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.
II. The Cognitive Method of "Looking Up and Observing Down"
Fuxi’s method of drawing the trigrams—"looked up and observed the Images in Heaven, and looked down and observed the Laws on Earth"—is the concentrated embodiment of the cognitive methodology of ancient China.
This method has several characteristics:
(I) Heaven as Teacher
Learning was not from books (books did not exist in High Antiquity), but directly from Heaven and Earth. Heaven was the greatest teacher, and Earth the richest textbook.
Analects, Yang Huo:
"The Master said: 'What does Heaven say$2 The four seasons proceed, and a hundred things are born. What does Heaven say$3'"
Heaven does not speak, but the cycle of seasons and the birth of all things contain all principles. Fuxi's "looking up and observing down" was learning from this silent teacher.
(II) Observing Images and Observing Laws Simultaneously
"Observed the Images in Heaven" (Guan xiang yu Tian)—Heavenly phenomena are Xiang (Images). "Observed the Laws on Earth" (Guan fa yu Di)—Earthly principles are Fa (Laws).
Xiang is sensory, intuitive, and figurative; Fa is rational, systematic, and abstract. Fuxi combined the two, observing both Images and Laws, possessing both visual intuition and cognitive understanding of principles.
This corresponds perfectly to the later pairing in the Xì Cí Zhuàn of "observing Images" and "contemplating Words."
(III) Taking Examples Near and Far
"Took examples from things near him, and things far away"—Deriving Images from both near (the self) and far (other things).
This indicates that Fuxi’s cognitive method was comprehensive, reaching everywhere. He did not focus only on one domain but included the entire cosmos—from the self to all things, from Heaven above to Earth below—in his observation and contemplation.