Author: Xuanji Editorial Board

Between Efficacy and Image: A Radical Inquiry into the Roots of the Yi Dao's Manifest and Subtle

This article was translated from the original Chinese by AI. Nuances may differ from the source.

Introduction: An Underestimated General Outline of Yi Studies

In the Xici zhuan (Great Commentary, Part II) of the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), there is a passage long regarded as the pivotal statement for understanding the entire architecture of the Zhouyi:

"The yao is that which effects this. The xiang is that which images this. When yao and xiang move within, fortune and misfortune appear without. Achievement and enterprise are seen through change; the sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments."

(Yao ye zhe, xiao ci zhe ye. Xiang ye zhe, xiang ci zhe ye; yao xiang dong hu nei, ji xiong jian hu wai, gong ye jian hu bian, sheng ren zhi qing jian hu ci.)

These thirty-odd characters advance layer by layer — from yao to xiang, from "within" to "without," from "change" to "judgments" — compressing virtually the entire operational mechanism of the Zhouyi into one supremely condensed proposition: how images are apprehended, how hexagrams are formed, how fortune and misfortune are determined, and how the sage's intent is discerned. Yet it is deeply thought-provoking that commentators across the ages have generally confined their reading of this passage to surface-level glossing, failing to unfold the profound philosophical questions it contains.

Why is the essence of yao "effecting" (xiao)$1 What exactly does "this" (ci) — the object of effecting — refer to$2 Why is the essence of xiang "imaging" (xiang)$3 What distinction exists between "imaging" and "effecting"$4 What epistemological framework is constructed by "moving within" and "appearing without"$5 How should we understand the proposition "achievement and enterprise are seen through change" as the practical logic by which the sage governs the world through the Way of the Yi$6 And finally, "the sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments" — does the sage's qing mean emotion, actual condition, or moral intent$7 Why must it be manifested precisely through "judgments" (ci)$8

These questions interlock like links in a chain — pull one and all are set in motion. This essay attempts, from the vantage points of pre-Qin and high antiquity, to probe every stratum of this classical text, drawing extensively on original passages from pre-Qin works, integrating the interpretations of past worthies and historical examples, and undertaking a radical inquiry into the deepest sources of the Way of the Yi.

Chapter One: "The Yao Is That Which Effects This" — The Original Meaning of Xiao and the Generative Logic of Yao

I. The Archaic Semantic Field of Xiao (Effect)

To understand "the yao is that which effects this," we must first ask: what did xiao actually mean in the pre-Qin context$9

Xu Shen's Shuowen jiezi states: "Xiao: to image. Composed of pu (strike) and jiao (cross)." Duan Yucai's commentary further clarifies that the core meaning of xiao is "to imitate," "to model after," "to manifest." In archaic Chinese, xiao carries three layers of meaning worth noting:

First layer: to imitate, to model after. As the Shangshu (Book of Documents, "Yue ming," Part I) states: "Teaching and learning are each half the endeavor; keep beginning and end grounded in study." The essence of learning is to "effect" the Way of the former kings. In the Lunyu (Analects), the Master says: "I transmit but do not create; I trust in and love the ancient" (Shu er). "Transmitting" itself contains the meaning of "effecting" — modeling after.

Second layer: to manifest, to produce results. As in the Zuozhuan (Duke Xuan, Year 12): "There was effect." Meaning the affair produced verifiable results. This layer of meaning is especially crucial in the Xici zhuan — the yao is not merely "imitating" something, but actively "manifesting" something.

Third layer: to devote oneself, to render service. As in the Guoyu (Discourses of the States, "Jin yu"): "Those who render service as officials." Though this sense is not the primary thrust of our passage, it intimates the active agency inherent in xiao — not passive copying, but active reaching toward, investing in, and presenting.

Superimposing these three layers, we arrive at a composite understanding of xiao: The yao is the active imitation and dynamic manifestation of a certain foundational reality.

II. What Does "This" Refer To$10 — The Condensation of Heaven-and-Earth's Movement

What, then, is the "this" that the yao "effects"$11

The Xici zhuan (Part I) has already provided clear clues:

"Therefore the Yi contains the Supreme Ultimate (taiji), which generates the Two Modes, the Two Modes generate the Four Images, and the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams."

And further:

"In heaven, images are formed; on earth, shapes are formed — and transformation and change become visible."

Consider also the preceding context in the Xici zhuan (Part II):

"The great virtue of heaven and earth is called 'generation'; the great treasure of the sage is called 'position.'"

Synthesizing these contexts, we see that "this" does not point to any single concrete thing, but rather to the entire dynamic process of yin and yang waxing and waning, of the myriad things being generated and transformed, between heaven and earth.

Han Kangbo's commentary states: "Xiao means 'to model after.' The sage models after the movements of heaven and earth and thereby produces the yao." Kong Yingda's Zhengyi (Correct Meaning) further elaborates: "The yao is that which effects the movements of all under heaven." This phrase, "the movements of all under heaven," is of paramount importance — it means that the yin-yang alternation of each individual yao is a miniature representation of some specific dynamic relationship within the cosmos.

Let us press the inquiry one level deeper: why xiao (effect) rather than zuo (create) or zao (fabricate)$12

This question touches upon an utterly fundamental proposition in the thought of high antiquity: the sage is not a creator but a modeler-after. The Xici zhuan (Part I) states explicitly:

"In ancient times, when Bao Xi ruled all under heaven, he looked upward and observed the images in heaven, and looked downward and observed the patterns on earth. He observed the markings of birds and beasts and the suitabilities of the land. Nearby, he took from his own body; afar, he took from the myriad things. Thereupon he first made the Eight Trigrams, to penetrate the virtue of the luminous spirits and to classify the conditions of the myriad things."

"Looking upward and examining downward" — this is a posture of cognitive humility. Fu Xi did not invent the Eight Trigrams from nothing; rather, from the order already manifest in heaven, earth, and all things, he extracted, imitated, and condensed the symbolic system of hexagrams and lines. The choice of the word xiao rather than zuo emphasizes precisely this: the authority of the yao derives not from human subjective construction, but from its faithful presentation of the Way of heaven and earth.

This resonates profoundly with the view of the Most High (Laozi). Chapter 25 of the Laozi states:

"Humanity models itself on earth, earth models itself on heaven, heaven models itself on the Dao, and the Dao models itself on what is naturally so."

"Models itself on" (fa) is equivalent to "effects" (xiao). From the Daoist perspective, the legitimacy of all standards and patterns derives from modeling after a higher order. When the Zhouyi uses the yao to "effect this," it is grounding this cosmological-level modeling in an operable symbolic system.

III. The Dynamic Essence of Yao: Not a Static Symbol but a Trajectory of Movement

Here lies a point easily overlooked: the reason xiao (effecting) rather than ji (recording) or zai (carrying) is used to define the yao is that the yao is essentially not a static record but a dynamic act of modeling.

The Shuogua zhuan (Discussion of the Trigrams) states:

"In ancient times, when the sages made the Yi, they intended to accord with the principles of nature and destiny. Therefore they established the Way of heaven and called it yin and yang; they established the Way of earth and called it yielding and firm; they established the Way of humanity and called it benevolence and rightness. Combining the Three Powers and doubling them, the Yi therefore uses six lines to complete a hexagram."

"Combining the Three Powers and doubling them" — heaven, earth, and humanity, each represented by a pair of yin-yang lines, combine to form six lines. The position of each line corresponds to a specific dimension of the relationship among the Three Powers. The first and second lines represent the Way of earth, the third and fourth the Way of humanity, the fifth and top lines the Way of heaven. The arrangement of the lines is not random but strictly models the structural order of the Three Powers.

More importantly, lines change. A yang line can change to a yin line, and a yin line to a yang line — this is the "changing line." It is precisely because the yao is a dynamic act of modeling that it can present the process of yin and yang waxing and waning between heaven and earth, rather than merely leaving a static snapshot.

The Xici zhuan (Part I) states:

"The firm and the yielding push against each other and generate transformation and change."

And further:

"Transformation and change are the images of advance and retreat. The firm and the yielding are the images of day and night."

The yin-yang alternation of the lines models the alternation of day and night, the waxing and waning of advance and retreat. This is a processual modeling, not a copying of results. This point is vital for understanding the Zhouyi as a whole — the Yi is not an encyclopedia of fixed answers but a "living" system that dynamically presents the process of change.

Chapter Two: "The Xiang Is That Which Images This" — The Levels of Xiang and the Epistemology of Images

I. The Subtle Difference Between Xiang (Image) and Xiang (Imaging)

Immediately following "effecting" comes "imaging." The original text reads: "The xiang is that which images this."

At first glance, "effecting" (xiao) and "imaging" (xiang) seem near-synonymous, but careful analysis reveals an important distinction.

"Effecting" emphasizes the dynamic process of imitation — it is a verb-like act.

"Imaging" emphasizes the static relationship of resemblance — it is a state-like presentation.

In other words, the yao is "doing" (modeling after the movements of heaven and earth), while the xiang is "showing" (presenting the configurations of heaven and earth). The yao is process; the xiang is outcome. The yao is microscopic fluctuation; the xiang is the macroscopic pattern.

A passage in the Xici zhuan (Part I) neatly confirms this distinction:

"The sage sets up the hexagrams and observes the images, appends judgments and thereby clarifies fortune and misfortune."

Note the order: first "set up the hexagrams," then "observe the images." Hexagrams are composed of lines; the lines move and the hexagram forms; when the hexagram forms, the image appears. That is to say, the image is the holistic picture that naturally emerges after the lines have moved.

This accords perfectly with what we observe in the natural world. The images of heaven — the trajectories of the sun, moon, and stars — are not single points but holistic patterns presented by the superposition of countless dynamic movements. Likewise, after the six lines have each undergone their changes, the hexagram image they jointly compose is a kind of "imaging" — imaging a certain characteristic relational configuration between heaven and earth.

II. The Multiple Dimensions of Xiang in Pre-Qin Thought

Xiang (image) is an extremely central and complex concept in pre-Qin thought. To understand "the xiang is that which images this" in depth, we must examine the multiple layers of meaning that xiang carries in different contexts.

First layer: celestial images. The Zuozhuan (Duke Zhao, Year 1) cites Zi Chan: "The affairs of heaven always manifest as images." The affairs of heaven always present themselves in the mode of "images." Solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, comets, rainbows — all are "images" of heaven. In the pre-Qin era, observing images to regulate the calendar was among the most important political activities. The opening of the "Canon of Yao" in the Shangshu states: "He then commanded Xi and He, reverently to accord with august heaven, to calculate and image the sun, moon, and stellar markers, and respectfully to bestow the seasons upon the people." "To calculate and image the sun, moon, and stellar markers" — this is the systematic observation and modeling of celestial images.

Second layer: phenomenal images. The Xici zhuan (Part I) states: "The sage, having perceived the abstruse complexities of all under heaven, fashioned likenesses of their forms and appearances, imaging what is fitting for each thing — and therefore they are called 'images.'" Here xiang functions as a verb — rendering the deep and complex things of the world into apprehensible likenesses, making them available for cognition and communication.

Third layer: trigram images. Each of the Eight Trigrams has its image: Qian is heaven, Kun is earth, Zhen is thunder, Xun is wind, Kan is water, Li is fire, Gen is mountain, Dui is marsh. These images are high-level abstractions of the fundamental elements of the natural world. The Shuogua zhuan extensively unfolds the images of the Eight Trigrams:

"Qian is heaven, is roundness, is the sovereign, is the father, is jade, is metal, is cold, is ice, is deep red, is a fine horse, is an old horse, is a lean horse, is a piebald horse, is the fruit of a tree."

A single Qian trigram can symbolize so many things! This demonstrates that "imaging" is not a rigid one-to-one mapping but rather an associative network connected by categorical affinity.

Fourth layer: conceptual images. This is the most abstract level. The Xici zhuan (Part I) states: "Writing cannot exhaust speech, speech cannot exhaust meaning — then can the sage's meaning never be perceived$13 The Master said: 'The sage establishes images to exhaust meaning.'" This passage is profoundly significant — language and writing cannot exhaust the sage's meaning, but "images" can. Why$14 Because images are not linear logical deductions but holistic intuitive presentations. When a hexagram image is set before a person of penetrating understanding, they can apprehend from it subtle meanings that words cannot convey.

Wang Bi, in his Zhouyi lüeli ("Summary of the Principles of the Zhouyi," chapter "Clarifying Images"), developed this brilliantly:

"Images are that which bring forth meaning. Words are that which clarify images. Nothing exhausts meaning so well as images; nothing exhausts images so well as words. Words are born of images, and therefore one may trace words to observe images. Images are born of meaning, and therefore one may trace images to observe meaning. Meaning is exhausted through images; images are made manifest through words."

Wang Bi further proposes "grasping the meaning and forgetting the image, grasping the image and forgetting the words" — which is entirely congruent with Master Zhuang's idea of "catching the fish and forgetting the trap." The Zhuangzi ("Outer Things") states:

"The fish trap exists for the sake of the fish; once you have the fish, forget the trap. The snare exists for the sake of the rabbit; once you have the rabbit, forget the snare. Words exist for the sake of meaning; once you have the meaning, forget the words."

Yet we must note: Wang Bi's theory of "forgetting the image" is a development of Wei-Jin metaphysics (xuanxue). In the original pre-Qin context of the Xici zhuan, the image is not a tool to be transcended but the rightful bearer of the sage's meaning. "The xiang is that which images this" — the image faithfully images the Way of heaven and earth, and is itself a presence worthy of reverence.

III. Why Does "Effecting" Come Before "Imaging"$15

The original text places "the yao is that which effects this" before "the xiang is that which images this." This order is deliberate.

From a generative perspective: first the lines move, then the image forms. The yao is the basic unit from which images are constituted, just as in the cosmos the movement of yin and yang (effecting) precedes the presentation of myriad forms (imaging). The Xici zhuan (Part I) states: "One yin and one yang — this is called the Dao." The alternating movement of yin and yang is the most fundamental level; the profusion of myriad images is the macroscopic manifestation of that movement.

From an epistemological perspective: "effecting" before "imaging" also suggests a cognitive pathway — we grasp the holistic configuration (image) by observing the dynamic process (effecting) of things, not the reverse. This strikingly parallels the modern systems-theory principle that "process is prior to structure."

Chapter Three: "When Yao and Xiang Move Within, Fortune and Misfortune Appear Without" — The Dialectic of Inner and Outer and the Epistemological Architecture of the Yi Dao

I. Multiple Readings of "Within" and "Without"

"When yao and xiang move within, fortune and misfortune appear without" — this constitutes the third layer of the passage's progressive structure. The first two layers address the essence of yao and xiang (what); this layer addresses how they operate (how).

But what exactly do "within" and "without" refer to$16 Commentators across the ages have offered at least three readings.

First reading: within the hexagram versus the affairs outside the hexagram. Han Kangbo's commentary states: "Yao and xiang move within the hexagram; fortune and misfortune appear outside the hexagram." The meaning is that the yin-yang movements of the lines and the combinatory arrangement of the images occur within the body of the hexagram, but the corresponding outcomes of fortune and misfortune manifest in real-world affairs outside it. This is the most straightforward reading — the casting of the milfoil and formation of the hexagram is "within"; the unfolding of events is "without."

Second reading: the subtly hidden within versus the conspicuously manifest without. Cheng Yi's Yichuan Yizhuan tends to interpret "within" as the imperceptibly subtle level and "without" as the visibly manifest level. In his commentary on the Kun hexagram, he wrote: "In a household that accumulates goodness, there will surely be abundant blessings; in a household that accumulates wickedness, there will surely be abundant calamities. Good and evil accumulate in the subtle; fortune and misfortune take shape in the manifest." The movement of yao and xiang is like the accumulation of good and evil, operating in the subtle realm; the appearance of fortune and misfortune is like the descent of blessings and calamities, presenting itself in the manifest realm.

Third reading: within the mind versus outside in affairs. This reading carries a stronger coloring of the School of Mind (xinxue). Although Zhu Xi in his Zhouyi benyi did not explicitly propose this interpretation, Yi scholars from the Southern Song onward (such as Yang Wanli in his Chengzhai Yizhuan) frequently understood "within" as a person's inner cultivation and "without" as external circumstances. In this reading, "yao and xiang move within" means that through studying lines and images one cultivates inner discernment, while "fortune and misfortune appear without" means that this inner cultivation ultimately manifests in one's external fate and circumstances.

The three readings each have their emphases but are not contradictory. Viewed within the overall framework of pre-Qin thought, the second reading comes closest to the original sense — what it reveals is the transformative relationship between the subtle and the manifest, between potentiality and actualization.

II. The Philosophical Tension Between "Move" and "Appear"

Note the choice of verbs in the original text: dong (move) within, jian (appear) without.

Dong is active and processual — yao and xiang ceaselessly move and change internally.

Jian (here read xian, meaning "to become manifest") is presentational and resultant — fortune and misfortune naturally reveal themselves externally.

This difference in verbs reveals a profound philosophical relationship: the internal "moving" is cause; the external "appearing" is effect. Yet the "cause" does not forcibly determine the "effect"; rather, the "effect" naturally emerges from the "cause." This resonates with the view in Chapter 16 of the Laozi:

"The myriad things arise together; I thereby observe their return. Things flourish in profusion, and each returns to its root. Returning to the root is called stillness; this is called returning to one's destiny."

The movements of all things appear chaotic, but their patterns lie deep within the source. The operational mechanism of the Zhouyi works the same way: though the fluctuations of yao and xiang are complex, the manifestation of fortune and misfortune possesses its own inner necessity.

The Xici zhuan (Part I) contains another passage that echoes this:

"Therefore, that in which the noble person dwells securely is the sequence of the Yi; that in which he delights and studies is the judgments on the lines. Therefore, at rest, the noble person contemplates its images and studies its judgments; in action, he contemplates its changes and studies its divinations. Thus heaven itself assists him — auspicious, with nothing that is not favorable."

"At rest, contemplate the images" and "in action, contemplate the changes" — this is precisely the practical unfolding of "within" and "without." In repose, one studies the hexagram images and line statements to cultivate cognition (within); in action, one observes transformations and divinatory outcomes to respond to the times (without).

III. A Historical Case: Mu Jiang of Lu and the Hexagram She Encountered

Let us use a famous historical case to concretely illustrate how "when yao and xiang move within, fortune and misfortune appear without" operates.

The Zuozhuan (Duke Xiang, Year 9) records an extremely celebrated example of divination:

When Mu Jiang died in the Eastern Palace, she had divined by milfoil at the beginning of her confinement there and obtained the hexagram Gen (Keeping Still) with an eight unchanging lines. The scribe said: "This is Gen changing to Sui (Following) — follow it and depart. You must leave quickly." Mu Jiang replied: "No! According to the Zhouyi, Sui means: 'Supreme success, favorable to persist, no blame.' Yuan (supreme) means the foremost of the bodily virtues; heng (success) means the assembly of excellences; li (favorable) means harmony with rightness; zhen (persisting) means the trunk of affairs. To embody benevolence sufficiently to lead others — that is yuan. To assemble excellent virtue sufficiently to accord with propriety — that is heng. To benefit beings sufficiently to harmonize with rightness — that is li. To be firm and steadfast sufficiently to sustain affairs — that is zhen. One who possesses these four virtues may follow and incur no blame. But I am a woman who participated in disorder — already in a lowly position and lacking benevolence — this cannot be called yuan. I have not brought peace to the state — this cannot be called heng. My actions have harmed myself — this cannot be called li. I abandoned my station for the sake of wantonness — this cannot be called zhen. One who possesses the four virtues may follow Sui and be without blame; I possess none of them. How could this be the Sui that applies to me$17 I have courted evil — how could I be without blame$18 I shall surely die here and never get out."

This case is profoundly instructive. Mu Jiang's divination yielded Gen transforming into Sui, and the scribe interpreted it as "follow it and depart" — she could leave. But Mu Jiang herself analyzed in depth the conditions embedded in Sui's judgment — "supreme success, favorable to persist, no blame" — and concluded that she did not possess the four virtues of yuan, heng, li, and zhen, and therefore, despite obtaining the Sui hexagram, could not obtain the result of "no blame."

This is a vivid illustration of "when yao and xiang move within, fortune and misfortune appear without": the presentation of the hexagram image is "within" (moving within), but the judgment of fortune and misfortune must be combined with the specific circumstances of human affairs (appearing without). The same hexagram image, for different people and in different situations, will manifest entirely different meanings of fortune and misfortune. The hexagram image does not automatically determine fortune or misfortune — fortune and misfortune are results that "appear" without after the hexagram image and the actual situation interact.

Mu Jiang's interpretation displays an extremely high level of Yi learning. She did not judge mechanically by the hexagram name alone but penetrated the moral principles in the line statements and compared them with her actual circumstances — this methodology embodies precisely the dual operation of "effecting" and "imaging": the yao effects the dynamics of heaven and earth, the xiang images the configurations of all things, but the final judgment of fortune and misfortune requires combining both with concrete human experience.

Chapter Four: "Achievement and Enterprise Are Seen Through Change" — The Praxis of Change and the Sage's Way of Governing the World

I. Three Levels of "Change"

"Achievement and enterprise are seen through change" — this is the fourth layer of the passage's progression, turning from epistemology to praxeology. The preceding portions discuss how yao and xiang operate and how fortune and misfortune manifest; this portion addresses how gong ye — actual governing achievements — arise from "change" (bian).

In the pre-Qin context, bian (change) operates on at least three levels:

First level: changes in hexagram lines. This is the most immediate level. Lines have "changing lines" (old yang becomes yin, old yin becomes yang), and hexagrams have "transformed hexagrams" (the original hexagram transforms into the resulting hexagram). By observing changing lines and transformed hexagrams, one can discern the direction of a situation's development. The Xici zhuan (Part I) states: "To trim and tailor transformation is called 'change'; to extend and carry it out is called 'penetration.'" Change is the tailoring of transformation; penetration is the extension of change.

Second level: changes in the historical situation. The great transformations of the world — dynastic succession, the migration of customs, the revision of institutions. The Xici zhuan (Part II) enumerates the "fashioning implements in reverence of images" associated with thirteen hexagrams, demonstrating how the sages created tools and institutions in response to the changing demands of their eras:

"After Bao Xi passed away, Shen Nong arose. He hewed wood to make plowshares and bent wood to make plow handles; the benefit of plowing and weeding he used to instruct all under heaven — this was presumably taken from the hexagram Yi (Increase). He set midday as market time, gathered the people of the world, and assembled the goods of the world; they traded and withdrew, each obtaining what they needed — this was presumably taken from the hexagram Shi He (Biting Through)."

From Fu Xi to Shen Nong to the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun, each advance in civilization was "taken from" a certain hexagram image — meaning the sage discerned from the hexagram image the demands of historical change and accordingly created new tools and institutions. This is the direct embodiment of "achievement and enterprise are seen through change."

Third level: transformation of mind and character. The Xici zhuan (Part I) states: "When things reach their extreme, they change; through change, they penetrate; through penetration, they endure." This proposition transcends specific hexagram techniques and historical events, rising to the level of universal existential wisdom — when affairs develop to their uttermost limit, change must occur; only through change can there be penetration; only through penetration can there be endurance. In the Lunyu (Zi Han), when the Master faced dire straits, he said: "Has heaven not yet destroyed this culture$19" This spirit of refusing to abandon adaptive transformation even in extremity is a living embodiment of "when things reach their extreme, they change."

II. Why "Achievement and Enterprise" Rather Than "Fortune and Misfortune"$20

It is worth pondering deeply: the preceding clause says "fortune and misfortune appear without," while this clause says "achievement and enterprise are seen through change." Why the shift in terms$21 Why not "achievement and enterprise appear without" or "fortune and misfortune are seen through change"$22

The difference in diction reveals two distinct levels of concern:

"Fortune and misfortune" is a judgment about individual circumstances — personal gain and loss, honor and disgrace, safety and peril.

"Achievement and enterprise" is an evaluation of collective endeavor — the actual efficacy of governing a state, securing the realm, and benefiting the world. It does not simply "appear" from the hexagram image but can only be realized through active "change" — reform, adaptation, adjustment.

This distinction is crucially important. It means that the Zhouyi is not merely a manual for divining individual fortune and misfortune; it is, even more so, a canonical text guiding the sage's timely adaptation and world-shaping enterprise.

The Xici zhuan (Part I) states:

"The Yi is that by which the sage plumbs the depths and scrutinizes the incipient. Only through depth can he penetrate the aspirations of all under heaven; only through incipience can he accomplish the affairs of all under heaven; only through spirit can he act without haste yet swiftly, without going yet arriving."

"Plumbing the depths" is epistemological profundity; "scrutinizing the incipient" is the acute perception of the earliest stirrings of change. Through the Yi, the sage studies those ji — those almost imperceptible harbingers of change — and thereby acts appropriately before change has fully unfolded. This is the deeper meaning of "achievement and enterprise are seen through change."

III. A Historical Case: King Wen's Elaboration of the Yi and the Rise and Fall of Zhou

The historical case that best illustrates "achievement and enterprise are seen through change" is the relationship between King Wen of Zhou and the Zhouyi.

The Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian, "Basic Annals of Zhou") records:

"The Lord of the West had been on the throne for some fifty years. During his imprisonment at Youli, he presumably expanded the Eight Trigrams of the Yi into the sixty-four hexagrams."

According to tradition, King Wen, during his imprisonment at Youli, developed the Eight Trigrams of Fu Xi into the sixty-four hexagrams and appended the hexagram statements. Why did King Wen elaborate the Yi while in captivity$23 Because he found himself at the extremity of qiong — his personal freedom was stripped away, and the fate of his lineage hung by a thread. It was precisely in this extreme situation that he needed "change" — through deep study of the patterns of transformation in the Way of heaven and earth, he sought the path out of adversity and toward the building of a great enterprise.

Indeed, the rise of the Zhou was itself a history of "change." In the oath before the Battle of Muye recorded in the Shangshu ("Mu shi"), King Wu declared:

"Now the Shang king Shou heeds only the words of his consort, has heedlessly abandoned his sacrificial duties and gives no answer to the spirits, has heedlessly cast aside the lineage of the former kings and does not employ them..."

The Shang king Zhou's "refusal to change" — his refusal to adapt to the demands of the times, his obstinate persistence in erroneous governance — led to his downfall. The "change" of King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou — adapting to the transfer of heaven's mandate, creating new institutions of rites and music — achieved the enterprise of the Zhou dynasty lasting several centuries.

The Xici zhuan (Part II) also states explicitly:

"The rise of the Yi — was it not in the middle antiquity$24 The maker of the Yi — was he not beset by anxiety and affliction$25"

And further:

"The rise of the Yi — was it not in the final age of the Yin and the flourishing virtue of the Zhou$26 Was it not in the affair between King Wen and Zhou Xin$27 Therefore its words are perilous. The wise person who contemplates its tuan (judgment) statements will understand more than half."

The Yi was produced precisely amid the heaven-and-earth-overturning great transformation between the Yin and Zhou. Its words tend toward "peril" — pervaded by a sense of anxiety and affliction — precisely because its maker profoundly experienced the urgency and criticality of "change." "Achievement and enterprise are seen through change" is not an empty slogan but a profound summation of the monumental historical transformation of the Yin-Zhou transition.

Chapter Five: "The Sentiments of the Sage Are Seen Through the Judgments" — The True Meaning of Qing and the Mission of the Judgments

I. The Pre-Qin Semantics of Qing: Not Emotion, but Actual Condition

The final — and most subtly far-reaching — layer of this passage is: "The sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments."

We must first clarify: the meaning of qing in the pre-Qin context is not entirely identical to the modern sense of "emotion." Pre-Qin qing has at least three core senses:

First: actual condition, true state. This is the oldest sense. The Zuozhuan (Duke Xi, Year 28) states: "The true and false conditions of the people — he knew them all." Here qing is contrasted with wei (falsity), meaning the real state of affairs. The Zhuangzi (Qi wu lun) says: "It has reality (qing) and trustworthiness (xin), but neither action nor form." "Having reality" means the Dao possesses genuine substance; "having trustworthiness" means the Dao can be verified.

Second: disposition, innate nature. Master Xun's Zhengming ("Rectification of Names") states: "Nature (xing) is what heaven brings to completion; disposition (qing) is the substance of nature." In Master Xun's framework, qing is the substantive content of human nature — the innate tendencies of liking, disliking, joy, and anger. The Liji (Yue ji) states: "At birth, humans are still — this is heaven's nature. Stimulated by things and set in motion — this is the desire of nature." Qing and xing are closely linked: qing is the natural response when innate nature encounters external things.

Third: moral intent, aspiration. The "Great Preface" to the Mao shi (Book of Songs) states: "Poetry is where aspiration tends. In the mind it is aspiration; expressed in words it is poetry. Feeling (qing) stirs within and takes form in words." Here qing is inner feeling and aspiration, expressed through language — through poetry and judgments.

Returning to "the sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments," which sense fits best$28

Han Kangbo's commentary adopts the first sense, taking qing to mean "actual condition": the sage composed the hexagram and line statements, and what they contain is the true substance of the Way of heaven and earth. Kong Yingda's Zhengyi builds further: "The sentiments of the sage are seen in the statements on the hexagrams and lines — meaning the sage's concern to relieve all under heaven is made manifest in the judgments." Kong Yingda effectively combines the first sense (actual condition) with the third (moral intent) — the sage's qing is both a genuine understanding of the Way of heaven and earth and a deep-seated concern for the welfare of the world.

I consider this synthesized reading the most apt. "The sentiments of the sage" is neither a mere outpouring of emotion nor a cold, detached objective record, but rather: the sage, grounded in a profound apprehension of the Way of heaven and earth, and moved by a deep-seated concern for the welfare of the world, has crystallized all of this in the hexagram and line statements.

II. The Dual Nature of the Judgments: Assertion and Admonition

Why, then, must the sage's sentiments be manifested specifically through "judgments" (ci)$29 Why not through "images" or "lines"$30

The answer lies in the unique function of ci. Images can present configurations, and lines can model dynamics, but only ci — verbal and written language — can provide specific determinations and guidance.

The Xici zhuan (Part I) states:

"The tuan speaks of images; the lines speak of changes. Fortune and misfortune speak of gain and loss; regret and distress speak of minor flaws. 'No blame' means being skilled at remedying mistakes."

The judgments are the "speaking" about images, the "speaking" about changes, the explicit determination of fortune, misfortune, regret, distress, and blamelessness. Without the judgments, the hexagram image would be merely an open-ended diagram, susceptible to any number of readings. It is precisely the sage's judgments that give the hexagram image a specific orientation — under what circumstances is there fortune, under what circumstances misfortune, under what circumstances regret and distress, under what circumstances blamelessness.

Take the Qian (Heaven) hexagram as an example:

Line one, yang: "A hidden dragon. Do not act."Line two, yang: "The dragon appears in the field. It is favorable to see the great person."Line three, yang: "The noble person is ceaselessly active all day long; in the evening, he is vigilant as if in danger. No blame."Line four, yang: "Leaping, perhaps, in the abyss. No blame."Line five, yang: "The flying dragon is in heaven. It is favorable to see the great person."Top line, yang: "The overreaching dragon will have cause for regret."All lines yang: "A flight of dragons with no head visible. Auspicious."

The six line statements trace a complete life-arc from hiddenness to appearance, from leaping to flying, from flying to overreaching. Each statement contains the sage's judgment — "do not act," "favorable to see the great person," "no blame," "will have cause for regret" — and these judgments are not arbitrary but crystallize the sage's profound understanding of how "dragon virtue" should comport itself at each stage.

"A hidden dragon — do not act": the sage's concern for the self-preservation of talent that has not yet found its time. "The overreaching dragon will have cause for regret": the sage's admonition against arrogance after the pinnacle of achievement. These judgments are at once faithful descriptions of the Way of heaven and earth and earnest admonitions to later generations.

The Wenyan zhuan (Commentary on the Words of the Text) offers an especially brilliant elaboration on "the overreaching dragon will have cause for regret":

"'Overreaching' as a word denotes knowing how to advance but not how to retreat, knowing how to preserve but not how to let perish, knowing how to gain but not how to lose. Is it not the sage alone who knows how to advance and retreat, to preserve and perish, without losing what is right$31 Is it not the sage alone!"

This passage fully demonstrates the meaning of "the sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments": through the line statements, the sage admonishes the world — the essence of "overreaching" is knowing only advance and not retreat. Only one who simultaneously knows advance and retreat, preservation and perishing, is a true sage. What the judgments contain is not merely a verdict on a particular situation but the sage's profound insight into the entire Way of advance and retreat throughout life.

III. Reconsidering the Word "Seen": Why Jian$32

One final detail merits attention: the character jian (to appear/manifest) occurs three times in succession in the original text — "fortune and misfortune appear without," "achievement and enterprise are seen through change," "the sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments." The first two instances are read xian (to manifest), and the last should likewise be read xian.

Why does the text not say the sage's sentiments "reside" (zai) in the judgments, or "are preserved" (cun) in the judgments, or "are lodged" (ji) in the judgments — but specifically "are seen" (jian) in the judgments$33

Jian (to manifest) implies a process of something originally hidden subsequently being revealed. The sage's sentiments are inherently deep and unfathomable — in the Lunyu (Yang Huo), the Master says: "What does heaven say$34 The four seasons proceed, the hundred things are born — what does heaven say$35" The sage is like heaven: his sentiments are not lightly shown to others. But through the hexagram and line statements, these deeply concealed sentiments at last "become manifest" — revealing themselves to those who study with devoted attention.

This forms a perfect echo with another famous passage in the Xici zhuan (Part I):

"The Master said: 'Writing cannot exhaust speech, speech cannot exhaust meaning.' Then can the sage's meaning never be perceived$36 The Master said: 'The sage establishes images to exhaust meaning, sets up hexagrams to exhaust the true and the false, appends judgments to exhaust his words.'"

"Establishes images to exhaust meaning" — images exhaust the sage's meaning. "Appends judgments to exhaust his words" — judgments exhaust the sage's words. "Sets up hexagrams to exhaust the true and the false" — hexagrams exhaust the actualities and falsities of the world. But after all this "exhausting," the sage's qing — that more fundamental concern and apprehension — ultimately "is seen" through the judgments.

Not "exhausted" (jin), but "seen" (jian). "Exhausted" implies being fully used up; "seen" implies being partially revealed without necessarily being fully used up. This subtle distinction tells us: the hexagram and line statements can reveal a portion of the sage's sentiments, but whether the sage's sentiments can ever be completely exhausted — that is another question entirely. This leaves an eternal space for continued interpretation and ever-deeper inquiry by later generations.

Chapter Six: The Four-Tiered Progressive Architecture — A Cognitive Ladder from Effecting to Discerning the Sage's Sentiments

I. Reexamining the Structural Logic of the Entire Passage

Let us now step back and survey the four-tiered progressive structure of this passage as a whole:

These four tiers progress from the microscopic to the macroscopic, from ontology to praxis, from the Way of heaven to the affairs of humanity, composing a complete cognitive ladder:

Step one: understand the essence of the yao — it is the modeling-after of heaven-and-earth's movement.Step two: understand the essence of the xiang — it is the imaging of heaven-and-earth's configurations.Step three: understand how yao and xiang operate — internal movement produces external fortune and misfortune.Step four: understand the destination of the Yi Dao — enterprise is achieved through adaptive change; the sage's sentiments are revealed through the judgments.

These four steps can also be understood as four levels of initiation into the Zhouyi:

The beginner first studies the yao — learning the basic meanings and rules of change for yin and yang lines. Then studies the xiang — understanding the symbolic system of the Eight Trigrams and sixty-four hexagrams. Then studies the principle of inner and outer — grasping the correspondence between hexagram images and reality. Finally apprehends "change and the judgments" — penetrating the sage's wisdom of timely adaptation and savoring the profound sentiment embedded in the judgments.

II. Intertextuality with Other Core Propositions in the Xici zhuan

This passage does not stand in isolation; it forms a rich intertextual web with other core propositions in the Xici zhuan.

Intertextuality with "one yin and one yang — this is called the Dao": The "this" in "the yao is that which effects this," traced to its root, is precisely the "Dao of one yin and one yang." The binary division of lines into yin and yang is itself the modeling-after of this fundamental Dao.

Intertextuality with "what is above form is called the Dao; what is below form is called an implement": The image (xiang) serves as an intermediary between "Dao" and "implement" — the image is neither purely metaphysical (Dao) nor purely physical (implement), but a bridge between the two. "The xiang is that which images this" — the image images the Dao, and simultaneously images the implement.

Intertextuality with "manifesting through benevolence, concealing in function": "Yao and xiang move within" corresponds to "concealing in function" — the hidden operational mechanism. "Fortune and misfortune appear without" corresponds to "manifesting through benevolence" — the visible educative function. The Xici zhuan (Part I) states: "Manifesting through benevolence, concealing in function, drumming up the myriad things yet not sharing the sage's anxiety — how perfect are its flourishing virtue and great enterprise!" The Way of heaven "drums up the myriad things yet does not share the sage's anxiety" — the Way of heaven impartially drives the operations of all things, but the sage carries anxiety — anxiety for the order and disorder of the world, for the security and suffering of the people. This "anxiety" is the sage's qing.

Intertextuality with "penetrating change is called 'affairs'; the unfathomable in yin and yang is called 'spirit'": The "change" in "achievement and enterprise are seen through change" is precisely the "change" in "penetrating change is called 'affairs.'" To change and thereby penetrate, to penetrate and thereby endure, to endure and thereby achieve enterprise — this is the fundamental logic of the sage's worldly governance.

III. Echoes Among the Pre-Qin Masters

The intellectual framework this passage reveals has had far-reaching influence not only within the Confucian tradition but also finds echoes in other schools among the pre-Qin masters.

The Confucian echo: The Master's discussions of the Yi ultimately come to rest on the adaptation to change in human affairs and the cultivation of moral character. The Lunyu (Shu er) records: "The Master said: 'Give me a few more years — if at fifty I could study the Yi, I might thereby be without great fault.'" "Without great fault" — not the pursuit of great wealth and honor, but the avoidance of serious errors. This is precisely the practical interpretation of "fortune and misfortune appear without" — the purpose of studying the Yi is to make the most correct judgments possible amid the complex vicissitudes of human affairs and to avoid mistakes.

The Daoist echo: Chapter 40 of the Laozi states: "Reversal is the movement of the Dao. Weakness is the function of the Dao." "Reversal" (fan) is the fundamental mode of the Dao's movement — all things move toward their opposites. This is entirely congruent with the logic of yin-yang mutual transformation in the Zhouyi. The reason the yao must "effect" the movements of heaven and earth is precisely because the core pattern of those movements is the mutual transformation of yin and yang. The Most High's "reversal is the movement of the Dao" and the Xici zhuan's "the firm and the yielding push against each other and generate transformation and change" may be called streams from the same source.

The military echo: The Sunzi bingfa (The Art of War, "Void and Solid") states: "The disposition of troops has no permanent configuration, just as water has no permanent shape. One who can achieve victory by adapting to the enemy's changes may be called divine (shen)." "Adapting to the enemy's changes" — this is precisely the military interpretation of "achievement and enterprise are seen through change." The essence of military strategy lies in adapting to the time and the situation, never clinging rigidly to fixed formations and tactics. Sunzi's "divine" and the Xici zhuan's "the unfathomable in yin and yang is called 'spirit'" are kindred in spirit.

Echoes in the School of Names and the Mohists: Although the School of Names and the Mohists are not known for their Yi studies, their concern with the "relationship between names and actualities" has a deep-level connection to the proposition "the xiang is that which images this." Whether names correspond to actualities — whether designations faithfully "image" the reality of things — is a universal concern in pre-Qin thought. The "Ten Propositions on Things" of Hui Shi, with their seemingly paradoxical assertions (such as "heaven and earth are equally low; mountains and marshes are equally level"), actually challenge the reliability of everyday "images" — do the "images" we perceive truly and faithfully "image" the original face of things$37

Chapter Seven: A Radical Inquiry from the Perspective of High Antiquity — How Is the Hexagram-Line Symbolic System Possible$38

I. The Primordial Unity of Symbol and Reality

From the perspective of high antiquity, the two statements "the yao is that which effects this" and "the xiang is that which images this" presuppose an utterly fundamental conviction: a humanly constructed symbolic system can faithfully model and image the genuine order of nature.

This conviction may seem to require justification today, but in the intellectual context of high antiquity in China, it was virtually self-evident. Why$39

Because the understanding of symbols in high antiquity was radically different from that of later ages. In the archaic context, symbols were not arbitrarily agreed-upon conventional marks but rather essential patterns extracted directly from the cosmic order. Fu Xi observed celestial images and examined terrestrial patterns, and thereby drew the Eight Trigrams — the trigrams were not "invented" by Fu Xi but "discovered" by him in the order already manifest in heaven, earth, and all things. Just as an archaeologist does not "create" fossils but "excavates" them from geological strata.

The Xici zhuan (Part I) states:

"The River brought forth the Diagram; the Luo brought forth the Document. The sage modeled upon them."

The River Diagram and Luo Document — these are symbols actively presented by heaven and earth to humanity. The sage did not fabricate these symbols but "modeled upon them" — effected them, followed them. Under this conception, there is no chasm between symbol and reality: the symbol is reality's self-presentation.

This "symbol-reality unity" has deep foundations in pre-Qin thought. The Zuozhuan (Duke Zhao, Year 2) records that Han Xuanzi, after viewing the archives of Lu, exclaimed: "The rites of Zhou are preserved entirely in Lu." For Han Xuanzi, the documents (symbols) were not "descriptions about" the rites of Zhou but the very "presence" of the rites of Zhou themselves. Likewise, the hexagram-line symbols are not "descriptions about" the Way of heaven and earth but the very "presence" of the Way of heaven and earth.

II. Turtle-Shell Divination and Milfoil Divination: A Comparison of Two Modes of Symbol Generation

To understand the meanings of "effecting" and "imaging" more deeply, we may compare the two divination methods of turtle-shell (guibu) and milfoil (shishi).

Turtle-shell divination involves heating a turtle shell to produce cracks (zhao), whose patterns are then interpreted to determine fortune and misfortune. In turtle-shell divination, symbol generation is physical — fire scorches the bone, producing cracks whose shapes lie beyond human control.

Milfoil divination involves manipulating milfoil stalks (or later, coins) according to a specific mathematical procedure to generate yin and yang lines, which are then combined into hexagrams. In milfoil divination, symbol generation is mathematical — through the steps of dividing, counting, and setting aside, random numbers are converted into determinate yin-yang lines.

The Xici zhuan (Part I) states:

"The great expansion number is fifty; of these, forty-nine are used. Dividing them into two groups images the Two heaven and earth. Suspending one images the Three heaven, earth, humanity. Counting them off by fours images the four seasons. Returning the remainder to the space between the fingers images the intercalary month. In five years there are two intercalary months, therefore the remainder is set aside twice before the suspended stalk is replaced."

Note the repeated occurrence of the character xiang (image) in this passage: "images the Two" — symbolizing the bifurcation of heaven and earth; "images the Three" — symbolizing the Three Powers of heaven, earth, and humanity; "images the four seasons" — symbolizing spring, summer, autumn, and winter; "images the intercalary month" — symbolizing calendrical adjustment. The milfoil procedure itself is a complete symbolic system — each operational step models a particular phase of the operation of heaven and earth.

This forms a stark contrast with turtle-shell divination. In turtle-shell divination, the symbol (the crack pattern) is directly produced by natural force, and the human being is a passive interpreter. In milfoil divination, the symbol (the hexagram lines) is actively generated by the human being through modeling the procedure of heaven and earth, and the human being is an active participant. "The yao is that which effects this" — the active agency inherent in the word xiao accords precisely with the operational character of milfoil divination.

From an archaeological perspective, the great quantities of oracle-bone inscriptions unearthed at Yinxu demonstrate that the Shang dynasty primarily practiced turtle-shell divination. The milfoil tradition represented by the Zhouyi was more closely associated with Zhou culture. The transition from turtle-shell to milfoil divination was not merely a technological change in divinatory practice but a profound epistemological transformation — from the passive reception of heaven's intent through "cracks" to the active modeling of heaven's Way through "lines." The philosophical significance of this transformation is precisely what the word xiao (effecting) bears.

Chapter Eight: A Synthesis and Critical Analysis of Interpretations by Past Worthies

I. The Han-Dynasty Image-and-Number School

Han-dynasty Yi studies were dominated by the image-and-number (xiangshu) tradition. Han-dynasty Yi scholars represented by Yu Fan, Xun Shuang, and Jing Fang interpreted "the yao is that which effects this" with an emphasis on the specific image-and-number correspondences of each line.

In annotating this passage, Yu Fan focused on hexagram transformation (guabian), interlocking bodies (huti), and najia (the pairing of stems and branches with trigrams), arguing that "effecting this" referred to the correspondence between the yin-yang attribute of a line at a specific position and specific things between heaven and earth. For instance, the first line effects the beginning of earth, the second effects the completion of earth, the third effects the beginning of humanity, the fourth effects the completion of humanity, the fifth effects the beginning of heaven, and the top line effects the completion of heaven. The yin-yang quality and positional placement of each line model the specific operational state of one dimension of the Three Powers.

The contribution of Han-dynasty image-and-number studies lies in their grounding the meaning of "effecting" in operable, concrete correspondences. Their limitation lies in their occasional excessive fixation on the technical details of image and number, which can obscure the deeper philosophical import of the word xiao.

II. Wang Bi and the Meaning-and-Principle School

Wang Bi (226-249) was the great innovator of Wei-Jin Yi studies, reinterpreting this passage from the vantage of meaning and principle (yili).

In Wang Bi's view, "effecting" and "imaging" should not be understood as one-to-one correspondences with specific physical images but rather as abstract presentations of structural principles. His theory of "grasping the meaning and forgetting the image," proposed in the Zhouyi lüeli ("Clarifying Images"), though it provoked enormous controversy in later ages, contains a core insight of real depth: the image is established to convey meaning; if one becomes excessively attached to the specific details of the image and forgets the meaning it conveys, one has mistaken the branch for the root.

Wang Bi's reading is especially illuminating for "the sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments." He held that the sage's qing is not an exhaustive description of all the phenomena of heaven and earth, but a principled judgment appropriate to the specific temporal position (shiwei) of each hexagram and line. What the sage attends to is "time" (shi) — what should be done when — rather than "image" (xiang) — what this hexagram literally resembles.

III. The Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucian Reading

In his Yichuan Yizhuan, Cheng Yi subsumed "effecting" and "imaging" under the framework of heavenly principle (tianli). He held that the yao can model the movements of heaven and earth because heavenly principle (the "principle" of "principle is one, its particularizations are many") simultaneously pervades both the natural world and the symbolic system. The reason hexagram-line symbols and the myriad things of heaven and earth can correspond to each other is not because some mysterious causal link exists between them, but because they jointly partake of one and the same "heavenly principle."

Zhu Xi's annotation of this passage in the Zhouyi benyi is relatively concise:

"Xiao means 'to imitate.' Xiang means 'to resemble.' These both refer to the natural principle (ziran zhi li) of heaven, earth, and the myriad things."

Zhu Xi emphasizes "the natural principle of heaven, earth, and the myriad things" — expanding the referent of "this" from concrete celestial and terrestrial phenomena to the universal "principle" (li). In Zhu Xi's view, the yao does not model any single concrete thing but rather the universal principle pervading all things.

IV. Wang Fuzhi's Concrete-Learning Reading

Wang Fuzhi (1619-1692), in his Zhouyi neizhuan (Inner Commentary) and Zhouyi waizhuan (Outer Commentary), offered a distinctively flavored reading of this passage. Wang Fuzhi opposed Wang Bi's "forgetting the image" theory, holding that the image is not a tool to be transcended but rather the very locus where principle resides. Divorced from images, principle has nowhere to dwell.

Wang Fuzhi particularly emphasized the practical dimension of "effecting":

"'Effecting' does not mean idle conjecture; it means there is genuinely such a matter, and one elucidates it accordingly."

The meaning is: the yao's "effecting" is not an empty ruminative exercise but a genuine presentation of actually existing things and relationships. This reading carries a strongly materialist coloring — the efficacy of the symbolic system derives from its faithful reflection of the material world.

Wang Fuzhi also offered a reading of "achievement and enterprise are seen through change" that carries the depth of a philosophy of history. He held that "achievement and enterprise" is not a fixed, unchanging standard but one that continually renews itself with the changes of the age. The standards of enterprise in the Shang era differed from those of the Zhou; those of the Zhou differed from those of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods — each era has its specific "change," and the content of enterprise shifts accordingly. This historical understanding elevates "achievement and enterprise are seen through change" beyond the realm of divinatory technique into an important proposition in the philosophy of history.

Chapter Nine: Concluding Reflections — The Eternal Inquiry Between Effecting and Imaging

I. Why Does This Passage Matter$40

Reviewing the analysis of this entire essay, we can see clearly why the passage "the yao is that which effects this; the xiang is that which images this; when yao and xiang move within, fortune and misfortune appear without; achievement and enterprise are seen through change; the sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments" is so important: in supremely condensed language, it answers four fundamental questions about the Zhouyi:

Question one: What is the basic element of the Zhouyi (the yao)$41 — It is the modeling-after of heaven-and-earth's movement. Question two: What is the mode of presentation of the Zhouyi (the xiang)$42 — It is the imaging of heaven-and-earth's configurations. Question three: How does the Zhouyi operate$43 — Internal movement of yao and xiang produces external manifestation of fortune and misfortune. Question four: What is the ultimate destination of the Zhouyi$44 — Enterprise is achieved through adaptive change; the sage's sentiments are revealed through the judgments.

These four questions encompass ontology (what are yao and xiang), epistemology (how fortune and misfortune are cognized through yao and xiang), praxeology (how enterprise is established through adaptive change), and axiology (how the sage's concern is communicated) — four dimensions. That a passage of some thirty characters should construct so complete a philosophical framework cannot but inspire awe at the synthesizing power of the pre-Qin thinkers.

II. Three Unresolved Inquiries

Yet the depth of analysis also brings to light several unresolved inquiries, worthy of continued reflection:

First inquiry: the limits of modeling. The yao "effects" the movements of heaven and earth — but heaven-and-earth's movements are inexhaustible and infinitely subtle. Can sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred and eighty-four lines truly exhaust them$45 The Xici zhuan (Part I) itself acknowledges: "The Yi as a book is vast and complete; it contains the Way of heaven, the Way of humanity, and the Way of earth." "Vast and complete" is an idealized claim, but logically speaking, whether a finite symbolic system can exhaust the infinite variations of the cosmos is a profound epistemological puzzle. Perhaps the answer is this: the yao does not seek to exhaust every detail of heaven-and-earth's movement, but to grasp its fundamental patterns and structures — just as a mathematical formula need not enumerate every specific numerical value to express a universal quantitative relationship.

Second inquiry: the objectivity of fortune and misfortune. "Fortune and misfortune appear without" — is fortune or misfortune objectively "there," or does it depend on the interpreter's subjective judgment$46 The case of Mu Jiang already hints at an answer: fortune and misfortune are not inherent attributes fixed in the hexagram image but judgments that emerge from the interaction between the hexagram image and a specific situation. If so, then different interpreters facing the same hexagram image may well arrive at different judgments of fortune and misfortune — does this mean the "objectivity" of the Zhouyi is actually a form of "intersubjectivity"$47

Third inquiry: the transmissibility of the sage's sentiments. "The sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments" — but can later generations truly and completely apprehend the sage's sentiments through the judgments$48 The Xici zhuan (Part I) says "writing cannot exhaust speech, speech cannot exhaust meaning" — if speech cannot exhaust meaning, then neither can the judgments completely exhaust the sage's sentiments. What the judgments can "reveal" is but one facet of the sage's sentiments. This means that the interpretation of hexagram and line statements is forever an open process — each generation can and should discover new meanings in the judgments. This is perhaps the fundamental reason the Zhouyi has retained its vitality across thousands of years.

III. Contemporary Implications of Effecting and Imaging

Finally, let us consider the implications of this passage for the present day.

In an age of information overload and symbolic proliferation, the propositions of "effecting" and "imaging" carry an especially pointed contemporary relevance. Every day we produce and consume vast quantities of symbols — texts, images, data, algorithms — but are these symbols genuinely "effecting" and "imaging" some real order$49 Or are they merely hollow markers floating in a void, severed from any connection to the real$50

The sages of pre-Qin antiquity, in drawing hexagrams and appending judgments, consistently maintained a posture of humble reverence before the Way of heaven and earth. Their symbolic system was one of "effecting" and "imaging" — a faithful presentation of an order greater than themselves. The contemporary mode of symbol-making, by contrast, is often one of "creating" and "fabricating" — arbitrary constructions of subjective will. When symbols no longer model any real order, when images no longer resemble any real existence, the symbol has lost its proper calling — it no longer "effects this," nor does it "image this."

Perhaps rereading "the yao is that which effects this; the xiang is that which images this" can remind us: every symbolic system that possesses genuine vitality must be rooted in a reverence for and modeling-after of some greater order. Divorced from this foundation, symbols become mere noise and images mere phantoms — incapable of revealing fortune and misfortune, incapable of achieving enterprise, and still less capable of transmitting the sentiments of the sage.

Conclusion

"The yao is that which effects this. The xiang is that which images this. When yao and xiang move within, fortune and misfortune appear without. Achievement and enterprise are seen through change. The sentiments of the sage are seen through the judgments."

These thirty-odd characters, having traversed thousands of years of history, continue to this day, through their condensed expression and profound content, to provoke inquiry in every thinker who seriously engages with them. From "effecting" to "imaging," from "within" to "without," from "change" to "judgments" — this is not only a roadmap for understanding the Zhouyi but a complete methodology for how human beings may cognize the world, respond to change, and express truth.

The sages of pre-Qin antiquity began with the humility of "effecting" and concluded with the depth of "sentiment." In the process of modeling after heaven and earth, they discovered the patterns of change. In the process of revealing fortune and misfortune, they established the standards of judgment. In the process of adapting to the changes of the times, they achieved enduring enterprise in governing the world. In the process of forging their judgments, they bequeathed an imperishable legacy of concern.

And we — interpreters of later ages — can only approach with the same humility and earnestness, reading character by character, striving to glimpse through these words the sage's sentiments that reach across the millennia.

This is where the life of the Way of the Yi resides.

(End of essay)

Author: Xuanji Editorial Board

References:

1. Zhouyi zhengyi (Correct Meaning of the Zhouyi), annotated by Wang Bi (Wei), sub-commentary by Kong Yingda (Tang)
2. Zhouyi benyi (Original Meaning of the Zhouyi), by Zhu Xi (Song)
3. Yichuan Yizhuan (Yichuan's Commentary on the Yi), by Cheng Yi (Song)
4. Zhouyi neizhuan (Inner Commentary on the Zhouyi) and Zhouyi waizhuan (Outer Commentary on the Zhouyi), by Wang Fuzhi (late Ming-early Qing)
5. Zhouyi jijie (Collected Commentaries on the Zhouyi), compiled by Li Dingzuo (Tang)
6. Zuozhuan (Zuo's Commentary), annotated by Du Yu, sub-commentary by Kong Yingda
7. Shangshu zhengyi (Correct Meaning of the Book of Documents), transmitted by Kong Anguo, sub-commentary by Kong Yingda
8. Shuowen jiezi zhu (Annotated Shuowen jiezi), by Duan Yucai (Qing)
9. Lunyu jijie yishu (Collected Commentaries and Sub-commentary on the Analects)
10. Laozi Daode jing Heshang Gong zhangju (Heshang Gong's Chapter-and-Verse Commentary on the Laozi)
11. Zhuangzi jishi (Collected Commentaries on the Zhuangzi), compiled by Guo Qingfan (Qing)
12. Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), by Sima Qian (Han)