Between Emulation and Resemblance: A Fundamental Inquiry into the Microcosm of the Dao of Change

Chapter Seven: Fundamental Inquiry from an Ancient Perspective—How Are Hexagram and Line Symbols Possible$39

I. The Original Unity of Symbol and Reality

From the perspective of ancient thought, the two sentences, "The Yao are those that emulate this. The Xiang are those that resemble this," presuppose a fundamental belief: Man-made symbolic systems can faithfully emulate and resemble the true order of nature.

This belief might require argumentation today, but in the context of ancient Chinese thought, it was almost self-evident. Why$40

Because the ancient Chinese understanding of symbols was distinctly different from later eras. In the ancient context, a symbol was not an arbitrarily assigned marker by human convention, but an essential pattern directly extracted from the cosmic order. Fuxi painted the Eight Trigrams after observing celestial images and geographical models—the Eight Trigrams were not "invented" by Fuxi, but "discovered" by him in Heaven and Earth. This is akin to an archaeologist not "creating" a fossil, but "excavating" it from the geological strata.

The Xi Ci Shang states:

"The River brought forth the Map (Tu); the Luo brought forth the Script (Shu). The sages took them as models." (Hé chū Tú, Luò chū Shū, shèng rén zé zhī.)

The River Map and Luo Script—these were symbols actively presented by Heaven and Earth to humanity. The sages did not create these symbols; they "followed them as models" (zé zhī). Under this concept, there is no chasm between symbol and reality: The symbol is the reality presenting itself.

This "Symbol-Reality Unification Theory" has deep roots in pre-Qin thought. The Zuo Zhuan, Duke Zhao, Year 2, records the exclamation of Han Xuanzi after viewing the archives preserved in Lu: "The Rites of Zhou are all here in Lu!" For Han Xuanzi, the documents (symbols) were not a "description" of the Rites of Zhou, but the "presence" of the Rites of Zhou itself. Similarly, the hexagram and line symbols were not a "description" of the Dao of Heaven and Earth, but the "presence" of that Dao.

II. Contrast of Two Symbolic Generation Methods: Scapulimancy vs. Yarrow Stalk Divination

To further understand the meaning of xiào (emulation) and xiàng (resemblance), we can contrast the two methods of divination: turtle shell scapulimancy (guī bǔ) and yarrow stalk divination (shī shàn).

In turtle shell divination, heat is applied to the shell to create cracks (zhào), and the interpretation of the crack patterns determines fortune and misfortune. In scapulimancy, the symbol generation is physical—fire burns the bone, creating cracks that are beyond human control.

Yarrow stalk divination (or later, coin tossing) generates Yin and Yang lines according to specific mathematical procedures, which are then assembled into hexagrams. In yarrow divination, the symbol generation is mathematical—through steps like dividing the stalks, counting in fours, and setting aside the remainder (fēn, shiè, guī qí), random numbers are converted into definite Yin and Yang lines.

The Xi Ci Shang states:

"The Great Elaboration numbers fifty; its use is forty-nine. Divide into two to resemble the Two Modes; hang one aside to resemble the Three Powers; count by fours to resemble the Four Seasons; set aside the remainder to resemble the intercalary month. In five years, there are two intercalary months, hence only after setting aside twice is one hung aside." (Dà yàn zhī shù wǔ shí, qí yòng sì shí yǒu jiǔ...)

Note the repeated use of the character xiàng (resemble/model) in this passage: "xiàng liǎng"—resembling the division into Yin and Yang; "xiàng sān"—resembling the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, Man); "xiàng sì shí"—resembling the Four Seasons; "xiàng rùn"—resembling the adjustment for the intercalary month. The procedural steps of yarrow divination itself constitute a symbolic system—each operation emulates a specific aspect of Heaven and Earth's operation.

This contrasts sharply with scapulimancy. In turtle shell divination, the symbol (the crack pattern) is directly produced by natural force; humans are merely passive interpreters. In yarrow divination, the symbol (the Yao) is actively generated by humans through emulating the celestial process; humans are active participants. "Yao are those that emulate this" (Xiào)—the subjectivity contained within this word aligns perfectly with the active operation of yarrow divination.

From an archaeological perspective, the abundance of oracle bone inscriptions unearthed at Yin Ruins indicates that the Shang dynasty relied primarily on scapulimancy. The tradition represented by the Zhou Yi, based on yarrow divination, is more closely associated with Zhou culture. The shift from scapulimancy to yarrow divination was not merely a change in divinatory technology but a profound transformation in epistemology—from passively receiving the Heaven's will via "cracks" (zhào) to actively emulating the Dao of Heaven and Earth via the "Yao." The philosophical significance of this transformation is precisely what is carried by the word xiào.