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The Essence of the 'Great Treatise A': A Philosophical Inquiry into the Gentleman's Establishment of Life and the Order of the *Yi*

This article deeply interprets the core proposition from the 'Great Treatise A'—'That which the gentleman dwells in and finds peace is the order of the *Yi*.' It examines how the gentleman, by internalizing the Way of Heaven and Earth and utilizing the *Book of Changes* as the foundation for establishing his life, achieves a state of 'auspiciousness without detriment' through observing the images and contemplating the textual explanations, situated within the Pre-Qin context and the Confucian tradition.

Tianwen Editorial Team February 7, 2026 85 min read PDF Markdown
The Essence of the 'Great Treatise A': A Philosophical Inquiry into the Gentleman's Establishment of Life and the Order of the *Yi*

I. The Legend of Fuxi Drawing the Eight Trigrams

To understand this passage from the perspective of High Antiquity, we must trace the origin of the Yi—Fuxi's drawing of the Eight Trigrams.

The Xì Cí Xia Zhuàn states:

"In ancient times, when Pao Xi Shi (Fuxi) ruled the world, he looked up and observed the Images in Heaven, and looked down and observed the Laws on Earth. He observed the patterns of birds and beasts and the suitability of the Earth. He took examples from things near him (his body) and things far away (other objects). Thus he first composed the Eight Trigrams, to penetrate the virtue of the spiritual deities, and to classify the sentiments of the myriad things."

This passage describes the process of Fuxi drawing the Eight Trigrams:

  1. "Looked up and observed the Images in Heaven" (Yang ze guan xiang yu Tian)—Observing the celestial Images (sun, moon, stars).
  2. "Looked down and observed the Laws on Earth" (Fu ze guan fa yu Di)—Observing the Laws on Earth (mountains, rivers, plants).
  3. "Observed the patterns of birds and beasts and the suitability of the Earth" (Guan niao shou zhi wen yu di zhi yi)—Observing the markings of animals and the characteristics of the terrain.
  4. "Took examples from things near him" (Jin qu zhi shen)—Deriving images from his own body.
  5. "Took examples from things far away" (Yuan qu zhi wu)—Deriving images from distant objects.
  6. "Thus he first composed the Eight Trigrams" (Yu shi shi zuo ba gua)—Therefore, he created the Eight Trigrams.
  7. "To penetrate the virtue of the spiritual deities" (Yi tong shen ming zhi de)—In order to fully grasp the virtue of the spiritual powers.
  8. "To classify the sentiments of the myriad things" (Yi lei wan wu zhi qing)—In order to categorize the behaviors/states of all things.

Why did Fuxi draw the Eight Trigrams$1 From this description, his motivation was: to understand the fundamental laws governing Heaven, Earth, and all things (tong shen ming zhi de), and to systematize and symbolize these laws so they could be grasped and utilized (yi lei wan wu zhi qing).

This motivation has a profound connection to "That wherein the Gentleman resides and finds ease is the Arrangement of the Yi": Fuxi's drawing of the trigrams was precisely to establish a system describing the "Arrangement" (Xu) of Heaven, Earth, and all things. With this system, later Gentlemen would have a basis for "residing and finding ease."