Cosmological Construction and Rational Essence of the Original Functions of the *Book of Changes* Based on Divination Tracing

Section 5.4: "Spirits Have No Fixed Abode, and the Yi Has No Fixed Form" — The Metaphysical Dimension of the Yi

In the Xici Zhuan (Part Upper), there is a profoundly deep statement that is often overlooked:

"Spirits have no fixed abode, and the Yi has no fixed form." (神无方而易无体。)

"Spirits have no fixed abode" (神无方)—miraculous changes are not confined to any fixed direction; "the Yi has no fixed form" (易无体)—the Way of Yi has no fixed form.

This statement directly denies the possibility of fixing the Zhouyi to any specific use (including divination). If "the Yi has no fixed form," then defining the Yi as a "book of divination" is precisely imposing a "form" upon it, isn't it$42 The essence of the Yi is fluid, open, and infinite—it can be used for divination, but also for self-cultivation, governing the state, observing images, and making artifacts, yet it is not equivalent to any single specific application.

Laozi said:

"The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name." (道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。)

Zhuangzi said:

"The Dao cannot be heard, for what is heard is not it; the Dao cannot be seen, for what is seen is not it; the Dao cannot be spoken, for what is spoken is not it. Do you understand the formless nature of form$43 The Dao should not be named." (道不可闻，闻而非也；道不可见，见而非也；道不可言，言而非也。知形形之不形乎？道不当名。) (Zhuangzi, "Zhi Bei You" chapter)

"The Dao should not be named" (道不当名)—the Dao should not be fixed by any name. Similarly, "the Yi has no fixed form" (易无体)—the Yi should not be limited by any fixed definition of function.

To understand the Zhouyi merely as a book of divination is precisely a "formed" understanding—it compresses the infinite Way of Yi into a finite tool. But the original spirit of the Zhouyi is precisely formless, infinite, and open to all possibilities.