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.
VI. The Ultimate Purpose of the Sages Composing the Yi
What, then, was the ultimate purpose of the Sages (Fuxi, King Wen, Confucius) composing the Yi$8
The Xì Cí Shang Zhuàn states:
"Therefore, Heaven produced divine things, and the Sages followed them; Heaven and Earth undergo transformation, and the Sages imitate them; Heaven displays Images, revealing fortune and misfortune, and the Sages symbolize them; the River produced the Chart, and the Luo produced the Writing, and the Sages followed them."
The Sages composed the Yi by "following" (Ze 则) Heaven, "imitating" (Xiao 效) Heaven, and "symbolizing" (Xiang 象) Heaven—taking Heaven as the standard, the model, and the symbol.
It also states:
"The Yi is on the same level as Heaven and Earth, thus it can encompass and correlate the Way of Heaven and Earth."
"Yi yu Tian Di Zhun, gu neng mi lun Tian Di zhi Dao (《易》与天地准，故能弥纶天地之道)."
The Yi is equivalent to Heaven and Earth, thus it can permeate and connect the Way of Heaven and Earth.
It further states:
"What is the Yi for$9 The Yi opens things, accomplishes affairs, and encompasses the Way of the world—that is all."
"Yi, he wei zhe ye$10 Fu Yi, kai wu cheng wu, mao Tian Xia zhi Dao, ru si er yi zhe ye (《易》何为者也？夫《易》，开物成务，冒天下之道，如斯而已者也)."
The ultimate purpose of the Sages composing the Yi was: to systematize, symbolize, and verbalize the Way of Heaven and Earth, transforming it into a body of knowledge that could be studied, transmitted, and utilized, thereby helping later generations (the Gentlemen) to understand the Heavenly Way, conform to it, and unify with it.
This is the ancient source of "That wherein the Gentleman resides and finds ease is the Arrangement of the Yi"—Fuxi's drawing of the trigrams and King Wen's revision and annotation of the hexagrams were precisely intended to provide a spiritual home where later Gentlemen could "reside and find ease."