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.
V. Inquiry: Why Xiang and Not "Concept"$13
This is a profound question. Western philosophy, since the time of Ancient Greece, followed the path of "conceptualization"—grasping the essence of things through logical definition. Plato’s "Ideas" (eidos) and Aristotle’s "Categories" (kategoria) both constructed cognitive systems through abstract concepts.
But Pre-Qin Chinese thought followed a different path—"taking the image" (qǔ xiàng). This was not because Pre-Qin thinkers lacked the ability for logical inference (the Mohists and the School of Names, like Hui Shi and Gongsun Long, possessed considerable logical acuity), but because they keenly realized that concepts divide the organic connections between things, whereas the Xiang preserves these connections.
A concept can only point to a class of things, its boundaries are clear—a "horse" is a horse; it cannot simultaneously be "firm," "Heaven," or "ruler." But a Xiang can point to multiple levels simultaneously—the Xiang of Qian is Heaven, firmness, vigor, ruler, father, horse, head, etc. These diverse things are linked together by the thread of the Xiang, forming an organic network of meaning.
This is the greatness of Xiang thought: It is not a reductive thinking (reducing complexity to simplicity), but an analogical thinking (discovering isomorphic relationships between different things).
Immediately following this passage, the Xici Zhuan lists numerous instances of the Xiang:
"Thus, the Xiang—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."
Here, it is repeatedly emphasized that the foundation of the Xiang lies in the zé—that there truly exists a deep isomorphism among the myriad things of the world. The Sage is not subjectively creating connections, but objectively "perceiving" these connections, and then expressing them in the form of the Xiang.