Interpreting and Investigating the Chapter: 'The Sage Perceived the Profundities of the World' — The Primordial Code of *Xiang* and *Yao*
This paper deeply investigates the core proposition, 'The Sage perceived the profundity (Ze) of the world,' within the *Xi Ci Zhuan* (Commentary on the Appended Judgments) of the *Zhou Yi*, analyzing the original Pre-Qin semantics of 'Ze,' 'Xiang' (Image), and 'Yao' (Line). It focuses on explaining the cognitive leap of the Sage through 'looking up and observing down,' transforming deep textures (Ze) into external simulations (Xiang), and reveals the intrinsic connection between the 'Yao' and ancient ritual systems, thereby reconstructing the foundation of Yi learning theory.
IV. The Antiquity of Xiang Thought
If we cast our view further back to high antiquity, the origin of Xiang thought becomes clearer.
In the early stages of human cognition, abstract concepts were not yet developed. The basic method for understanding the world was "taking the image" (qǔ xiàng, 取象)—grasping abstract, imperceptible principles through concrete, perceptible images. This was not a "primitive" mode of thought; on the contrary, it was the oldest and most vital cognitive approach.
Archaeological discoveries—the painted pottery patterns of the Neolithic period, the jade carvings, the rock art—are all products of Xiang thought. The human-faced fish pattern on pottery from Banpo, the Jade Pig-Dragon and C-shaped Dragons from Hongshan culture, the Divine Man-Beast Face motif from Liangzhu culture—these designs were not mere decoration; they were the Pre-ancient people’s representation (qǔ xiàng) of the world's zé.
The image of the Dragon is a prime example. The Dragon is not any existing animal but a composite image created by the ancients through integrating, extracting, and reorganizing features of the snake, fish, bird, deer, and horse. It "simulated" the "outward forms" (xíng róng) of various animals and "depicted the appropriateness" (xiàng qí wù yí) of natural forces like water, clouds, thunder, and lightning, ultimately becoming a comprehensive Xiang representing the highest vitality and power of transformation. This process is strikingly similar to what the Xici Zhuan describes: "The Sage perceived the profundities of the world, and simulated them according to their outward forms; he depicted them according to what was appropriate for the things, and thus he is called the Xiang."
The Eight Trigrams are similar. The three unbroken lines (☰) take the image of Heaven’s wholeness and the relentless vigor of the yang energy; the three broken lines (☷) take the image of Earth’s capacity to carry and contain, and the gentleness of the yin energy. These symbols, reduced to their utmost simplicity, condense the ancients' deepest insights into the texture of Heaven, Earth, and all things.
As Mr. Wen Yiduo pointed out in his Zhou Yi Yizheng Leizuan, the formation of the trigram symbolic system was an inevitable outcome of symbolic thought reaching a certain stage—it marked humanity's ability to use extremely concise symbols to encompass extremely complex world experiences.