CHEN Qi-zhi

(Institute for Confucianism, Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, Jinan 250002, China )

Translated by ZHANG Wen-zhi ¹ LIU Li-juan ²

• 1. Center for Zhouyi & Ancient Chinese Philosophy, Shandong University , Jinan 250100, China

•  2.Foreign Languages Department, Taishan College , Taian 271000, China )                              

 

Abstract: To judge which academic school of thought a classic is attributed to, we must, at first, analyze its highest category and core idea, and secondly, investigate its academic inclination to see where it would just lead the society to, and at last, examine its correlation with historical documents. On these principles, we can conclude without any doubt that Yi zhuan (the Commentaries on the Book of Changes) should be classified to classics of Confucianism. The same elements between Yi zhuan and Daoist school of the Yellow Emperor & Lao zhi and J -xia school asserted by Mr. CHEN Gu-ying just reflect Yi zhuan 's influence on the two schools of Daoism, but not vice versa.

Key words: Yi zhuan ; school of thought; Confucianism; Daoist school

 

The book of Yi zhuan and the Thought of the Daoist School written by Mr. CHEN Gu-ying caused a great stir in the academic circle in recent years. In the past thousands of years, besides of Yi Jing ( the Book of Change ), Yi zhuan (also called the Ten Wings , the Commentaries affiliated to Yi Jing , the Text) has undoubtedly been considered a Confucian classic. But Mr. CHENG Gu-ying asserted that the ideology implicated in Yi zhuan belongs to Daoism. Thus did he melt the distinction between the two evident Chinese philosophical schools: Confucianism and Daoism. In his opinion, Confucian thoughts in Yi zhuan were melted into that of Daoism, making people unable to know where the former goes. And in this way, from generation to generation, down passers of Yi , from XUN Qing (313-230 BC), YANG Xiong (53 BC-18), to ZHOU Du-yi (1017-1073), SHAO Yong (1011-1077), and ZHU Xi (1130-1200), would all be put under the list of scholars of Daoism. Therefore, under Mr. CHEN's vision, Confucian scholars became vague figures just wearing Confucian costumes: only deliver preach of benevolence and virtue without any philosophical edification!

All chapters in the work were run through the theme of “the ideology of Daoism is the main stem of traditional Chinese culture”. In the beginning when Mr. CHEN came to the mainland of China , he had asserted that it was not deep and thorough for mainland scholars to criticize Confucian thoughts and thus need to deepen the criticism. This was not enough, for the best way to stop water from boiling is to withdraw the burning firewood, Mr. Chen set forth that “the ideology of Daoism is the main stem of traditional Chinese culture”. Moreover, for there is no construction without destruction, Mr. CHEN displayed a series of

 

expounding to prove that Yi zhuan reflects thoughts of Daoism. His endeavors and inference had influenced the academic circle so vastly that scholars contended for a sight of his writings.

OU-YANG Xiu (1007-1072), a famous scholar of the Song Dynasty, had once questioned the compilation time of Yi zhuan . And then it had been considered a suspending question all the time. The time inferred differs from the late Spring & Autumn period, to the earlier, middle, or late Warring States period. All scholars had demonstrated their convincible proof. Mr. CHEN borrowed a scholar's inference of the school of suspecting ancient China's history and maintains that Yi zhuan was compiled in the late period of the Warring States, making Yi zhuan come into being not only later than Zhuang zi and Mencius but also later than Guan zi . For the same purpose, to make his inference convincible, Mr. CHEN adopted Mr. TANG Lan's viewpoint that texts of Jing fa copied on silk excavated at Ma-wang-dui in Hunan province were compiled in the earlier to middle Warring States period, while texts of Yi Zhi Yi ( 《易之义》 , Connotations of Yi ) and Yao ( 《要》 , Essentials ) were concluded to be compiled after the burning of the (Confucian) books in the Qin Dynasty. A general principle for ideology development is that later compiled work tends to adopt thoughts from earlier compiled ones. In addition with Mr. CHEN's ingenious writing with exquisite description, as well as his deliberate demonstration, he set forth his novelty. Albeit this, I still has many suspects which I would like to raise here to seek Mr. CHEN and other experts' view on the paper's opinion.

 

•  On the completed time of Xi Ci zhuan and its connotations

 

At first, let us engage in a textual research on the compilation time of Yi zhuan .

Since OU-YANG Xiu raised: “ Xi Ci was not composed by Confucius”, the compilation time of Yi zhuan became an outstanding issue difficult to get a final conclusion. So far, the most prevalent opinion insists on the time of the late Warring States period, prudent opinion on the middle Warring States period, with only few scholars maintaining the late Spring & Autumn period when Confucius was living. So, the compilation time in all opinions was not clearly demarcated. An issue worthy of being noticed is whether the time they maintained refers to the time of the texts' origin, spreading, being composed, or the time of its being bond into volume and being compiled. All these aspects ought to be clarified without any ambiguous sayings such as coming into form, coming into being and so on in a perfunctory manner. Otherwise, endless argument will never come to an agreement. Nevertheless, I favor that we ought not, only by few characters, to repudiate accepted opinions based on credible history. In my opinion, earlier than Mencius and Zhuang zi 's coming into being, Yi zhuan was originated from Confucius, began to take shape from Confucius to SHANG Ju, one of his disciples, spread at the turn of the Spring & Autumn period and the Warring States period, was bond into volume or compiled in the earlier Warring States period. Collecting views extensively, I demonstrate my argument as follows:

Zhouyi was originally a book of divination. Till the Spring & Autumn period, beyond divination, people began to analyze the hexagrams' images and make interpretations with their philosophical connotations. For instance, according to records in Zuo zhuan ( Zuo's Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals ) , in the 22 nd year during the reign of the Duke Zhuang of the state of Lu, a historiographer brought Zhouyi with him and paid a visit to Marquis of Chen. They made a divination with Zhouyi and got the hexagram of Guan (Contemplation) transforming into the hexagram of Pi (Stagnation). He analyzed the relevant Yao Ci (remarks attached to specific lines of a hexagram, hereafter we call it line remarks) as: “ guang (radiation) betokens honors will be brought to your family by him long after. Kun (the lower trigram of the hexagram of Guan ) symbolizes earth; Xun (the upper trigram of the hexagram of Guan ) symbolizes wind; Qian (the upper trigram of the hexagram of Pi ) symbolizes heaven. Wind (the image of the upper trigram of Guan ) transforms into heaven over the earth, the mountain (the image of Ken formed from the 3 rd to the 5 th line of the hexagram of Guan ). (It delivers the connotation of that) the woods (image of Xun ) on the mountain irradiated by the sun shining, and reside on the earth. These images deciphers the line remark of that: ‘look at the splendor (radiation) of the nation, it is advantageous to be the king's guest'.” A great number of divination cases with image analysis in Zuo's Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals and Guoyu ( Remarks of Monarchs ) exposed that at that time people had felt dissatisfied with the oracle from line remarks alone, they need interpretations of the whys. It was not important how this kind of analysis was similar with Yi zhuan later completed, it was important that this need met the universal social demand to seek philosophical connotations from images and line remarks in Zhouyi . Moreover, similar monograph of this kind had then emerged. It was recorded in Zuo's Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals that, when Han Xuanzhi was visiting the state of Lu, he found two books: Yi Images and the Spring and Autumn Annals of (the State of) Lu in a historiographer's work place, and sighed in admiration: “I know the Duke of Zhou's virtues and why Zhou enjoyed public support and gained the state power.” ( 2 nd year during the reign of the Duke Zhao of the state of Lu ) DU Yu, the annotator of Zuo's Commentaries , maintains Yi Images refers to the chapter of Image in Zhouyi . But Zhouyi was also circulating in the state of Jin then. If there were no creative interpretations, HAN Xuanzhi would not express his praise in such admiration. Mr. LI Xue-qin, a modern eminent scholar on ancient documents in China , asserts: “ Yi Images ought to be a book elaborating images of the trigrams or hexagrams.” 1 Social demands and earlier documents are enough to prove that Yi zhuan came into being at the end of the late Spring & Autumn Period. Next is to clarify the relationship between Yi zhuan and Confucius.

Ancient texts and books have enough records about and many scholars of the pre-Qin times had referred to Confucius' sorting out and teaching the Six Classics including Zhouyi . This is not easy to be totally denied. (By Shi ji , the Historical Records: the Author's Preface , “Confucian scholars take the Six Classics as their norms. And the Six Classics have been passed down to thousands and millions of people.”) “The Six Classics are permeated with one dominating spirit. While, the Rites stresses moderating behavior; the Book of Music is to voice out harmony; the Book of History is to guide (how to deal with) issues; the Book of Poetry is to express feelings; the Book of Change ( Yi ) is to expound the essence of unpredictable changes; the Spring and Autumn Annals is to manifest justice.” ( Historical Records: Biographies of amusing figures ) The problem is, in sorting out and teaching the Six Classics, whether Confucius, like he himself said, only retold the works of his predecessors without contributing new ideas or not. What he said is a fact or a self-depreciatory expression? I believe it has the both at the same time. The former four classics mentioned above were all written before Confucius, only the Spring and Autumn Annals was composed by Confucius, for Mencius said: “Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals , making traitors and usurpers fear”. In some people's opinion, this kind of composition is only a kind of revise and finalization. But the norms for revise and principles for the introduction and guide to the book could not be done by others except Confucius, for they need an ideological prop at the back. It is indeed as what Mr. CHEN said that concepts of benevolence and justice had come into being before Confucius was born, but it was Confucius who made these concepts ascending to a philosophical level, and based upon them, founded an academic system. It is just like that, although the character of “Dao” emerged before the day of Lao zi, it is not an obstacle for Lao zi to enjoy the reputation of being the founder of Daoism. Therefore, Confucius' teaching benevolence and justice was accompanied with contributing new ideas. So it is with his revising the Yi , the Rites , the Book of Poetry , as well as the Book of History . Retelling ought not to be understood as a reciting, it is a recounting. Recounting is inseparable from metaphor and analogy, aiming at elaborating profound philosophical connotations. So, this kind of retelling is also a kind of setting forth new ideas. It seemed that at that time writing only referred to writing the classics, but why did people say Confucius only wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals , but not say he wrote Yi zhuan and even the books of Poetry, History, Rites and Music? Though it is no doubt that these five classics were written by earlier sages, for, according to certain records, King Wen of Zhou wrote the Book of Changes, the Duke of Zhou wrote the Book of Music and the (Book of) Rites , legendary has it that the Book of Poetry was also written by other sages earlier than Confucius. It is evident that Confucius was self-depreciatory. More importantly, these classics regarded as canons by Confucian scholars lack of social and historical views, so they need Confucius' revision. His revision to the Spring and Autumn Annals was a great composition comparable with the writing of the other classics, and so Mencius said the Spring and Autumn Annals was “written” by Confucius. As for the other five classics, Confucius only touched them up. So it is with Yi zhuan . But Confucius' recounting of Yi certainly was accompanied with his recreation.

The chapter of Shu Er in the Analects of Confucius records: “ Confucius said: ‘let me live longer for several years, (even if I) began to study Yi from at the age of 50, I would have no big faults'”. The Chapter of Zi Lu gave an account of Confucius' quoting remarks from Yi : “Confucius said: ‘Southern people have said, if one is not persevering, he can not be a witch doctor', what a good saying! Confucius said: ‘(one who does) not persevering in accomplishing him/herself with virtues will have to bear humiliation', this can be known without divination.” This directly proved that Confucius had studied Yi and was inclined to Yi 's philosophical connotations. Doctor DENG Li-guang pointed out that the Chapter of Xian Wen records: “Confucius said: ‘one who holds no official does not discuss official business or affairs'. Zeng Zi complemented: ‘the superior man's thought will not be beyond his position'.” Zeng Zi's complementation was just a quotation from the Image of the hexagram of Ken : “Double mountains, Ken, (inspired and enlightened by the image,) the superior man's thought will not be beyond his position”. 2 Unless the Image had come into being when Zeng Zi was living, the complementation must be quoted from Confucius' commentaries on Yi . The Hereditary House of the Family of Confucius in the Historical Records indicates: “Confucius began to be fond of Yi in his old age, and arranged the Judgment , Xi Ci (the Great Treatise), the Image , Shuogua (the Treatise of Remarks on the trigrams) and Wenyan (the Remarks on the First and Second Hexagrams) in order. He studied Yi so hard and diligently that the leather thongs binding the bamboo slips on which the book was inscribed were broken three times. (Confucius) said: ‘If there would be several years added to me, I would have mastered the quintessence of Yi well.'” Both the Biographies of Confucius' Disciples and the Biographies of Academic Scholars in the Historical Records accounted that Confucius passed down Yi to SHANG Qu, from SHANG Qu to TIAN He (of the Western Han Dynasty) in the State of Qi passed 6 generations, TIAN passed it down to YANG He born in Zi Chuan. It is a very clear imparting tree. According to the Author's Preface in the Historical Records , SI-MA Tan, SI-MA Qian's father, studied Yi from YANG He. SI-MA Qian inherited his father's learning, so his accounts on Yi must have its original basis. If these records are unreliable, what will be reliable? Moreover, SI-MA Qian only mentioned eight wings of the Judgment (I, II), Xi Ci (I, II), the Image (I, II), Shuogua , Wenyan of Yi zhuan , the other two wings of Zagua (the Treatise on the Hexagrams Taken Promiscuously, According to the Opposition or Diversity of Their Meaning) and Xugua (the Orderly Sequence of the Hexagrams) were not mentioned. In addition, He put a character of Xu (literally, arrange something in order) before the eight wings. Xu means originate, order. According to Er Ya (literally, Near to Correctness , earliest Chinese dictionary compiled between 221 B.C. -220 A .D.), Xu means beginning. This exposed that these eight wings were originated from but not completed by Confucius. ( Orthodoxy Meanings of Zhouyi compiled under the emperor's order by KONG Ying-da, a famous scholar in the Tang Dynasty, indicates: “ Xu refers to the part of Xugua ”, thus the whole sentence is difficult to make sense, so I would not follow this interpretation.)

According to the sigh with regret of “it is difficult to know of Confucius' view on (human) nature and the way of heaven” ( the Analects of Confucius: Gong Ye-chang ) from Zi Gong, one of Confucius' disciples, it can be seen that, for Confucius' ordinary disciples, they could only receive and know “Confucius' views on morality and virtues”. As for “(human) nature and the way of heaven” are concerned, on account of their profoundness, they belong to a special learning. When he interprets this sigh, ZHU Xi set forth that “Confucius taught disciples probably in different manner and with different contents”, so, some of his disciples were unable to know nature and the way of heaven”. ( The Collected Annotations on the Four Books . The four books refer to the four major Confucian classics: the Great Learning , the Doctrine of Mean , the Analects of Confucius and Mencius ) According to Confucius' teaching a person in accordance with his aptitude, profound classics as Yi and the Spring and Autumn Annals might be taught to classes with certain disciples, like research class, with necessary discussions. There might be no drafts or texts for the class, yet, there might be related notes about Confucius' views and experience in studying Yi , as well as discussions between the teacher and disciples. Even if these contents were taught orally, and then were compiled, with some contents missed, or supplemented, or errors, all these contents had to be originated from Confucius's commentaries. Therefore, the Ten Wings ought to be a collection of Confucius' teaching and commentaries on Yi . After Confucius died, over seventy of Confucius' virtuous disciples must have discussed to sort out Confucius' edification. The sorting out of Yi zhuan and the editing of the Analects of Confucius might be at this time or a little later.

The Text and Commentaries of Zhouyi , as well as the chapters of Er San Zi Wen (Questions Asked by Some Disciples), Yao (Essentials), and Yi Zhi Yi (Connotations of Yi) copied on silk excavated at Ma-wang-dui , Hunan Province, further revealed the relation between Yi zhuan and Confucius. The Essentials records: “Confucius was fond of Yi in his old age, when he sit, he brought it in the mat; When he went out, he brought it in his baggage”. Zi Gong ( 子贡 ) doubted why Confucius was so in favor of Yi . Confucius responded that Zhouyi “remains edifications left from ancient times. I am not content with its usage, I like its remarks”. Confucius further expressed his thought: “What people of future generations suspect me may be (my love of) Yi ? I just seek virtues from it, the historical wizards and I take the same routes but reach different goals.” The chapter also indicates: “Confucius said: ‘as for Yi , I prefer its virtues and righteousness to its divination.” 3 These records not only can prove the records about Confucius loving Yi in SI-MA Qian's Historical Records made no mistake, but also can mutually corroborate the records about Confucius' sayings in Xi Ci of Zhouyi in current version. In the book of Seeking the Origin of the Text and Commentaries of Zhouyi, Mr LI Xue-qin made a comparison between and collation by the two kinds of records. Meanwhile, he points out that the sentence structure of “What people of future generations suspect me may be (my love of) Yi ?” in Yi zhuan copied on silk is similar with that of “Confucius said: ‘what people will understand me must be by (my revision of) the Spring and Autumn Annals ? And what people will reproach me should still

be (my revision of) the Spring and Autumn Annals ?” recorded in Mencius . Since the latter was Confucius' utterance on his revising the Spring and Autumn Annals , the former must be his utterance on his teaching and expanding Yi . This expansion would only be Yi zhuan interpreting line remarks in Zhouyi Confucius loves.

Mr. ZHANG Dai-nian has criticized those who limited the completed time of Yi zhuan from the Qin to the Han dynasties excessively suspected the ancient history of China . With detailed demonstration, he set forth: “the basic parts of Yi zhuan were formed from the mid to the late period of the Warring States period.” 4

Mr. LIU Da-jun made a more detailed textual research by comparing sentences and characters in Yi zhuan and those in works of Lao zi, Zhuang zi, Zi Si (Confucius' grandson) and Mencius passed down through generations, he firmly maintains “the basic parts of Yi zhuan were completed from the early to the mid of the Warring States period” and “ the Judgment , the Image , and the Remarks of Wenyan in Yi zhuan were sifted and neated by the school of Zi Si and Mencius; Xi Ci also contains thought of Zi Si and Mencius. 5

Mr. GAO Heng insists that, only interpreting meanings of the remarks affiliated to the hexagrams and the name of a hexagram, the Judgment was the first completed chapter in Yi zhuan ; the Image was the next completed chapter, for it only interprets the remarks affiliated to lines but not those to the hexagrams. Because most of the meter and rhyme scheme used in the two chapters were that used by the dialects of the state of Chu , the author ought to be Xuan Bi Zi Gong and his disciples” 6 . Meanings of the remarks attached to hexagram and those to line were the first issue to be resolved in learning Yi . So, it was impossible for Confucius and SHANG Qu not to have mentioned them. Zi Gong ( 子弓 ) learned Yi from SHANG Qu. The two chapters were probably revised by Zi Gong ( 子弓 ) according to rhymes of the dialects of Chu. Xun zi (312-230 BC) would simultaneously praise Confucius and Zi Gong ( 子弓 ) as “sages” and “great scholars”. This can adequately manifest the origin of Zi Gong's Yi learning. If it were Xuan Bi Zi Gong who completed the two chapters, it would be unnecessary to stress where he received Yi learning from. Besides, genres and sentence patterns adopted in ancient books written in the early Warring States period, such as: Fang Ji , the Doctrine of the Mean , Biao Ji , Zi Yi , and Shen Yi written by Zi Si and collected in Li Ji (Records of the Rituals), are much similar with those adopted in Wen Yan and Xi Ci , and there exist quotations from chapters of Yi zhuan . Therefore, in writing the articles mentioned above, Zi Si imitated the writing style of Yi zhuan . According to Mr. GAO Heng's textual research, Sheng Yi in the Records of the Rituals quoted: “ Yi says: ‘the transformation of the second line of the hexagram of Kun symbolizes straightness and upright'” which originated from the Image , this can adequately demonstrate that the Image was written earlier than Shen Yi . “The heaven is in high position and the earth is in low, thus (the hexagrams of) Qian and Kun's positions are established” and the following 22 sentences appeared in the Records of Music written by Gong Sun Ni Zi adopted the certain part in Xi Ci and made a little adaptation. Because Xuan Bi Zi Gong, Zi Si and Gong Sun Ni Zi belong to Confucius' “72 brilliant disciples”, and according to the inferences of the scholars mentioned

above, it can be seen that the completed time of Yi zhuan would not be later than the earlier Warring States period when the “72 brilliant disciples” were living.

The reason for OU-YANG Xiu's suspecting the author of Yi zhuan to be Confucius is that he held: “ Yi and the Spring and Autumn Annals ( Yi must be a wrongly written character) were written by Confucius. The briefer the language it uses, the deeper the meaning it contains. I wonder why Yi zhuan comprises so many contradictions and unnecessary words, (so I don't believe it was written by Confucius). Though it was not the sage's works, it does not harm the connotations of Yi ”. ( Questions Asked by the Lad Learning Yi ) In OU-YANG Xiu's opinion, what Confucius wrote would only be classic books, but Yi zhuan was not only full of unnecessary words, but also displays many contradictions between different parts, so Confucius had not to complete this job. This point is over absolute, for, according to Mr. LI Ling's textual research, it is a rule for ancient books to be gradually developed into a definite shape, so we should at first confirm that (before Yi zhuan was developed into shape,) there must exist an initial draft text, which Mr. LIAO Ming-chun called original manuscript, worked out by Confucius and SHANG Qu. It was not impossible for SHANG Qu and his classmates who majored Yi learning to make simple notes and after class sort out of the discussions between Confucius and his disciples. Otherwise, how to recite and spread Confucius' commentaries? Examining what Confucius said and recorded in the Analects of Confucius , it can be seen that not all of Confucius' sayings were concisely termed with numerous connotations. For Confucius, revising the Spring and Autumn Annals is a kind of rewriting by certain rules, interpreting Yi Jing is a kind of teaching which allows more expansion of one's own ideas. Notes on this kind of teaching should be similar to Confucius' analects. Furthermore, words from the discussion were not all uttered by Confucius. Except the contents of what “Confucius said”, the other ought to be his disciples' utterance of Confucius' view. Only in this way, can “the teacher's and the disciples' utterance be mixed together”. (ibid) OU-YANG Xiu indicated: “as for what the sir said means, it refers to teacher's saying”. This was particularly mistaken. Imitating the layout of the Analects of Confucius , all contents marked with what the sir said were the notes taken down by the disciples. If they refer to a teacher's utterance, it should have marked the surname of the sir, such as ZNEG zi ( zi means sir), GONG-SUN-NI Zi and so on. All of the Confucian books in the Warring States period appealed for the spreading of Confucius' thought. Some might have made a little expansion, some might change a way of expression. Generally speaking, all of them were to express Confucius' views on Yi and Dao. As for what OU-YANG XIU indicated that for one thing, there were two, three, even five different sayings, some were to narrate different hearing, some were to comment on Yi from different angles and different levels, for instance, commentaries on the origin of the trigrams belong to the latter case. This can also demonstrates that Confucius taught Yi not only at one time and not only for one disciple. Afterwards, the notes were handed down one generation after another and separated and united several times, and finally completed in the early Warring States period. OU-YANG Xiu's mistake was that he did not know most parts of Yi zhuan were the disciples'

notes about the teacher's utterance and their expansions. Like the Analects of Confucius , Yi zhuan was not Confucius' works. Nevertheless, OU-YANG Xiu admitted, though Yi zhuan was not Confucius' utterance, “it contains the sage's inner meaning of simulating the Dao of the Heaven and Earth” (OU-YANG Xiu. Narration and Interpretation of the General Catalogue of the Imperial Library · Category of Yi ) . He also adheres that Yi zhuan emerged in the late Zhou Dynasty. These views may as well be accepted as an outstanding insight.

As for the meaning of the name of Xi Ci , because there was a Chinese character of “ Xi ” at the end of the Xi Ci zhuan copied on silk, Mr. CHEN was in doubt that Xi Ci zhuan in current version might be like the Judgment and the Image and be called Xi zhuan . He quoted the interpretation from the Annotations of the Origin of Chinese Characters (the earliest Chinese dictionary by XU Shen ( 许慎 , c.58-c.147) of the Eastern Han Dynasty) and insists that Xi ( 系 ) means sum up, finish. “ Xi was arranged in the end to summarize and give a general commentary on the connotations of the classic. This style is much like Chu Ci (anthology of poetry of the State of Chu, mainly of QU Yuan 屈原 , compiled by Liu Xiang 刘向 of the Western Han Dynasty) affiliated with the character of Luan 乱 (chaotic) at the end to sum up the whole book. WANG Yi annotated that “ 乱 ” means “ 理 ” (straighten out), to straighten out the inner meaning and summarize the essentials.” Meanwhile Mr. CHEN points out “ Xi was absolutely not the abbreviation of Xi Ci , for they are different concepts” 7 . This assumption indeed manifests his insight, but if he only bases on this and maintains that the writer did not know the meaning of Xi and changed the name of Xi Ci zhuan into Xi Ci at random, Mr. CHEN's assumption may not comply with the facts.

SI-MA Tan mentioned Xi Ci zhuan as Yi Da zhuan in his On the Essentials of the Six Schools , and thereafter Yi Da Zhuan became a general substitute for Xi Ci zhuan . But OU-YANG Xiu explained: “all the ancient classics have their Zhuan (commentaries), like Shu (the Book of History) and Li ( the Book of Rites ) still have their Zhuan so far. Here Xi Ci was called Yi Da zhuan in this way in the earlier Han Dynasty, and was still called Xi Ci in the Eastern Han Dynasty.” And he insists that Xi Ci was called Yi Da zhuan was much superior to that the former two classics mentioned have their commentaries”. Mr. ZHU Bo-kun holds “this Zhuan elaborated the essential meaning of Zhouyi , but did not interpret the ancient text sentence by sentence like the Judgment and Image ” 8 . This is why it is called Da (literally, great) Zhuan . Mr GAO Heng also indicates that the meaning of Xi Ci in Xi Ci zhuan differs from the meaning of attaching remarks to different lines of the hexagrams. But he didn't explain in detail. As a matter of fact, one Xi refers to the affiliated remarks to different lines of the hexagrams, and the other refers to the general connotations of the 384 items of affiliated remarks to the 384 lines. Because the affiliated remarks have turned out the spirit of Yi , it was reasonable to set a general summary as commentaries on the affiliated remarks. Xi Ci originally meant the characters attached to the lines of the hexagrams. With the passage of time, Xi Ci zhuan was called Xi Ci in short, like Tuan zhuan was directly called Tuan in short. So, this is the only reason for the difference between Xi Ci (affiliated

characters) to the various lines and that in Xi Ci Zhuan . Basing on this, we can judge that Yi Da zhuan (the Great Commentaries on Yi) is a philosophical writing to elaborate and expand the spirit of Yi Jing . The basis of the commentary departed completely from the images of affiliated characters, thus forming the name of Xi Ci zhuan . Zhuan also contains the meaning of conveying, i.e. honestly elaborating the original meaning of a classic. It admits the conveyor to elaborate the original meaning from different angles with different comprehension. But, inner contradiction is not admitted. For example, the three commentaries on the Spring Annals were elaborations to the Spring Annals from different aspects: ZUO's commentaries are based on the historical events, GU-LIANG's commentaries on the profound meaning it contains, while GONG-YANG's commentaries took the both into consideration. The Ten Wings were different commentaries on Yi from different angles by Confucian scholars.

 

•  On the Concept of the Dao of Heaven and Its Academic Attribution

 

According to “Zi Gong ( 子贡 ) said: Confucius' writings could be known, but his teach of (human) nature and the Dao of heaven can neither be heard or known” ( the Analects of Confucius · Gong Ye-chang ), Mr. CHEN concluded that Confucius' philosophy has nothing to do with human nature and the Dao of heaven, and he never mentioned them, and directly inferred that there were not any these concepts in Confucius' philosophy. This conclusion is a challenge to ancient Chinese grammar. For instance, one's friend collects famous paintings of all ages, but his friend never rashly show them to others, so one would say in the presence of others: “We can see the modern paintings collected by my friend, but those before the Ming and Qing dynasties can not be seen”. Must “can not be seen” mean not having? Many people know that there indeed deeply collected many paintings of the Ming and Qing dynasties in the people. It is not the case of human nature and the Dao of heaven in Confucius's philosophy, because, if Confucius had never mentioned “(human) nature and the Dao of heaven”, where could Zi Gong know of these concepts? So, Zi Gong must have heard about human nature and the Dao of heaven from Confucius. This “can neither be heard or known” always means the nature and the Dao of heaven “can not be easily heard and known”. So, it is arbitrary to get the conclusion of there not existing, never referring to, or seldom saying these concepts only according to Zi Gong's “can neither be heard or known”. The saying of Zi Gong's “can not be (easily) heard and known” revealed a regret before he knew them, and manifested his admiration after he knew them from Confucius. According to the modern logic of “negative proposition include affirmative proposition”, Zi Gong's saying just testified Confucius' philosophy includes his outlook on the Dao of heaven.

Mr. CHEN holds philosophical connotations of the concepts of Dao (way) and virtue in Yi zhuan are the same as those in Lao zi and Zhuang zi. HAN Yu (768-824, a famous

writer and philosopher of the Tang Dynasty) in his Original Dao had distinguished differences between Confucianism and Daoism: “What the Dao he (Lao zi) refers to is not what I called the Dao; and what the De (literally, virtue) he (Lao zi) refers to is not what I called the De. What I called the Dao-de is implicated with benevolence and righteousness, which departed from the will of the public under the heaven. What the Dao-de Lao zi called has had benevolence and righteousness abolished, which departed from his selfish will.” ( Original Dao ) The combination of benevolence and righteousness equals to Dao-de. In this way, without benevolence and righteousness, there would be no Dao-de. The difference is just that “benevolence and righteousness are substantial names, while, Dao and De are states of void”. The states of void can be filled with different contents. What the Dao and De Confucius and Mencius called are ethical virtues of benevolence and righteousness, which evidently did not accord to HAN Yu's original Dao. In other words, Confucius and Mencius' Dao was implicated with more substantial connotations than that of Lao zi and Zhuang zi's. For instance, what the sages' Dao HAN Yu comprehended was “the Dao for the two emperors and three kings' governance, (the Dao for) the motions of the celestial bodies, (the Dao for) the being positioned of the heaven and earth, (the Dao for) the gloominess of ghosts, (the Dao for) the human procreation and animals' propagation, (the Dao for) the flowing of rivers.” ( The Preface to See Buddhist Monk Wen-chang Off ) So, this Dao includes not only benevolence and righteousness. The Dao to “explore the norm of between the heaven and human” makes the unique Confucian characteristic stand out. This Dao is rigorously distinct from the Daoism's Dao of nature, which “aids the naturalness of the heaven and earth with non-action”.

I admit Confucius was born later than Lao zi, and Confucius had learned rituals from Lao dan (Lao zi was also called Lao dan by some people). The Eastern Zhou Dynasty had thick academic ethos, and discussions of the differences between the Dao of Heaven and human affairs, between Dao and De were in vogue. ZUO's Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals · the 18 th Year during the Rule of the Duke Zhao of Lu records that Zi chan (then the prime minister of the state of Zheng) who lives contemporarily with Confucius, had said: “The Dao of Human is close, but the Way of Heaven is far and inaccessible.” Nevertheless, Lao zi made an overall new interpretation of the Dao of Heaven. Confucius knew but did not accept Lao zi's philosophy. Confucius agreed that Lao zi's thought of “governing with non-action” by simulating the Way of Heaven was the most consummate state, but only emperors of Yao and Shun were able to attain to this state. In fact, there are not emperors like Yao and Shun in present reality, and people are striving for with action. Confucians advocate carrying out action complying with the Dao of Heaven. Confucius held that Lao zi's “repaying good for evil” did not accord with the principle of fairness, so he upheld “return good for good, evil for evil” ( The Analects of Confucius · Xiang Wen )

Moreover, Confucians adheres that human ethics and virtues originally come down from the Dao of Heaven and the De (virtue) of Heaven. This thought originated from the concepts of Dao of Heaven and human affairs embodied from in the classics of the Book of

Poetry , the Book of History and the Book of Change , which came into being earlier than Confucius and were revised by him. For instance, the Book of Poetry had mentioned the mandate of heaven and virtue several times. According to ZHU Xi's interpretation, the mandate of heaven refers to the Dao of Heaven. This Dao of Heaven connotes the Virtue of Heaven “producing ceaselessly” described in Yi zhuan . The poem of Zheng Min (extolling the merits of the King Xuan of Zhou) indicated the harmony of the norm of heaven and human virtues. The outlook of the Mandate of Heaven reflected in the poem of Zhao Gao (The Announcement of the Duke of Zhao) transcends over religion: The heaven determines human lifespan, disasters or happiness, but also human wisdom. All these demonstrated the correlation between ethical virtues and the Dao of Heaven. As for what Mr. CHEN insists “all Dao and De talked about by Confucius belong to ethical regulations” was concerned, it seems to be an incorrect conclusion.

In the Analects of Confucius , the character of Dao appeared over 60 times with complicated connotations. It is profound, fine, and substantial, covering from the abstract to the concrete, from the nature to society, from philosophy, ethics to virtual cultivation and political strategies. For example, by “superior man attends to the fundamentals, when the fundamentals are attended, the Dao emerges” ( Xue Er in the Analects of Confucius ), it can be seen that Confucius is talking about filiality and fraternity from generality to particularity. For “if I learned Dao in the morning, it is not regretful even if I will die in the evening” ( Li Ren ), can only human ethics cover its connotations? To comprehend this sentence's deep connotations, we should first of all comprehend and master the real intensions of the Dao Confucius here referred to. Delicately savoring the implications of his remark, the Dao here should be a holistic concept of law. By ZHU Xi's interpretation, it is a “principle human must follow, and what human have to learn for the sake of human” ( the Analects of Confucius · Huo Wen ). Suppose this Dao worthy of dying for it here only refers to benevolence, righteousness, rituals, wisdom, credibility, and so on, is it a conclusion too rash?! Mencius indeed has the sacrificing spirit for virtues and ideal. And indeed in the history there were many people who “sacrifice their lives for the sake of virtue or for a just cause”. There is indeed something more important than one's life, but in the case under which one can obtain both “fish” and “bear's palms”, one need not sacrifice his life. And here “learning in the morning” does not originally require “dying in the evening” inevitably, to express in this way is to emphasize this Dao's value worthy of dying for it or even more. This demonstrates that Confucians regard learning Dao as their peak pursue. This Dao is a principle human have to follow. In other words, though human ought to live for a just cause and die for ideal, he must understand the whys, namely, the profound meaning of living or dying. Only in this way, can he arrive to a realm of self-consciousness, but not a state of acting on impulse or a state of infatuation of belief. So, this Dao refers to not only a natural universal principle, but also a high realm for human life. Only by the Dao of this can human feel not regretful of death in the evening if one attained to it in the morning.

The notion of the Dao of Heaven relating to Yi in the Analects of Confucius is the Mandate of Heaven, for example, Confucius has said: “I know the Mandate of Heaven at the age of 50” ( Wei-zheng ). Knowing the Mandate of Heaven refers to knowing the Dao of Heaven: “Only (the Dai of) Heaven is the greatest, only emperor Yao emulated it” ( Tai-bo ). That “only Heaven is the greatest” seems to marvel at the vastness of the heaven, but “only emperor Yao emulated it” makes the “heaven” be understood as “the Dao of Heaven” for emperor Yao to emulate. Confucius mentioned that “revering the Mandate of Heaven” ( Ji-shi ), meaning revering the Way of Heaven. And in the chapter of Yang-huo , Confucius said: “What had the Heaven ever said anything? (This sentence means the Heaven had said nothing.) The four seasons circulate, the multitude of things generate, (so,) what had the Heaven ever said anything?” Here Confucius just took advantage of the Heaven's motions to express the Dao of heaven. Can we say that Confucianism does not have the concept of emulating the Dao of Heaven?

The Records of Rites by the Younger Dai (referring to Dai Sheng) ought to be a general collection of the Confucian classics from the late Spring and Autumn period to the early Han Dynasty. In the collection, Zi Si in the Doctrine of the Mean indicated: “The Dao of Heaven and Earth can be expounded with one sentence: as a being, it is not binary; as for producing beings, it is unpredictable”; “the Mandate of Heaven is (human) nature, and what makes (human) nature appear is the Dao; cultivating with the Dao is called edification; the Dao can not be separated from human, beings which can be separated from human do not conform to the Dao. So, the superior man is discreet in what he has not seen and anxious about what he has not learned”. Here, the Dao evidently refers to the Dao of Heaven including both natural laws and norms of human nature. “It is impartialness that is the great root under the heaven; it is harmoniousness that is the thorough Dao (Way) under the heaven. To the state of impartialness and harmoniousness, the heaven and earth will be well positioned and all being will be generated”. Here Zi Si has clearly pointed out that the natural law of the Dao of Heaven is to arrive to the state of impartialness and harmoniousness. Both the heaven and earth's being well positioned and the things being produced result from the impartial and harmonious function of the Dao of Heaven. The Dao expounded in the Doctrine of the Mean is similar with that elaborated in Yi zhuan , but is much divergent with that expounded by Lao zi. Zi Si's thought might be traced back to Confucius or Confucius' seventy disciples' thought.

Both the Text and Commentaries of Zhouyi take in images and symbols from the nature and simulate them with trigrams or hexagrams. So, the philosophy of Zhouyi can also be called a natural philosophy. Ancient scholars call it a learning of Heaven and Human. Concepts of Dao and the Dao of Heaven came into being before Lao zi and Confucius. The two philosophers made different interpretations of them. More importantly, they led them to different directions.

Mr. CHEN quoted the following expressions chosen by Mr. LI Jing-chi in the Judgment : “How great the origin of Qian! All beings originates form it”, “Thunder and rain arise, thus vegetable seeds break their shells”, and called the parts like this in Zhouyi was

called natural philosophy. In his opinion, it seems that all narrations discussing the universal things' originating from nature and the procession of and conditions for the things' growing belong to natural philosophy, and natural philosophy must be Lao zi and Zhuang zi's philosophy. There are so many naturalism philosophers in the world. Can we say they all belong to Daoism? Mr. CHEN also quoted the Judgment of the hexagram of Yu (Joy, Enthusiasm): “Heaven and earth show that docile obedience in connection with movement, and hence the sun and moon make no error (in time), and the four seasons do not deviate (from their order). The sages show such docile obedience in connection with their movements, and hence their punishments and penalties are entirely just, and the people acknowledge it by their submission”, and said this part has a trace close to the Non-actionism of Daoism. (See the chapter of Tuan zhuan and Lao zi & Zhuang zi in Mr. CHEN's book: Yi Zhuan and the Thought of the Daoist School ) But Lao zi and Zhuang zi originally oppose any kind of punishment. Moreover, to move with docile obedience or acting accordingly also belongs to Action. The moves and acts have no trace of Non-actionism at all. So, it can be seen that though both the Judgment and Lao-zhuang ( Lao zi and Zhuang zi ) are discussing the Dao of Heaven, their viewing angles and attitudes poles apart. As for Mr. CHEN's argument of that the thought of Yin 's quality of punishing for killing and Yang 's virtues for growing in Yi zhuan inherited from the Daoist school of the Yellow Emperor and Lao-zi, it makes Daoism self-contradictory and disorders his own rules.

The function of the Dao in Daoism seems only to cultivate oneself and prolong life. Zhuang zi said: “the essence of Dao is to cultivate oneself, yet to manage your family and govern the entire state well is only its by-function. By this, it can be seen that the emperors' exploits could be accomplished as a sage's subsidiary affairs, but were not to preserve body and health.” ( Zhuang-zi · Declining to be an emperor ) The sage in Confucianism differs from this. Xi Ci zhuan clearly indicated that the purpose for the sage to “comprehend the Dao of Heaven” is to “examine what is useful for people. So, he set up the miraculous thing in advance for the use”. And the Doctrine of the Mean also extended: “For Cheng (Sincerity), it is to not only make oneself accomplished, but also make others and various things accomplished.” That is to say, to emulate the substantial Dao of Heaven is not only to accomplish oneself, but also to expand benevolence and love to people and the variety of things. This complies with the spirit the Image of the hexagram of Tai (Peace) had expressed: “(The sage) fashions and completes (his regulations) after the Dao of Heaven and Earth, and assists the application of the adaptations furnished by them, in order to benefit the people.” This sentence is also implicated with the meaning of letting the nature of human and the variety of things completed and participating in the transforming and producing of the heaven and earth. “Only if one participates in the transforming and producing of the heaven and earth, can he partner with the heaven and earth.” ( the Doctrine of the Mean ) This deepens the thought of “human manifesting the heaven”. While, Daoism advocates “not sacrificing for Dao, not helping the heaven”. ( Zhuang zi · the Great Master ) The chapter of Autumn Water in Zhuang zi clearly opposes “muzzling the horse or yoking the ox”, it certainly

opposes positively “participating in the transforming and producing of the heaven and earth.”

It is recorded in Xi Ci zhuan : “Confucius said: He whom the heaven assists is observant; he whom men assist is sincere; The individual here indicated treads the path of sincerity and desires to be observant, and studies to exalt the worthy. Hence ‘Help is given to him from Heaven. There will be good fortune, advantage in every respect.'” Mr. JIN Jing-fang expanded: “Here ‘observant' may refers to being observant of the mandate, and thus the heaven assists him; here ‘sincere' refers to being sincere to Dao, and thus human assists him. This may just extend Confucius' distinctive spirit. The importance for people to know the mandate may seek principles for life behavior by understanding the cosmic changing norms. And for the behavior principles, it is not enough to be only observant to natural norms, it needs “fashioning and completing” to “improve human happiness”. But Lao zi upholds “assisting the nature of the variety of creatures, daring not to act”. Therefore, in the presence of nature, human is passive and has to be obedient and dares not to exert any positive acts. Daoism advocates waiting for “creatures' self-transforming” and believes that “very few things under the heaven can compare with this kind of benefits of non-action”. I do not deny the rationality of Lao-zi's philosophy, or clarify whether this kind of non-action philosophy is over passive or not, I would just like to clarify the evident divergence and dissimilarity between the thoughts in Yi zhuan and Lao zi .

Of Confucianism, knowledge about the changes of the Dao of Heaven mostly came from Yi Jing itself. As OU-YANG Xiu discussed the correlation between the images of the hexagrams and their philosophical connotations by the Record of Wen Yan in his Questions Asked by the Lad Learning Yi : “The lad asked: the Great Image of Qian indicates: ‘Heaven, in its motion, strength. The superior man, in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity', what does it mean? I answered: it has been handed down from one generation to another, but none suspected it but I. Generally speaking, the purpose for the sage to take advantage of images is to analyze the meanings of the hexagram, so it uses the image of the Heaven's motion to symbolize human activities. So it is with all of the 64 hexagrams.” For other things like contradictory concepts in Confucianism and Daoism, they all come from Yi Jing , but not the case of one school borrows concepts from the other.

Mr. CHEN holds in his book that the hexagram of Fu (Returning) equals to character of the Fu mentioned by Lao zi as “all creatures arises, I just examine their Fu (returning)”, thus he concludes that the Commentaries on the hexagram of Fu can be attributed to the ideology of Daoism. Xi Ci quoted “Confucius said: I may venture to say that the son of the YAN family (referring to YAN Hui, one of Confucius' most brilliant disciples) had nearly attained (the standard of perfection). If anything that he did was not good, he was sure to become conscious of that; and when he knew it, he did not do the thing again.” In my opinion, the hexagram of Fu consists of the trigram of Kun (earth) in the upper and the trigram of Zhen (thunder) in the lower with one Yang line returned to show the mind of heaven and earth. So, Fu here means returning to good and also has the meaning of reappearing. The Judgment of

Fu indicates: “It is the coming back of firmness (the first undivided line symbolized), (it's subject's) actions show movement directed by accordance with natural order.” Confucius connected his commentaries on this hexagram with YAN Hui's courage of returning from non-good to good, resulting in what the first undivided line of the hexagram indicates: “(Its subject) returns (from an error) of no great extent, which would not proceed to anything requiring repentance. There will be great good fortune.” This “ Fu ” is synonymous with the “ Fu ” in Confucius' “exercise self restraint and return (Fu) to propriety”. The interpretation of the hexagram of Fu by Yi zhuan is based completely on the characters affiliated to it and its images. So, the denotations of “one Yang returns” is much divergent from the meaning Lao zi's “all creatures arises, I just examine their returning” manifests. Lao zi did not appreciate creatures' vigorous arising, but examine all creatures' returning to the origin. Lao zi “just manages to name it (Dao) greatness, greatness implies distantness, distantness implies passing, and passing implies returning”. “Returning shows the moving of Dao”. What he mentioned Fu refers to returning to the origin, that is, the process for all creatures to develop and transform according to the Law of Dao and return to non-existence, the end of the whole process. But the “one Yang returns” refers to that Yang (vigorous) Qi (energy) reappears from the bottom of the extreme Yin , and hence rises again. Though it is only one Yang (positive element), the reviving tendency has appeared. So, it is called “returning”, implying a beginning of a new process and re-growing after the old process had finished. Of the two “returning”, one returns to thriving, the other returns to declining. The meanings of them are much divergent. We can also say both the “returning” originated from the hexagram of Fu , but with different understandings.

Therefore, we would rather say cosmic outlooks of both Confucianism and Daoism originate from Yi Jing than cosmic outlook of Yi zhuan came from that of Daoism. It is reasonable to say that the “Yi” in “ Yi and (thought of) Lao zi share the same origin” refers to Yi zhuan . Actually, though thoughts of Yi and Lao zi share the same origin, they belong to different courses, for Zhuang zi · on the variety of thoughts under heaven indicated: “ Yi elucidates (the principles) of Yin and Yang ”, the “ Yi ” refers to Yi Jing . Though both Confucian philosophy of Yi zhuan and that of Daoism elucidate the principles of Yin and Yang , Confucianism take both Qian and Kun , Yin and Yang into consideration, and if either Yin or Yang lose its proper position, it will become mean and low. Daoism emphasizes Yin but belittle Yang . Comparatively, Confucianism complies more with the original spirit of the classic of Yi Jing , so it was an inheriting and developing from the origin of the text for Confucians to imply their commentaries and interpretations. Yet, it was a reform or creation from the origin for Daoism to adopt a part from (the principles of) Yin and Yang to establish its new system. It was not impossible for Confucianism and Daoism to influence each other in various forms, including opposite influences. It is in the opposite influences that Confucianism and Daoism argued and separated farther and farther. For an ideological system, it can absolutely not be established by scraping a multitude of thoughts together. So, we ought not to conclude that one ideology plagiarize another by some sentences or

characters they both use. And it is difficult to determine which one emerged earlier. Even if it can be determined, because most characters undertook the function of communicative tool, concepts or category might become objects to be analyzed and argued, thus the same concept or category might induce different interpretations and connotations. Even though the same concept or category both schools use have the same connotations, but the whys for the same connotations might be different. Moreover, even if both ideologies take advantage of the same concepts or categories, it should be considered in priority the position these concepts or categories occupy in the whole system of thought and whether they can influence the main property of the school.

According to this principle, let's make an analysis of whether the concept of “ Taiji ” appeared in Yi zhuan came from Zhuang zi .

Zhuang zi mentioned: “(The Dao) came into being earlier than and superior to Taiji .” ( The Great Master ) While, Yi zhuan referred to “ Taiji ” as: “Therefore in (the system of) the Yi there is the Taiji which produced the two modes and the two modes produced the four forms.” With the context, we can see that in the latter Taiji is a concept of demonstration that was used when a concept appeared in the first time. In Zhuang zi , Taiji is a concept having emerged. He at first confirmed the existence of the Taiji , and then could he describe a thing superior or inferior to it. The latter sentence is also a proposition in the negative. Logically, a proposition in the negative certainly appears later than the appearance of the proposition in the affirmative. In Yi zhuan , inferior to Taiji is what called the Dao. But in Zhuang zi the Dao, which “produced the heaven and earth”, is superior to Taiji . This description negated Confucianism's setting Taiji up to the summit position. Therefore, the concept of Taiji ought to be originally created by Confucianism. As an ontological concept, Taiji should be correlated to the concept of Huangji appeared in the Book of History . And the former were developed and transformed from the latter. In the nine divisions in Hong-fan (a chapter in the Book of History ), Huangji was a concept with most profound philosophical connotations. But what the chapter elucidated was a philosophy of impartiality and righteousness, which was not closely related to ontology or cosmic producing mode. The character of Huang was originally interpreted as Da , (and Da was interpreted as Tai ). So, it is completely possible to use Tai to replace Huang to create a new category with new denotations and connotations.

Whether Confucianism was of originality or not is a proposition to be demonstrated. But, in CHEN's book, Mr. CHEN actually used that Confucianism was not of originality as a premise. In his opinion, all the concepts and categories shared by Confucianism and other schools were created by other schools and borrowed by Confucianism from others. He holds that, not only the concept of “timely” originated from Lao zi , Jing fa and Bai xin , (documents of the Daoist school) but also did the saying of good timing, geographical convenience (and harmonious human relations) conceived in Mencius originate from the school of war and was influenced by the thought of “judging the hour and sizing up the situation” prevalent in the Warring States period. In addition, the thought of not going against seasonal points “was influenced by the economic thoughts of the schools of Guan-zi

and Ji xia Daoist School . After all, (in CHEN's opinion,) many schools advocated timeliness and sizing up the situation except Confucianism. By these opinions, did what Mencius said: “Confucius was a sage of the time” indeed means that Confucius was a sage trying to be in the trend?

As for the relationship between the original Daoism and the Daoist School of Yellow Emperor and Lao zi, SI-MA Tan (father of the writer of the Historical Records , SI-MA Qian) indicated that the latter “follows the changing character of Yin and Yang , adopted merits from the school of Mou and Confucianism, collected essentials from the schools of Logicians and Legalist”. It was a school collecting merits from other schools, mainly from Confucianism. Now Mr. CHEN maintains that Confucianism's advocating firmness, Yang , timeliness and righteousness could be traced back to the Daoist schools of Huang lao (the Yellow Emperor and Lao-zi) and Ji xia , how could he explain the above-mentioned criticism from SI-MA Tan who sincerely believe in the Daoist school of Huang lao ? It was because that the school of Daoism of the Huang lao adopted achievements of other schools and gradually abandoned Lao zi and Zhuang zi 's non-action aims and made the quality of the school changed fundamentally, thus the original Daoism had not yet any inheritors and declined and the school of Huang lao outstood.

SI-MA Qian's father didn't classify the school of Yin-yang into the school of Daoism , for Daoism had adopted Yin - yang theory. Zhuang zi · on the Academic Schools under heaven had indicated: “ Yi is to elucidate principles of Yin and Yang .” The school elucidating Yin and Yang does not equals to the school of Yin and Yang , it may be the school of Daoism or may be the school of Confucianism . So, though Yi Da zhuan elucidated Dao, it is not attributed to Daoism. There are evident records in the Historical Records · the Hereditary Houses of Confucius' Family about Confucius and his disciples' studies on Yi , but none of them were classified to the scholars of the Yin - yang school. At that time, Yin-yang theory had become a common sense. Could the school of Confucianism paying concerns on the people's conditions and affairs not know the principles of Yin- yang and four seasons? So, SI-MA Tan indicated: “(in Yi ) the theory concerning Yin-yang , four seasons, twelve stellar points and twenty four seasonal points” and “the orderly sequence of the four seasons could not be neglected”. Masters of the Yin-yang school only elucidated how to pray for good fortune to avoid misfortune, but did not make the theory transcending to the metaphysical level. It was in the course of commenting on Yi by Confucius and SHANG Qu, his disciple, that the combination of the Dao of Heaven and Human was completed. This discussion resulted in the formation of Yi Da zhuan , also called the Ten Wings . SI-MA Qian and his father obtained it and confirmed eight wings by textual research. Some scholars hold that both SI-MA Qian and his father passed down historiography with different academic inclination: the former inclined to the Daoist school of Yellow Emperor and Lao zi and the latter inclined to Confucianism. But they hold identical views on Yi zhuan 's academic attribution. In the Biography of Amusers , SI-MA Qian indicated: “As for governing, the Six Classics share one (spirit with different emphasis). Yet the Book of Rites is to moderate human behavior;

the Book of Music is to express harmoniousness out; the Book of History is to guide people to correctly view historical events; the Book of Poetry is to express one's feelings; the Book of Change is to elucidate miraculous changes; and the Spring and Autumn Annals is to voice out righteousness.” He attributed Yi zhuan to Confucius' commentaries on Yi . SI-MA Tan had ever said: “Confucian scholars regard the Six Classics as their norms. There are so many as thousands and millions of the classics and commentaries on them that one can not learn them thoroughly in one's life, and can not master its rituals in one year. Therefore, we say that Confucianism is diverse but with little essentials.” Yi is one of the Six Classics, and he admitted that the Six Classics including Yi were learning passed down by Confucians one generation after another, and when SI-MA Tan commented on the learning, he first of all quoted from Yi Da zhuan . We never heard scholars of Daoism had ever passed down Yi before.

To judge the academic attribution of an ancient book, though at first we should base on historical records, more importantly, we should base on its highest category, kernel concepts, i.e. what concepts and categories in its philosophical system of world outlook was made up of. After this was determined, we should classify what levels the other concepts are subordinate to, and clarify which of them were of originality and which were adopted and how they were reformed after being adopted. Some concepts might be directly loan, if they accord with the whole system, we should not willfully mistake the whole system's academic attribution only on account of these concepts' being loan from another school.

Secondly, we ought to observe the book's academic orientation, i.e. its social historical viewpoints, and the social ideal blueprint and how to realize it, namely, where the school would like lead the society to. These aspects have to be observed because they are preconditions for an academic school to be founded. In these aspects, schools of Confucianism, Daoism, Logicians, Legalist, and Mouism were indeed clearly demarked, and hence forming different academic schools. The academic attribution of later generations of different schools ought to be determined by how much it inherited from and its correlation between the original schools. If it changed one of the above-mentioned aspects without any explanations, it should not be attributed to its original school.

Finally, we should examine the school's relationship with the historical documents we have already own. Both Confucianism and Daoism ought to be traced back to the ancient two historical documents: the Book of History and Yi (the Book of Change). Influenced by them, Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, completely inherited and developed their spirits. Although also influenced by the two books, Lao zi adopted more from Yi and little from the Book of History . Thus Confucianism and Daoism separated to different routes.

Basing on this principle, we can also differentiate Yi zhuan copied on silk from Xi Ci in current version and generally summarize their academic attribution. According to experts' textual research, though the two copies emerged in different time, some parts of them were parallel. After a period of Confucius's death, “Confucianism were divided into 8 sects”, therefore, at that time, comprehensions on Confucianism had differed. Afterwards, part of

Confucianism was passed down orally, thus oral errors and those in hand-written copies could not be avoided. In addition, with different dialects and accents as well as different dispositions, the down passers and practitioners would form different views. In this way, after years of passing on, different copies emerged. But their concepts and categories did not go beyond Confucianism. Though at that time Daoism was prevalent in the state of Chu , there were not few Confucians there. So, it is a mistake for Mr. CHEN to classify the Yi copied on silk to Daoism on account of its being unearthed in the ancient state of Chu . Mr. CHEN Lai's arguments about the three sects of the three states of Qi, Lu and Chu are indeed correct. 9

As for special qualities of an academic school, we should not maintain that Confucianism only uphold solidness of Yang , for, compared to Daoism's purely advocating softness of Yin, Confucianism's this quality became conspicuous. Strictly speaking, Confucianism stresses both of them. The ideal personality of Confucianism is what Yi zhuan described a superior man who “knows the minute and the manifested; he knows what is weak, and what is strong: he is a model to ten thousand.”( Xi Ci zhuan , the Great Treatise, section II). He also should be “neither solid nor soft” ( the Book of Songs· Songs of Shang ), “balanced with tyranny and democracy” ( Zou's Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals · the 20 th year during the rule of the Duke Zhao of Lu ). Confucianism holds that both Yin and Yang are unpredictable, in actualizing their function, whether to use Yin or Yang depends on the expedience. It is the Legalist School that completely emphasizes firmness of Yang ; and it is the school of Daoism that purely stresses softness of Yin . Compared with the Legalist School , Confucianism seems emphasizing softness of Yin , for the legalist school purely uphold solidness of Yang . It is much ridiculous for us to say Daoism includes not only thoughts of Lao zi and Zhuang zi, but also those of the school of the Yellow Emperor and Lao zi, which advocates the balance of Yin and Yang . Because the name of an academic school was determined according to its original master(s) and his (their) fundamental academic characteristics. Losing the characteristics, the school would lose adequate reasons and conditions of its existence. So, I stick to say: with the rising of the school of the Yellow Emperor, the school of Daoism declined and fell.

Mr. CHEN insists that Lao zi was compiled earlier than the Analects of Confucius . To prove his view, he quotes from CUI Shu's saying and holds the Analects of Confucius were “compiled by the disciples of Confucius' 70 excellent disciples after tens of years of Confucius' death”, (I wonder why its compilation had to be completed after tens of years when Confucius' disciples separated) “but Lao zi was written by Lao zi himself. It came into being earlier than the Analects of Confucius ”. Let's not talk about which of them came into being earlier. But Mr. CHEN's logic standard was strange. He indicated: “when books and records of the pre-Qin times quoted Confucius' utterance, they did not mention the Analects of Confucius , in spite of the fact that only the Records of Rituals had quoted (from the Analects of Confucius ). But the Records of Rituals were compiled in the earlier Han Dynasty”. Yet, “ Lao zi was compiled much earlier. It can be proven by the fact that the

variety of schools had quoted original writings from or narrated and commented on the thought of Lao zi ”. In the former case, he talks about the name of book, but in the latter case, he talks about quotations, I wonder how to compare these two cases. More seriously, he indicated: “according to ancient records, SHU Xiang who lived contemporarily with Confucius had quoted sayings from Lao-zi”. To my surprise, his evidence came from Shuo Yuan , which was compiled by LIU Xiang of the late Western Han Dynasty, much later than the compilation time of Li Ji . Sayings from Shuo Yuan could be evidences, but those from Li Ji could not. Therefore, Mr. CHEN used two standards to prove his views on which of Confucius' Analects and Lao zi was compiled earlier. Unexpectedly, this kind of argument also appeared in the book of Yi zhuan and Thought of Daoist School written by him. For instance, he mentioned that the words of “the heaven's motion” appeared in the sentence of “the heaven's motion (gives the idea of) vigorousness. The superior man, in accordance with this, nerves himself to ceaseless activity” in Qian · the Great Image , and “the end is succeeded with beginning. This is the heaven's motion” in Gu · the Judgment , “were used to be used in habit by the Daoist school of the Yellow Emperor and Lao-zi”. (Page 31) In his opinion, these words were also originated from records of Daoism. To prove his argument, he set examples as follows: “the heaven's motion is righteous and sincere, the sun and moon moves ceaselessly” mentioned in Shi Da Jing · Zheng Luan ( the Ten Cardinal Canons · Correcting Chaos ) and “the heaven's motion is ceaseless, its end is succeeded with beginning” in Wen-zi · Shang De ( Wen Zi · Superior Virtues ), as well as “the motion of the heaven (including the sun and moon) likes the alternation of day and night” in Zhuang zi · Tian Dao ( Zhuang-zi · the Dao of Heaven ) (Page 73 of CHEN's book). If this is really true, where were the words of “the heaven's motion” originated? For the chapter of the Dao of Heaven in Zhuang zi frequently mentioned Confucius, could Zhuang zi be really not influenced by Confucius' utterance of “What had the heaven said anything. The four seasons circulate and the myriad things generate (by themselves). What had the heaven said anything!” ( the Analects of Confucius · Yang Huo ) and “Confucius said on the bank of the river: (The heaven) moves ceaseless like this! No matter in day or at night.” ( the Analects of Confucius · Zi Han )? In Mr. CHEN's opinion, Confucius's utterance “only possesses meanings of common sense without philosophical connotations”. (Page 32) By his logic, though the above-mentioned Confucius' utterance about the heaven's motion was the same as that referred to by records of Daoism, Yi zhuan and the school of Daoism had not been influenced by Confucius; while, though the expressions of “vigorous virtue like stealing” (Chapter 24) and “(the Dao) circulates ceaselessly” (Chapter 25) in Lao-zi differ from that of “the heaven's motion is vigorousness” in Yi zhuan , they were implicated with the same meaning. (Page 47) How can this kind of demonstration with different standards at random make people convinced?

In short, no matter analyzed from the completed time, or from main academic concepts, or from its academic unique characteristic, Yi zhuan undoubtedly belongs to Confucian classics. Therefore what Mr. CHEN maintained the common parts shared by both Yi zhuan and the Daoist schools of the Yellow Emperor & Lao zi and Ji xia merely demonstrates the two schools of Daoism were influenced by Yi zhuan , but not vice versa.

 

 

Notes and references:

 

1. LI Xueqin. Go Out of Times of Suspecting the Ancient History of China . Liaoning University Press, Shengyang, 1997. p.76

2. DENG Li-guang. An analysis and account of Confucius' academic ideology at his old age from Yi zhuan copied on silk [J]. Studies of Zhouyi, 2000, (3): p.14

3. CHEN Song-chang andLIAO Ming-chun. The Interpretations of Er San Zi Wen, Yi Zi Yi, and Yao Copied on Silk [A]. Studies of the Daoists Culture: the 3 rd Issue [C]. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1993.

4. ZHANG Dai-nian. On the completed time of Yi zhuan and its philosophical ideology [A]. Collected theses on Zhouyi: the 1 st issue [C]. Beijing : Beijing Normal University Press, 1987.

5. LIU Da-jun. About Yi Zhuan in A General Survey of Zhouyi [M]. Jinan : Qilu Publishing, 1988.

6. GAO Heng. Modern Annotations of Yi Zhuan [M]. Jinan : Qilu Publishing, 1979.

7.CHEN Gu-ying. Yi zhuan and the Thought of the Daoist School [M]. Beijing : Sanlian Bookstore Publishing, 1996.

8. ZHU Bo-kun. A History of The Philosophy of Yi Learning, (volume I) [M]. Beijing : Beijing University Press, 1986. p.39

9. CHEN Lai. Academic attributions of the Yi zhuan copied on silk and Confucian Yi learning of the pre-Qin times [J]. Studies of Zhouyi, 1999, (4): pp.6-13

The first chronological history covering the period from 722 BC to 464 BC, presumably illustrating the Spring and Autumn Annals , and attributed to Zuoqiu Ming, official historian of the State of Lu, but generally believed to have been completed in the early Warring States Period. (Noted by the editor)

The history of the late Western Zhou and major states in the Spring and Autumn Period, attributed to Zouqiu Ming

 

(Originally published in Chinese in the STUDIES OF ZHOUYI/No. 6, 2003)