The Essence of the Xici Shangzhuan: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Junzi's Settled Peace and the Order of the Yijing
This article offers a deep reading of the core proposition in the Xici Shangzhuan — 'What the junzi dwells in and finds peace in is the order of the Yi' — integrating the pre-Qin context, the Confucian scholarly lineage, and the structure of the Zhouyi to elucidate how the junzi, by embodying the Way of Heaven and Earth, takes the Yi as the foundation of settled existence, contemplates the images and savors the statements, and ultimately attains the state of 'auspiciousness with nothing unfavorable.'
Chapter Five: Detailed Exegesis — "When in Action He Observes Its Changes and Savors Its Divinations"
The Xici Xiazhuan says: "Auspiciousness, misfortune, regret, and difficulty all arise from action." Every action faces the choice between fortune and misfortune.
"Change" (bian) is the Zhouyi's most central concept. "When the Yi reaches its limit, it changes; when it changes, it finds passage; when it finds passage, it endures" (Xici Shangzhuan). In divination, "change" manifests as "changing lines" — old yang becoming yin, old yin becoming yang. But "observing changes" also means keenly perceiving the trends of change. The Xici Xiazhuan says: "It simply adapts to whatever changes come" (wei bian suo shi).
"Divination" (zhan) is not superstition. The Master "did not speak of the strange, the violent, the disorderly, or the supernatural" (Lunyu, "Shu Er"). Master Xun said: "One who is good at the Yi does not divine" (Xunzi, "Da Lue"). The Zuozhuan shows that pre-Qin scholars took a critical, analytical attitude toward divination — as when Mu Jiang, imprisoned in the Eastern Palace, rejected the scribe's literal reading of her divination, recognizing that "the Yi cannot be used to divine for dangerous ventures."
The complete structure reveals a perfect symmetry:
| Rest | Action | |
|---|---|---|
| Contemplate/Observe | Images | Changes |
| Savor | Statements | Divinations |
From images to changes: still to moving. From statements to divinations: theory to practice. These four dimensions — image, statement, change, divination — are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.