On the Neo-Confucian Perspectives on the Zhouyi in the Northern Song

2008-01-20

Li Xiangjun

( School of Philosophy and Sociology, Beijing Normal University , Beijing 100875, China )

Translated from Chinese by Zhang Wenzhi

(Center for Zhouyi & Ancient Chinese Philosophy, Shandong University , Jinan 250100, China )

As one of the traditional Five Classics in the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127), the Zhouyi 周易 was exerting extensive influence in the society and academia. Therefore, interpreting and commenting upon the Zhouyi turned out to be an important approach to the development of the neo-Confucianism at that time. The Northern Song neo-Confucian scholars spawned a great number of commentaries on the Zhouyi , concerning different layers including general appraisement on the Dao 道 (Way), differentiation and rectification of the authors, balancing of different schools, as well as the application of the Zhouyi to moral cultivation. To examine these contents is helpful to clarify the thread of thought on the Zhouyi going trough the Northern Song dynasty.

GENEARL COMMENTARIES ON THE DAO OF THE YI

In the Northern Song dynasty, to meet the necessities to counter the challenges from Buddhism and Daoism and reconstruct a new Confucian metaphysics, the Dao (Way) of the Yi was focused on and highly valued by Confucian scholars, hence the Zhouyi came into prominence from other classics and turned out to be the core of the Northern Song Neo-Confucianism. But this transformation of the trends of thought experienced a duration of time.

In the earlier Northern Song, though the literati admit the Zhouyi was superior in metaphysics to other Confucian classics, they rather adhere that the Zhouyi was far inferior to the philosophy of Buddhism, as Song Bai 宋白 , a famous intellectual minister active during the reign of Taizong 太宗 (976-998), commented: “As for encompassing the heaven and earth, exhausting yin 阴 and yang 阳 , completely foretelling auspiciousness or ominous-ness, examining waxing and waning, none of the other Classics can match the Yi , which was devised by Fuxi 伏牺 , recounted by Confucius (551-479 B.C.), and thus its intrinsic virtues were disclosed to under heaven; As for examining the integrity of humanity and the sun and moon, elaborating on the past and illuminating the future, rectifying the king's governance and human relationship, none of the other Classics can match the Chunqiu 春秋 (Spring and Autumn Annals) … But, we must be aware that criticism and praise on historical figures (by the Spring and Autumn Annals ) are not able to lead to the same attitude to lovers and as to enemies, to birth as to death; exploring the techniques to know advantages and disadvantages (explicated in the Zhouyi ) cannot disclose abstruse innate nature and reality. As for the bridge of heaven and human and the profound mystery transcending birth and death, what other classics can match Buddhism? How great Buddhism is! What a great sage Sakyamuni (c. 565-486 B.C.) (the founder of Buddhism) is!” But, through Confucian scholars' creative interpretations of the Northern Song, till the turn of the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, the Dao of the Yi was highly valued, as Hu Yin 胡寅 (1098-1156) once proudly declared: “I insist that you should just adhere to the Zhouyi in that Buddhism is empty and hollow.”

Confucian scholars of the Northern Song also commented the position of the Yi in the Classics and it was a tendency to make the Yi outstand from the Five or Six Classics. In the earlier period of the Northern Song, the famous Confucian minister Yang Yi 杨亿 (974-1020) maintains that the Yi was much superior to the other Classics, in that the Yi penetrates into human innate nature and destiny, whereas the other five Classics were only the superficial appearance of the foundational principle of the Yi , and thus the relationship between the Yi and the other Classics is that of the foundational and incidental, of substance and function. He uttered: “The Yi was completed by three sages (i.e. Fu Xi, King Wen, and Confucius) of the three antiquities. It penetrates into human innate nature and destiny, goes through inscrutable virtues, explores what is complex, searches out what is hidden, hooks up what lies deep, and reach to what is distant. Therefore, it was said if the system of the Yi were not seen, Qian ( , symbolizing yang) and Kun ( , symbolizing yin) would almost cease to act. As for the Spring and Autumn , the Poetry , the Documents , the Rites , and the Music , they are just on the level of five agents, whereas the Yi is their origin.” Cheng Hao 程颢 (1032-1085) also highly valued the Yi : “The sages' deep considerations all dwells in the Yi , whereas what the Poetry and Documents convey are but maxims.” The academic purport of the Northern Song Neo-Confucian scholars was to construct Confucian metaphysics, this is the reason why they particularly valued the Yi and comparatively ignored the Poetry and Documents . This is also the very reason for the turn of academic paradigm from valuing the Five Classics to emphasizing the Four Books.

Confucian scholars of the Northern Song also commented upon the value of the Yi . As one of Three Masters in the Beginning of the Song, Shi Jie 石介 criticized Daoism and contended that the Yi was a book saving the world, and the sages (felt responsible and) had to compose it, as he uttered: “Some one held that Fu Xi disclosed the secret of the Dao (Way) and spirits, hence the beginning of the chaotic society. What a weird view it is! As a matter of fact, the composition of the Yi to save the world from chaos and the sages felt they had to compose it. The chaos differs in different periods, and thus the discourses were also different. The chaos began when Fu Xi was living, so Fu Xi devised the eight trigrams; the chaos became more serious when King Wen as living, hence the invention of the sixty-four hexagrams; the chaos was in extreme when Confucius was living, so Confucius extremely expanded the meanings of the statements.” Li Gou 李觏 (1009-1059) also held that the purpose of the sages to create the Yi was to pay anxious concern to the society, and the root of the Yi lay in benefiting the society and saving the people, as he said: “Now that the composers of the Yi had anxiety, can the readers of the Yi have no anxiety? One, when resting in safety, oughtn't to forget that danger may come; when in a state of security, he ought not to forget the possibility of ruin; and when all is in a state of order, he ought not to forget that disorder may come. He should consider the cause of anxiety, adapt to the changes and benefit the people.” Zhang Zai 张载 (1020-1077) regarded the Yi as the fundamental norms made by the sages for the people under heaven, as he uttered: “The sages composed a book of law for the people to make them know what conducts are correct and what are wrong. This is the implications of the Yi .”

As the mainstay of the Northern Song Neo-Confucianism, Cheng's Brothers raised the Dao of the Yi to the level of cosmic noumenon to attest to Confucian political and ethical theories. They emancipated the Yi studies from philological and exegetical research popular from the Han (206 B.C. -220 A .D.) to Tang (618-907) dynasties, and clearly stressed the value of the Dao of the Yi : “What is the Yi ? It is not only a book, but the Dao. Do not consider the Yi a specific thing. We should, from the specific thing, extract the Principle of Heaven, which is the Yi .” Cheng's Brothers also made strict distinction between Buddhism and the Dao of the Yi : “There is nothing existing outside the Dao (of the Yi ), and vice versa. This is to say, nothing between the heaven and earth is not encapsulated in the Dao. Consequently, the affection between father and son, the strictness between king and minister, the mutual love between husband and wife, elder and younger brothers, as well as friends cannot go beyond the Dao either, and thus the Dao is indispensable at any time. Otherwise, the conducts destroying the human moral relationships are far distant from the Dao. …Buddhism pays attention to the internal cultivation, but can not function for external moral conducts. So, hard stickers to Buddhism tend to lapse into ossification, whereas the believers with supple mind tend to be indulged in arrogance and unrestrained-ness. This shows the drawbacks of Buddhism. The Dao I adhere to differs from this. Suffice it to follow human inherent nature. This Principle has been elaborated completely in the Yi .” Cheng's Brothers contend that the Dao of the Yi does not exist out of the actual world but is embodied in the daily relations between emperor and minister, father and son, and so on. It is a great and most correct middle way, whereas Buddhism dichotomizes metaphysics from physics, hence lapsing into two extremes: either void or unrestrained-ness.

S USPENSION AND R EAFFIRMATION OF THE A UTHORS OF THE Y I

In the Northern Song, scholars also engaged in debates on the authorship of the Yi . The crucial issue was related to the relationship between Confucius and the Yi . These debates experienced a circle-like development: from a general affirmation of Confucius' participating into the creation of the Yi in the earlier period, to a denial of Confucius' compositing the Yi Zhuan (Commentaries on the Yi , also called Ten Wings, including Tuan 彖 [I and II], Xiang 象 [I and II], Xi Ci 系辞 [I and II], Wen Yan 文言 , Shuo Gua 说卦 , Xu Gua 序卦 , and Za Gua 杂卦 ) in the mid period, to the re-affirmation of Confucius' creation of the Yi Zhuan in the late period.

The Yi referred to by Confucian scholars traditionally includes two components: Yi jing 易经 (the Text) and Yi Zhuan 易传 (Commentaries). According to Confucian scholars' view from the Han to Tang dynasties, the Yi jing was co-authored by the sages of Fu Xi 伏羲 , King Wen 文王 , and Duke Zhou 周公 , while Confucius created the Yi Zhuan to extend the Dao of the Yi . Having compared the assertions of the great Confucian scholars such as Zheng Xuan 郑玄 (127-200), Wang Bi 王弼 (226-149), and Kong Yingda 孔颖达 (574-648), Jin Junqing 金君卿 (living around 1050) concluded: “Fu Xi drew the eight trigrams, King Wing multiplied the eight trigrams to sixty-four hexagrams and appended the statements to the hexagrams, Duke Zhou succeeded King Wen's aspiration and affiliated statements to each line of the hexagrams, and Confucius created the (Ten Wings such as) Tuan 彖 (Judgment), Xiang 象 (Image), and Wen Yan 文言 to reveal the substance.” This is a general view in the circle of Confucian scholars in the earlier Northern Song.

It was not until the mid period of the Northern Song that the great political figure and literary virtuoso Ou-yang Xiu 欧阳修 (1007-1072) sowed the first doubts about Confucius' authorship of the Yi Zhuan . Ou-yang analyzed the Ten Wings and only affirmed Confucius' authorship of the Tuan and Xiang . Ou-yang Xiu mainly took a philological comparative approach and found some utterances which ought not to be credited to Confucius.

Ou-yang Xiu's doubts about Confucius' authorship of the Yi Zhuan succeeded the academic trend of suspecting the Classics and Commentaries formed since the Mid Tang dynasty and caused a stir in the academic circle. But denying Confucius of the authorship of the Yi Zhuan was a challenge against the authority of the sage and disadvantageous for Confucian scholars to establish metaphysics by the Yi in order to counter Buddhism and Daoism. Therefore, Ou-yang Xiu's view drew criticism from within the Confucian school. As representatives of the Neo-Confucian literati of the late Northern Song, Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021-1086) and Cheng's Brothers were dissatisfied with Ou-yang's view. Wang was disgusted at Ou-yang's view and said when meeting Emperor Shengzong 神宗 (r. 1068-1086): “Though Ou-yang Xiu's literature is indeed excellent, he does not know the Classics and their connotations. He argues against the authority of the Rites of Zhouyi 周礼 and Xi Ci 系辞 , misled the intellectuals, nearly resulting in a serious destruction.” Cheng Yi 程颐 (1033-1107) ascertained Confucius' authorship of the Xi Ci by its literal momentum: “The (momentum of the) sage's article is naturally different from that of those who are learning literature. For instance, the momentum of Xi Ci can absolutely not be mastered by others, it just like a natural creature. As for a flower, though it can be pruned or be drawn and looks like a real flower, the pruned or drawn one will eventually like a real living flower.” Book Seven of The Analects of Confucius recorded Confucius' utterance: “Give me a few more years, and even if I started to study the Yi at the age of fifty, I believe that after all I should be fairly free from error.” In interpreting this sentence, Cheng Yi insists this sentence should not mean that Confucius himself has error but there is error in the book of the Yi : “In the time when Confucius was living, common understandings of the Yi might be incoherent, and the Dao of the Yi had not been illuminated. Now that Confucius had revised the other Classics except the Yi , hence this utterance was voiced out. Till the age of fifty, he began to participate in the studies of the Yi , so he could be free from error. To utter this was to praise the Dao of the Yi and disregard the specific eight trigrams.” This is to reaffirm traditional sayings of Confucius' contribution to the Yi and oppose Ou-yang's argument.

Different from Wang Anshi and Cheng Yi who directly opposed Ou-yang's opinion, some Confucian literati admitted that Ou-yang Xiu's view conforms to the fact. But, to maintain the authority of Confucian Classics, they held that Ou-yang's view was harmful and thus they could not accept his view. Liu Anshi 刘安世 (1048-1125), one of Si-ma Guang's 司马光 (1019-1086) disciples, said when once discussing with his students: “Once when the Master (here referring to Liu Anshi) discussing the Yi with me, I asked: ‘What called the Wen Yan was really composed by Confucius?' The Master answered: ‘In it there includes Confucius' idea, yet it might not be composed by Confucius himself. Previous Confucian scholars like to draw it to interpret the Classic (of the Yi jing ). … Then I asked: ‘Why did the predecessors not clarify this point?' The Master replied: “This is a serious issue. The Five Classics have enjoyed an age-old tradition. The predecessors were afraid that later generations might extend farfetched interpretations, so they dared not to point it out clearly and knew it. If they advocate this point of view, the later generations will strive to set forth novel opinions to show off, thus the Six Classics will not be kept intact, under the case of which the harm would be more serious before this fact was pointed out. This is the reason why the predecessors were so cautious about it and would not like to clarify the fact.”

A RGUMENTS BETWEEN D IFFERENT S CHOOLS

In the development of the Yi -ology, there appeared different schools in which the image-numberology and meaning-pattern are two main schools. The main intent of the Yi Zhuan traditionally credited to Confucius by later generation Confucians was to disclose the meaning-pattern or philosophical connotations, but it also contains some image-number factors. In the Han dynasty (206 B.C. -220 A .D.), the image-numberology initiated by Meng Xi 孟喜 and developed by Jing Fang 京房 (77-37 B.C.) was in vogue. Until the Wei 魏 (220-265) and Jin 晋 (265-420) dynasties, Wang Bi 王弼 (226-249) and other scholars advocated the meaning-pattern and dispelled the image-numberology. Yet, their meaning-pattern was infused with Daoism. The Confucian scholars and literati in the Northern Song, through criticizing previous schools, manifested their own academic orientation.

Valuing image-numerology characterizes the earlier Northern Song . At the turn of Northern (960-1127) and Southern (1127-1279) Song, the famous Yi -ologist Zhu Zhen 朱震 (1072-1138) also regarded Chen Tuan 陈抟 (?-989) as the initiator of the Northern Song Yi -ology when he was clarifying the origin and development of the Northern Song Yi studies and considered the image-numberology the mainstream in the Northern Song Yi -ology: “Chen Tuan handed the Prenatal Diagram to Chong Fang 种放 (?-1015), Chong Fang to Mu Xiu 穆修 (979-1032), Mu Xiu to Li Zhicai 李之才 (?-1045), Zhicai to Shao Yong 邵雍 (1011-1077). Chong Fang handed the He tu 河图 (River Diagram) and Luo shu 洛书 (Luo Chart) downed to Li Gai 李溉 , Gai to Xu Jian 许坚 , Xu Jian to Fang E'chang 范谔昌 , E'chang to Liu Mu 刘牧 (1011-1064). Mu Xiu transmitted Taiji Diagram 太极图 to Zhou Duyi 周敦颐 , Dunyi to Cheng Hao 程颢 and Cheng Yi 程颐 . At that time, Zhang Zai 张载 was teaching between Cheng's Brothers and Shao Yong. As a consequence, Shao Yong authored Huang ji jingshi shu 皇极经世书 , Liu Mu wrote the Yi shu gou yin tu 易数钩隐图 to illustrate the numbers of heaven and earth, Zhou Dunyi composed the Tong shu 通书 , Cheng Yi contributed his Commentaries on the Yi , Zhang Zai composed the Tai he 太和 (Great Harmony) and Can liang pian 参两篇 .” It is evidently not appropriate for him to use image-numberology to cover Zhou Dunyi, Cheng's Brothers, and Zhang Zai's Yi -ology, in spite of the fact that the image-numberology was dominant in the earlier Northern Song. In the mid and late Northern Song, image-number aroused more and more criticism. Despite of this, some scholars represented by Shao Yong 邵雍 , Liu Mu 刘牧 , Si-ma Guang 司马光 (1019-1086), and Zhu Zhen 朱震 were still appreciating the image-numberology. Shao Yong inherited Chen Tuan's Map-chart image-numberology by which he further deduced his Principle. Liu Mu succeeded Chen Tuan's tradition. Not only did he explicate image-numberology, but also paid more attention to the charts and diagrams of the Yi , and further created fifty-five diagrams to account for the traditional theory of the He tu 河图 (River Diagram) and Luo shu 洛书 (Luo Chart). Si-ma Guang paid sympathy to image-numberology. His academic works Qian xu 潜虚 , an imitation of Yang Xiong's 扬雄 (53 B.C. -18 A .D.) Tai xuan 太玄 (Grand Mystery), was also attributed to image-numberological spectrum. He argued for image-numberology, whose view has remarkable affinities with Shao Yong's view, as he explained: “Some one asked: The intent for the sages to create the Yi was for the image-number or for meaning-pattern? I answered: for both. Which is more urgently demanded? I answered: The latter was urgently demanded; the former was also urgently demanded. He then asked why the image-number was also urgently demanded. I told him that because the meaning-pattern was deduced from the image-number. Why? It is because the rites and music are based on yin and yang , while benevolence and righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and trustworthiness are attributed to the five agents. Can you say that the meaning-pattern is not derived from the image-number? So, for a superior man, if he only knows the meaning-pattern but does not understand the image-number, though he might be kind enough, he is not able to comprehend the principle governing the kindness.”

In the Northern Song, though the image-number Yi -ology was influential, from the general development tendency of the Yi -ology, the meaning-pattern school became more and more predominant and the contending between the two schools constituted a major thread through the development of the Yi -ology. Most Confucian scholars of the Northern Song criticized the image-numberology, in that they thought that image-numberolgy actually regarded the Yi as a book of divination, which was not in alignment with Confucian humanistic spirit. Though the eminent Confucian literati Yang Yi 杨亿 (974-1020) was deeply influenced by Buddhism, he belittles the Map-chart image-numberology which was immersed with the flavor of Daoism. He argued: “In the past, Jing Fang 京房 (77-37 B.C.) composed the Yi zhan 易占 (Divination by the Yi ) and his teacher Jiao Gan 焦赣 composed the Yi Lin 易林 (Forest of the Yi ). Though these books were venerated by the later generations, they are but divination books. Ziyun 子云 (Yang Xiong's 扬雄 courtesy name) created his Tai xuan 太玄 (Grand Mystery). Though he claims his book models upon the Yi , as it was mixed with astronomy and calendric theories, it became much akin to a divination book. Yang's view represented most contemporary Confucian scholars' consensus.

Along with criticizing the image-numberology, some Confucian scholars held an attitude of appreciation to Wang Bi's 王弼 (226-49) Yi -ology, who discriminated against image-number and attached much importance to the meaning-pattern. Ou-yang Xiu 欧阳修 (1007-1072) upheld Wang Bi's Yi -ology and even matched Wang's Yi -ology to Confucius' Yi Zhuan . He said: “The divination numbers have no determined correspondences; there are no classification of the senior and junior in yin and yang ; Qian and Kun (the first two hexagrams in the received version of the Zhouyi ) have no ascertained numbers of stalks. Knowing this, one can be able to know the quality of divination. Alas! Without Wang Bi, Wouldn't the Yi lapse into heterodoxy? Suffice it to seek King Wen's intent from Confucius' Commentaries, seek Confucius' purport from Wang Bi's interpretations, and seek Wang Bi's contributions from my utterances.” His contemporary Yu Jin 余靖 (1000-1064), an eminent Confucian minister, also thought highly of Wang Bi by criticizing the Han (206 B.C. -220 A .D.) image-numberology. He argued: “The Dao of the Yi is profound. Since the arising of the Han dynasty, Shi Chou 施仇 , Meng Xi 孟喜 , Liang-qiu He 梁丘贺 , Jing Fang 京房 , Fei Zhi 费直 , and Gao Xiang's 高相 Yi traditions had been taught in schools, among which the heterodoxy tend to lapse into divination and stopped being succeeded, whereas Wang Bi's tradition, which arose from the Wei and Jin dynasties, flourished during the turn of the Sui and Tang dynasties, elaborates on the alternation of yin and yang, the normative standards for good and bad deeds, so his tradition conforms to the three sages' intent, did not lapse into divination, and thus has been highly valued by the scholars.” Appreciating Wang Bi's Yi -ology and criticizing Liu Mu's Map-chart image-numberology, Li Gou 李觏 (1009-1059) held a consensual view at this: “I had composed the Yilun 易论 (On the Yi) with thirteen chapters, in which I draw support from Fusi's 辅嗣 (Wang Bi's courtesy name) commentaries to expound the meanings that are profound, sensible, and critical to statecraft. Nowadays, there are scholars studying the Yi who consider Liu Mu's learning the root are creating more and more divergent views. Hence I bought Liu Mu's Yi Diagrams which includes fifty-five diagrams and found it contain so many repeated diagrams. His conclusion can not go beyond the He tu (River Map), Luo shu (Luo Chart), and eight trigrams, while the other fifty-two diagrams are but superfluities. He took great pains to give farfetched interpretations and absurd arguments, which are fragmentary and incredible. His teachings left harm to scholars and moral edification.”

Though the meaning-pattern school's criticism on the image-number school formed a mainstream in the Northern Song, the contemporary scholars dissent in understanding the meaning-pattern. We may say that, criticizing the image-numberology on one hand and belittling the Daoist hermeneutic approach to the interpretation of the Yi taken by Wang Bi 王弼 (226-49) on the other hand dominated the meaning-pattern school of the Northern Song. When criticizing image-numberology, Cheng Yi would refer to Wang Bi's Yi -ology, which was first of all selected by him when he instructs his students to study the Yi . He said: “If you like to study the Yi, suffice it to study Wang Bi, Master Hu (i.e. Hu Yuan 胡瑗 , 993-1059) and Wang Jiefu's 王介甫 (Wang Anshi's 王安石 courtesy name,1021-1086) interpretations, whereas the others are not worthy of being studied and will waste your effort.” But, when he discusses the meaning-pattern itself, he would denounce Wang Bi sharply: “Wang Bi's commentaries had not touched the Dao at all, he interpreted the Yi only by Lao zi 老子 and Zhuang zi's 庄子 idea.” Not only did Cheng Yi criticize Wang Bi's Daoist exegesis, but also reproached the Confucian interpretations from the Han to Tang dynasties, striving to return to Confucius' original intent. He said: “Since Confucius' commentaries on the Yi , there appeared none who was capable of comprehending the Yi . Those previous Confucian scholars who have no book left are not available to us. Yet, those who had left books to us did not completely disclose the ultimate truth, such as Wang Fushi (i.e., Wang Bi) and Han Kangbo 韩康伯 (322-380) who interpreted the Yi only by Daoism, how can they reveal the real principle?”

A CTUALIZATION OF THE C LASSIC OF THE Y I

The Yi -ology of the Northern Song still inherited the Han (206 B.C. -220 A .D.) to Tang (618-907) Confucian scholars' tradition of actualizing the classics. Yet, the general tendency at that time was that, the scholars applied less and less image-numberology to actual changes but more and more meaning-pattern (or principle) to social politics and individual conducts.

In the earlier Northern Song, the Yi studies were basically confined to the atmosphere of stressing exegetical interpretations. But, for the Yi -ologists, especially those who taught the Yi to emperor, they would elaborate on the principle conceived in the Yi to admonish the emperor. Emperor Taizu 宋太祖 (the founder of the Song dynasty, r. 960-976) venerated Wang Zhaosu 王昭素 (904-982), an non-official scholar. Yet, Wang Zhaosu also admonished the emperor: “The emperor ordered him to talk about Hexagram Qian ( , hexagram 1 in the received version of the Zhouyi , hereafter only the number will be referred to). When he approached to the fifth line statement of ‘the dragon on the wing in the sky', Wang assumed a serious expression: ‘(The circumstance expressed by) this line statement just corresponds to the state of your majesty.' He also referred to certain evidence to exhibit his purport of admonishment. The emperor was pleased of his advice and saw more about civil affairs. Owing to his sincerity and frankness, he was appreciated more by the emperor.” During the reign of Emperor Taizong 太宗 (976-998), as an erudite of the Imperial University, Li Jue 李觉 took advantage of the Yi to promulgate Confucian political and moral thought, which was approved by Emperor Taizong: “(The emperor) ordered Jue to talk about hexagram Tai ( , 11), other subordinate ministers were also present. On this occasion, Jue disclosed the purport of communication between heaven and earth, between emperor and ministers implicated in the Zhouyi . The emperor was so pleased that he vouchsafed Jue a hundred bolts of silk. …The emperor said to the Prime Minister: ‘Yesterday I listened to Jue. What he talked about is abstruse enough for us to take advice. All of us should comply with it.' Zhao Pu 赵普 (the Prime Minister, 922-992) bowed and extended thanks.”

During the mid Northern Song, especially around the New Politics of Qingli 庆历新政 (1041-1049), the Yi studies were correlated more to social politics. Emperor Renzong 仁宗 (1023-1064) was fond of the Yi studies and solicited counsel from the ministers: “Once when the emperor was in the Er - ying (lit., closely associating with elites) Pavilion 迩英阁 , he told the teaching-and-reading officials that the purport of the Yi was profound, so that I would set forth many difficult questions and doubts. Are you getting bored?” As Emperor Renzong was fond of the Yi , then some Confucian literati, represented by Lin Yu 林瑀 , Jia Changchao 贾昌朝 (998-1065), Yang Anguo 杨安国 , Hu Yuan 胡瑗 (993-1059), Li Gou 李觏 (1009-59), etc., attached importance to the correlation between the Yi and actual society and politics.

To a large extent, Emperor Renzong was interested in the image-numberology deducing yin - yang mutations. Taking to the emperor's tastes, Lin Yu 林瑀 accounted for catastrophes by the Yi to cover up the emperor's errors. “In the late period of Jingyou 景祐 (1034-1038), there occurred catastrophes many times. The emperor was anxious about it and self-criticized. Yu said that catastrophes were no more than normal phenomena, which should not be worried about. Additionally, he deduced yin - yang mutations and submitted his deduction to the emperor. The emperor likes divination very much. Surprised by Lin Yu's deduction, the emperor wished to promote him.” Lin Yu's conducts was criticized by orthodox official literati. “The Supervisor Jia Changchao 贾昌朝 had once criticized the heterodoxy of Yu's deduction and argued against him in the presence of the emperor. Due to this, Changchao turned out to be Lin's rivalry.” Jia Changchao 贾昌朝 had once been the Prime Minister during the reign of Emperor Renzong (1023-1064). He opposed Lin Yu's image-numbological deduction, but endorsed the theory of corresponsive-ness between heaven and human adhered to by the Han (206. B.C. -220 A .D.)-Tang (618-907) Confucian scholars and accounted for the catastrophes so as to admonish the emperor from immorality and mal-governance. “The Taiping xingguo (Great-peace & Vitalizing-state) Temple 太平兴国寺 encountered a catastrophe one day. On that evening, there occurred a torrential rain and thunderbolt. The imperial court discussed on the innovation of the temple, when Changchao submitted: The Image of the hexagram Zhen ( , 51 ) indicates: ‘Zhen symbolizes one thunder after another, in accordance with this, the superior man cultivates himself and keep apprehensive.' In recent years, temples encounter with catastrophes time again. This should be regarded as the warning from the heaven that we may not renovate the temple but be afraid of the heaven and extend benevolence to populace.”

Yang Anguo's Yi studies succeeded the tradition and made little theoretical extension, but he could be able to associate the actual events and extend vivid and humorous expressions and thus was very appreciated by Emperor Renzong. Yang Anguo would admonish the emperor to know the subordinates well enough to assign them positions commensurate with their abilities when interpreting the Yi : “Once when he was interpreting hexagram Ding ( , 50), the emperor asked: ‘How about the image of the fourth line?' Anguo answered: ‘The fourth line submits to the most venerated (symbolized by the fifth line) and responds to the bottom line. The task is heavy while the subject is incompetent, hence the line statement of that the foot of the caldron was broken and accordingly the stuffs in the caldron were leaned out. If the subject was competent, he could bear the task even if it was heavy. If the subject was not capable enough, the caldron would ineluctably topple.' The emperor said: ‘Good!'” He further extended the meaning-pattern to persuade the emperor to cultivate his mind and nature as well as be moderate in lust. “When talking about the Image 象 of hexagram Sun ( , 41) that, ‘under the mountain (symbolized by the upper trigram ) is the marsh (symbolized by the lower trigram ), in accordance with this, the superior man depress his anger and control his lust.' The emperor said, both human emotion and lust are engendered from yin and yang and they are mediated by man. Yang Anguo responded: ‘I believe that man has six emotions of delight, anger, sorrow, pleasure, love, and disgust, while the heaven possesses six categories of Qi of yin , yang , wind, rain, dim, and light. Therefore, for the birth of human, the mandate of heaven is called nature. Man's birth owes to the mandate of heaven, while human nature is endowed (from the heaven). Emotion is a kind of deviation from human nature, whereas lust is an unrestrained exhibition of human emotion. So, if the six emotions were reciprocally abused, the delight would be generated from wind, anger from rain, sorrow from dimness, pleasure from light, love from yang , and disgust from yin . Hence the sage took the Image of hexagram Sun to depress anger and control his lust. The emperor agreed with him.” Yang Anguo's assertion of that the mandate of heaven was called the nature from which emotion was generated while the lust was an emotion abuse, and his correlating of the alternation of human emotions to weather changes had become akin to the tops concerned by the neo-Confucian trend of thought of the late Northern Song.

Both Hu Yuan 胡瑗 (993-1059) and Li Gou's 李觏 (1009-59) Yi studies were based on the meaning-pattern, despised the image-number and sought the actualization of the classics. As a text book in the Imperial University, Hu Yuan's Zhou yi kou yi 周易口义 broke down the limits of the Han (206 B.C -220 A .D.)-Tang (618-907) exegetical interpretations and would associate actual society and politics to the interpretation of the Yi . His Yi studies were not characterized with admonishing the emperor, but faced to the contemporary official literati, especially to the young students of the Imperial University . “Hu Yizhi 翼之 (Hu Yuan's courtesy name) assumed the Direct Teacher for the imperial college students during the years of Huang-you 皇祐 (1049-1054) and Zhihe 至和 (1054-1056), when he was ordered to supervise the Imperial University. At that time, “Master Hu taught the Yi everyday and there were over a thousand of students. I was one of the students. The Master would associate his interpretations to actual events. When interpreting hexagram Xiao Xu 小畜 ( , Small Restraint, 9), he extended: ‘Xu connotes restraining, namely, restraining the emperor (symbolized by the fifth line) by solidness (symbolized by the top solid line).' Then, he mentioned that when Zhao Pu 赵普 (922-992) was assuming the Prime Minster, Emperor Taizhu 宋太祖 (the founder of the Song dynasty, r. 960-976) ordered him to select an admonitory minister. He recommended one, but was refused. On another day, the emperor referred to the selection again, he recommended the same person again, and the emperor refused again. Things went on three times in this way. Then the emperor broke Zhao's memorial and threw it onto the ground, the prime minister bosomed it and returned to home. One day, the emperor asked this issue again, the prime minister patched up the damaged memorial and submitted it to the emperor. The emperor then realized and finally accepted the person.” This kind of academic style and educational spirit naturally led Hu Yuan's views on the Yi to being venerated by the Confucian literati. As a consequence, his idea exerted more extensive influence in academic and social circles. Being one of Hu Yuan's colleagues in the Imperial University, Li Gou supported the “New Politic of Qingli 庆历新政 (1041-1049), attached importance to the actualization of the Yi studies, and clearly announced that his Yi studies “might be urgent and critical to the statecraft.” Li Gou composed his Yi lun (On the Yi) including 13 chapters, elaborating on how to be an emperor, to be a minister, and how to engage in self-cultivation and get along with others, providing the society with the recipe of good governance and peace and embodying the coherent Confucian spirit of concerning the society.

In the late Northern Song, there occurred a fierce conflict between the Old Party and New Party. This was also manifested in the debates on the Yi between Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021-1086)and Cheng's Brothers. Wang Anshi had composed San jing xin yi 三经新义 (New Connotations of the Three Classics). Though the Yi was not included in this book, but Wang paid much attention to the Yi in his early years and his Yi jie (An Interpretation of the Yi ) then was known to the world. He took advantage of the Yi to defend his political reform. He had once discussed the Yi with Emperor Shenzong 神宗 (1068-1086): “When they referred to reform, Anshi said, the remarks affiliated to hexagram Ge ( , Revolution, 49) indicated that the revolutions occurred on a revolutionary day, and after the revolution, things begun to go well under way. If things were well under way, should we need reform?” For the relationship between emperor and ministers, Wang Anshi emphasized relativism, which was embodied in his interpretations of the Yi . For this point, Cheng Yi set forth opposite opinions and criticized Wang. For instance, for the understanding of the third and forth line statements of hexagram Qian ( , 1), Cheng Yi said: “Wang Jinggong 荆公 (Wang Anshi's courtesy name) holds ‘(the subject) of the third line knows that the position of the fifth line (i.e. the throne) is attainable to him and strives to attain to it'. This is too harmful. If the subordinate ministers always hold this mind, a chaotic society will be approaching. This shows that Wang does not know here ‘attainable' means that the Dao is attainable. … Jiefu 介甫 (Wang Anshi's another courtesy name) holds the fourth line of hexagram Qian corresponds to the historical event of King Wu's observing the intentions of the army. This also makes no sense. Further more, there actually had not occurred this event at all. If the mandate of heaven (for the Yin dynasty) terminates today, the King Zhou should be an autocrat. Should he be retained in the throne for another three years? If the mandate of heaven for the dynasty should not terminate today, he should be the king. Under this circumstance, how should a minister compel him to abdicate? How should the Yi conceive this meaning?” Standing at the point of advocating the determined relationship between emperor and ministers, Cheng Yi criticized Wang Anshi's relativism for the relationship between emperor and ministers and separated the issue of establishment or deposal of the emperor from the contradiction between emperor and ministers and left this issue to the mandate of heaven. This actually is an affirmation of the emperor's right to the largest extent, manifesting the Neo-Confucian conservativeness in politics and ideology.

This paper was originally published in Chinese in Zhouyi Yanjiu 《周易研究》 (Studies of Zhouyi), no. 1 (2006): pp.34-38.

Li Xiangjun 李祥俊 (1966 — ), Ph. D, Associate Professor, Institute of Confucianism Studies, School of Philosophy and Sociology, Beijing Normal University. Specialties: history of Chinese philosophy.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.), “ Jian chuan jiao yuan Bei ming 建传教院碑铭 , Inscription on the Tablet for the School of Religion Transmission”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 57.

Hu Yin 胡寅 , Fei ran ji 斐然集 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1993), p. 112.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.), “ Song jinshi Cheng Zaizhong Xu 送进士陈在中序 , Preface to Accompanying the Palace Graduate Cheng Zaizhong”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 294.

Cheng Hao 程颢 and Cheng Yi 程颐 , Er Cheng ji 二程集 (Collected Works of the Cheng's Brothers) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), p. 13.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 ed., “ Yi bian 易辨 , Debates on the Yi”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 627.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 ed., “ Yi lun di shisan , On the Yi the Thirteenth”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 899.

Zhang Zai 张载 , Zhang Zai ji 张载集 (Collected Works of Zhang Zai) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1978), p. 182.

Cheng Hao 程颢 and Cheng Yi 程颐 , Er Cheng ji 二程集 (Collected Works of the Cheng's Brothers) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), p. 31.

Ibid, pp. 73-74.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.), “ Chong gua zhi ren 重卦之人 , On the Figure Who Multiplied the Eight Trigrams to Sixty-four Hexagrams”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 1826.

Ibid., vol. 737.

Li Tao 李焘 , Xu zi zi tongjian changbian (fu shibu) 续资治通鉴长编 ( 附拾补 ) (A Sequel to the Long Compilation of the Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for Government [Affiliated with Omissions and Supplements]) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), p.1965.

Cheng Hao 程颢 and Cheng Yi 程颐 , Er Cheng ji (Collected Works of the Cheng's Brothers) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), p. 240.

Ibid., p. 209.

Ma Yongqing 马永卿 , Yuancheng yulu 元城语录 (Analects of Yuancheng [Liu Anshi's courtesy name]), in Jifu congshu 畿辅丛书 , vol. 106 (II).

Tuo Tuo 脱脱 , ect., Song shi 宋史 (History of the Song Dynasty) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1977), p. 12908.

Zhen Wangeng 郑万耕 , Yi xue jinghua 易学精华 (Quintessence of the Yi -ology) (Beijing, Beijing chu ban she, 1996), p. 372.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.) , “ Da Cheng Zaizhong Shu 答陈在中书 , Answers to Cheng Zaizhong's Questions”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 291.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.), “ Yi huo wen san 易或问三 , Answers Related to the Yi (III)”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 731.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.), “ Song Zhifong bu zhu zhouyi houxu 宋职方补注周易后序 , A Postscript to the Supplemented Annotations of the Zhouyi Made by Song Guanzhi”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 567.

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.), “ Shan ding yi tu xu lun 删定易图序论 , On the Preface to the Final Revision of the Yi Diagrams”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 900.

Cheng Hao 程颢 and Cheng Yi 程颐 , Er Cheng ji 二程集 (Collected Works of the Cheng's Brothers) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), p. 613.

Ibid., p. 8.

Ibid., p. 374.

Li Tao 李焘 , Xu zi zi tongjian changbian 续资治通鉴长编 (A Sequel to the Long Compilation of the Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for Government) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1979), p. 243.

Ibid., p. 656.

Li Tao 李焘 , Xu zi zi tongjian changbian (fu shibu) 续资治通鉴长编 ( 附拾补 ) (A Sequel to the Long Compilation of the Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for Government [Affiliated with Omissions and Supplements]) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), p.1564.

Li Tao 李焘 , Xu zi zi tongjian changbian 续资治通鉴长编 (A Sequel to the Long Compilation of the Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for Government) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1979), p. 3015.

Ibid., p. 3223.

Tuo Tuo 脱脱 , ect., Song shi 宋史 (History of the Song Dynasty) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1977), p. 9614.

Ibid., p. 9828.

Li Tao 李焘 , Xu zi zi tongjian changbian (fu shibu) 续资治通鉴长编 ( 附拾补 ) (A Sequel to the Long Compilation of the Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for Government [Affiliated with Omissions and Supplements]) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), p.1562.

Wang Dechen 王得臣 , Lushi 麈史 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), pp. 15-16

Zeng Zaozhuang 曾枣庄 and Liu Lin 刘琳 (ed.), “ Shan ding yi tu xu lun 删定易图序论 , On the Preface to the Final Revision of the Yi Diagrams”, in Quan song wen 全宋文 (Collected Works of the Song Dynasty) (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1988-1994), vol. 900.

Li Tao 李焘 , Xu zi zi tongjian changbian (fu shibu) 续资治通鉴长编 ( 附拾补 ) (A Sequel to the Long Compilation of the Historical Events Retold as a Mirror for Government [Affiliated with Omissions and Supplements]) (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), p. 2009.

Cheng Hao 程颢 and Cheng Yi 程颐 , Er Cheng ji 二程集 (Collected Works of the Cheng's Brothers) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), pp. 248 and 250.

From：Center for Zhouyi & Ancient Chinese Philosophy

Author：Li Xiangjun