Chapter One: "The Yao are those that emulate this"—The Original Meaning of Xiào and the Generative Logic of the Yao

I. The Semantic Field of Xiào in Ancient Chinese

To understand "The Yao are those that emulate this," we must first ask: What precisely did xiào mean in the pre-Qin context$8

Xu Shen’s Shuowen Jiezi states: "Xiào, is to resemble (xiàng). It is composed of pī (to strike/command) and jiāo (interlacing)." Duan Yucai’s commentary further notes that the core meaning of xiào is "to mimic," "to imitate," or "to present." In ancient Chinese, xiào carries three meanings worth noting:

First Layer: Mimicry and Emulation. As stated in the Book of Documents (Shang Shu), Shuo Ming Shang: "Learning half is learning; concentrating on the beginning and end is mastering the studies." (Xué xué bàn, niàn zhōng shǐ diǎn yú xué.) The essence of learning is the xiào (emulation) of the way of the former kings. Confucius said in the Analects (Lun Yu), Book 17: "I transmit rather than create; I am faithful to and love the ancients." (Shù ér bù zuò, xìn ér hào gǔ.) The term shù (transmit/relate) inherently contains the meaning of "to emulate."

Second Layer: Presentation and Verification. As in the Zuo Zhuan (Zuo Zhuan), Duke Xuan, Year 12: "There was a verifiable result (yǒu xiào)." This refers to an outcome that can be verified. This layer is crucial in the Xi Ci: the Yao are not merely "imitating" something, but are actively "presenting" something.

Third Layer: Effort and Efficacy. As in the Discourses of the States (Guo Yu), Jin Yu: "Efficacious in office (xiào guān zhě)." Although this meaning is not the focus of the main clause, it suggests an inherent proactivity in xiào—it is not passive replication, but active striving toward, investment in, and presentation of a reality.

When these three layers are superimposed, we arrive at a compound understanding of xiào: The Yao, as an active emulation and dynamic presentation of a fundamental existence.

II. What Does "This" Refer To$9 — The Condensation of the Movement of Heaven and Earth

What, then, is the "this" (cǐ) that the Yao "emulate"$10

The Xi Ci Shang already provides a clear clue:

"Therefore, the Yi has the Supreme Ultimate (Taiji), which generates the Two Modes (Liang Yi); the Two Modes generate the Four Images (Si Xiang); the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams (Ba Gua)."

And again:

"In Heaven, it forms images (cheng xiang); on Earth, it forms shapes (cheng xing). Change is then manifest."

Looking at the preceding context in Xi Ci Xia:

"The greatest virtue of Heaven and Earth is life; the greatest treasure of the sage is position."

Synthesizing these contexts, the "this" (cǐ) points not to any specific object, but to the entire dynamic process of the waxing and waning of Yin and Yang, and the generation of all things between Heaven and Earth.

Han Kangbo’s commentary notes: "Emulate (Xiào) means to follow as a model (fǎ). The sages model the movement of Heaven and Earth and form the Yao." Kong Yingda’s Zhengyi further clarifies: "The Yao are those that emulate the movements of the world." This "movements of the world" (tiānxià zhī dòng) is crucial—it implies that every Yin-Yang change of a single Yao is a microcosm and presentation of a specific dynamic relationship within the cosmos.

Let us probe deeper: Why "emulate" (xiào) and not "create" (zuò) or "make" (zào)$11

This question touches upon a fundamental proposition in ancient Chinese thought: The sage is not a creator, but an emulator. The Xi Ci Shang explicitly states:

"In antiquity, when the King of Heaven, Fuxi, ruled the world, he looked upward to observe the images in Heaven, and looked downward to observe the models on Earth. He observed the patterns of birds and beasts and the suitability of the Earth; taking things from nearby, he observed himself; taking things from afar, he observed other things. From this, he began to create the Eight Trigrams, in order to fully channel the virtue of spiritual intelligence and to categorize the sentiments of all things."

"Looking upward and observing downward" (yǎng guān fǔ chá)—this is a posture of humility. Fuxi did not invent the Eight Trigrams out of thin air; rather, he extracted, imitated, and condensed the symbolic system of trigrams and lines from the order already presented in Heaven, Earth, and all things. Using xiào instead of zuò emphasizes this point: The authority of the Yao does not stem from subjective human construction, but from its faithful presentation of the Dao of Heaven and Earth.

This profoundly echoes Laozi’s view. Chapter 25 of the Tao Te Ching (Laozi) states:

"Man models himself on Earth; Earth models itself on Heaven; Heaven models itself on the Dao; the Dao models itself on nature (zì rán)." (Rén fǎ dì, dì fǎ tiān, tiān fǎ Dào, Dào fǎ zì rán.)

Fǎ (to model) is equivalent to xiào (to emulate). From the Daoist perspective, the legitimacy of all norms derives from the emulation of a higher order. The Zhou Yi, by using the Yao to "emulate this," implements this cosmic-level emulation into an operational symbolic system.

III. The Dynamic Nature of the Yao: Not Static Symbols, But Trajectories of Movement

There is a subtle point here that is often overlooked: The reason the Yao is defined by "emulation" (xiào), rather than "recording" (jì) or "documenting" (zài), is that the Yao is inherently not a static record, but a dynamic emulation.

The Shuo Gua Zhuan states:

"In the past, when the sages composed the Yi, they intended to follow the principles of inherent nature and destiny. Therefore, they established the Way of Heaven as Yin and Yang; the Way of Earth as Softness and Hardness; the Way of Man as Benevolence and Righteousness. Combining the Three Powers and doubling them, the Yi is formed by six lines."

"Combining the Three Powers and doubling them"—Heaven, Earth, and Man, each represented by two lines of Yin and Yang, resulting in six lines. The position of each line corresponds to a specific dimension within the relational structure of the Three Powers. The first and second lines represent the Way of Earth; the third and fourth, the Way of Man; the fifth and sixth, the Way of Heaven. The arrangement of the Yao is not random; it strictly emulates the structural order of the Three Powers.

More importantly, the Yao "changes" (biàn). A Yang line can transform into a Yin line, and vice versa—this is the "changing line" (biàn yáo). It is precisely because the Yao is a dynamic emulation that it can present the process of Yin and Yang waxing and waning between Heaven and Earth, rather than merely leaving behind a static snapshot.

The Xi Ci Shang states:

"Hardness and Softness push against each other, generating transformation." (Gāng róu xiāng tuī ér shēng biànhuà.)

And again:

"Transformation is the image of advancing and retreating. Hardness and Softness are the images of day and night." (Biànhuà zhě, jìn tuì zhī xiàng yě. Gāng róu zhě, zhòuyè zhī xiàng yě.)

The Yin-Yang change of the Yao emulates the alternation of day and night, and the ebb and flow of advance and retreat. This is a process-oriented emulation, not a result-oriented copy. This point is crucial for understanding the Zhou Yi as a whole—the Yi is not an encyclopedia of fixed answers, but a "living" system dynamically presenting the process of change.