yi in ancient China, which is considered as the model of the ancient Chinese hermeneutics. This is the hermeneutics of the Yizhuan, it is also the unique hermeneutics in ancient China. The hermeneutics of Yizhuan in fact has already had the meaning of the Western philosophical hermeneutics. For example, the idea of “stimulation-response and communication” conceived in Yizhuan is much similar to Gadamer's “fusion of horizons.” Gadamer once said: “In fact, comprehension is always such processes of fusion of horizons which are misunderstood as existing alone.” The point different from the Western philosophical hermeneutics is that the comprehension and interpretation of Yizhuan always has a shroud of mystery and irrationality. Although the “stimulation-response and communication” and the “manifestation of Dao” expressed in Yizhuan have some meaning of comprehension, strictly speaking, it is not the Western comprehension and fusion of horizons. In most cases, it is the deification of the divinations based on the “righteousness and wisdom” of the text of Yi and the “mysterious changes of the yarrow stalks”. In such an irrational, mysterious discourse system, the comprehension and interpretation is a kind of mysterious, intuitional thinking and instant realization, namely, a process of communications between Man and heaven, between Man and gods with the help of some obscure supernatural forces. Therefore, the hermeneutics of Yizhuan is a kind of hermeneutics shrouded by a kind of mystery.
The idea held in Yizhuan that “different interpreters comprehended and interpreted the text of Yi differently” (The author gave a detailed exposition in another article.) is similar to Heidegger's “Vorsicht (lit., prior view)” or Gadamer's “Vorurteil (lit., prior understanding).” Heidegger held that comprehension and interpretation were always based on the prior construction. As a key element of the prior construction, the “prior view” was the starting point of comprehension and interpretation. “Interpretation has always been based on prior view” Gadamer pointed out that the key condition among all the hermeneutic conditions is always the prior understanding originating from the existence relative to the same thing. It is this prior understanding that decided what could be realized as a unified meaning, and thus decided the application of the preholding completion. As mentioned above, Gadamer sometimes called the prior understanding of the new comprehension based on such a prior understanding “prejudice”. The “prior understanding” held by Heidegger and Gadamer refers to the people's concept, viewpoints and the way of thinking formed during a long period of time. “Prejudice” refers to the comprehension and interpretation based on the knowledge already acquired. However, the idea held in Yizhuan that “different interpreters comprehended and interpreted the text of Yi differently” refers to the innate, rational knowledge or moral knowledge which restricts the interpreter's orientation of comprehension and interpretation.
From the content interpreted in Yizhuan, it can be concluded that “microscopically, different comprehensions and interpretations must inevitably end in the interpretation itineration because the basic content of the Dao is the Yin and Yang which is clear, definite and can not be confused, and the interpreter was born with some attribution of the Dao, then no matter how concrete and open the interpretation is, the comprehension and interpretation can not go beyond the Dao's meanings of Yin and Yang, benevolence and wisdom. More accurately, Confucian hermeneutics of Yi is the Dao's self-interpretation itineration.” This interpretation itineration is similar to Dilthey's hermeneutics. According to Dilthey, “Comprehension has always been together with the life process itself.” The interpreter always comprehends and interprets the works with his personal experience. Life exists in the nature of experience expression. So, Dilthey's comprehension is a self-comprehension, a kind of comprehension itineration. The point the hermeneutics of Yizhuan differs from the Western hermeneutics is that the former is not only the interpreter's interpretation itineration, but also the itineration of the Dao of Yi. Therefore, the hermeneutics of Yizhuan is the mixture of creation and itineration.
The hermeneutics of Yizhuan stresses the methods of comprehension and interpretation, especially the methods based on images and numbers, philosophical meanings and exegetic studies. The early Western technologies of the self shared the same points, namely, paying attention to the methods and stressing the texts.. Yet, Yizhuan neither restricted itself to the interpretation methods, nor aimed at establishing interpretation methodology. With philology as its foundation, methods as its route, moral (or philosophical) interpretation as its aim, hermeneutics of Yizhuan transformed the interpretation of the text of Yi from the divinatory interpretation to moral (or philosophical) interpretation. This creative Yi-ological hermeneutics has something in common with the Western psychological hermeneutics. Certainly, hermeneutics of Yizhuan is different from the philosophical hermeneutics based on a strict, logical system. Gadamer's hermeneutics rejects method interpretation, holding that “the interpretation phenomenon, originally, is not a methodological problem, it does not involve the comprehension method which, unlike all the other experienced objects, makes the original text bear some scientific explorations. Generally speaking, it is not at all a kind of definite knowledge which is to construct and meet the need of a certain scientific methodological ideal.”[5]P17 Therefore, from the method to philosophy, Yizhuan is a book of Yi-ological hermeneutics with philosophical interpretation as its aim, different from Western hermeneutics.
