Conclusion: The Primordial Code of Image and Line

Let us return at last to the passage itself:

"The sage has the means to perceive the profundity of all under heaven, and fashions likenesses of their forms and appearances, imaging what is fitting for each thing — therefore these are called xiang. The sage has the means to perceive the movements of all under heaven, and observes where they converge and connect, so as to carry out the canonical rites, appending statements to determine what is auspicious or inauspicious — therefore these are called yao."

After the deep inquiry above, we may offer the following comprehensive understanding:

All things under heaven are multitudinous, complex, recondite, and difficult to perceive, yet within them there lies a deep order and texture (ze). The sage, through an intuitive insight (jian) surpassing that of ordinary people, grasps these deep textures. He compares the outward forms of things (ni zhu qi xingrong), depicts the inner fitting relationships of things (xiang qi wu yi), and condenses these textures into a system of symbolic expression — this is xiang.

All things under heaven are, moreover, in ceaselessly changing movement (dong). The sage, with equally profound insight, grasps the critical convergences and pathways (huitong) within the process of change. He establishes the fundamental order and norms of human society (dianli) in accordance with these patterns, and appends words beneath the hexagrams and lines to judge the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of trends of change (xi ci yi duan qi jiXiong) — this is yao.

Xiang and yao — one still and one moving, one substance and one function, one structure and one process — together constitute the two great cornerstones of the Zhouyi, that magnificent classic. They are not subjective inventions of the sage, but the sage's profound discovery and exquisite expression of the objective order of heaven, earth, and the myriad things.

At a yet deeper level, this passage reveals a core secret of human cognition: we cannot directly present the full reality of the world (ze/dong), but through image-taking and the appending of statements, we can construct a symbol system to approximately grasp, express, and apply it. This symbol system is not reality itself, but it is the most reliable bridge to reality.

This is "the primordial code of image and line" — not some mystical celestial revelation, but the fruit of human reason and intuition cooperating at their highest level. It was born from the great practice of the ancient sages' gazing upward and examining below, matured through the deep reflection of pre-Qin thinkers, and through thousands of years of transmission and development, it remains to this day one of the most distinctive and most profound cognitive legacies of Chinese civilization.

Chapter 12 of the Xi Ci Shang Zhuan offers a single statement as the most fitting summation of the entire treatise:

"The Master said: 'Writing does not exhaust speech; speech does not exhaust meaning.' Then can the sage's meaning never be perceived$9 The Master said: 'The sage established images to exhaust meaning, established hexagrams to exhaust the true and the false, appended statements to exhaust speech, changed and connected them to exhaust benefit, drummed and danced them to exhaust the numinous.'"

"Establishing images to exhaust meaning" — using images to fully express meaning. "Establishing hexagrams to exhaust the true and the false" — using hexagrams to fully express truth and falsehood. "Appending statements to exhaust speech" — using statements to fully express what can be said. "Changing and connecting to exhaust benefit" — using change and connection to fully realize advantage. "Drumming and dancing to exhaust the numinous" — using inspiration to fully realize the numinous.

These five uses of "exhaust" (jin) are the ultimate tribute to the functions of xiang and yao as discussed in this chapter — they are not crude instruments, but great creations capable of "exhausting meaning," "exhausting the true and the false," "exhausting speech," "exhausting benefit," and "exhausting the numinous."

The profundity of all under heaven is made visible through xiang; the movements of all under heaven are made knowable through yao. This is the primordial code of the Zhouyi, and the fundamental way in which Chinese civilization apprehends the world.

End of Article

Author: Xuanji Editorial BoardApproximate word count: 12,000 words (original Chinese)

References:

1. Zhouyi Zhengyi, annotated by Wang Bi Wei, with subcommentary by Kong Yingda Tang, Zhonghua Book Company
2. Zhouyi Benyi, by Zhu Xi Song, Zhonghua Book Company
3. Yichuan Yi Zhuan, by Cheng Yi Song, Zhonghua Book Company
4. Zhouyi Neizhuan and Zhouyi Waizhuan, by Wang Fuzhi Ming, Yuelu Press
5. Zhouyi Jijie, by Li Dingzuo Tang, Zhonghua Book Company
6. Zhouyi Yizheng Leizuan, by Wen Yiduo, Shanghai Classics Publishing House
7. Mawangdui Boshu Zhouyi Jingzhuan Shiwen, by Zhang Zhengrang et al., Zhonghua Book Company
8. Zuozhuan, annotated by Du Yu Jin, with subcommentary by Kong Yingda Tang, Zhonghua Book Company
9. Shuowen Jiezi Zhu, by Duan Yucai Qing, Shanghai Classics Publishing House
10. Lunyu, Mengzi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Liji, and other pre-Qin texts