Explaining the Yijing to a Distant Friend: An Introduction to the Xici Zhuan
An introduction to the Xici Zhuan (Appended Statements) of the Zhouyi, written for a faraway reader. Beginning with the fundamental concepts of hexagrams, lines, yin-yang, and the high and the low, it clarifies the composition and reading of the Xici, dispels the most common misunderstandings of beginners and overseas readers, and paves the way for a close study of the twelve chapters of the Upper Xici.
VI. A Roadmap of the Twelve Chapters of the Upper Xici
Now that the luggage is packed, let us show the traveler a map before setting out. The Upper Xici has twelve chapters; our twelve lectures cover one chapter each. Here, in a few sentences per chapter, are the main features, so that the reader may return at any point along the way and know where they stand.
Chapter One: "Heaven is high, Earth is low; thus Qian and Kun are determined." The foundation of the entire book. Beginning with the elevation and lowness, movement and stillness of Heaven and Earth, it proceeds to the two fundamental forces of Qian and Kun, arriving at "Qian knows through ease, Kun acts through simplicity" -- the way Heaven and Earth work is, in fact, supremely simple, and simplicity is the secret by which virtue and enterprise endure and grow great. Our friend from afar asked his first question about the very first sentence of this chapter; the first lecture will devote its full strength to answering it.
Chapter Two: "The sage established the hexagrams and observed the images." It tells how the sage set up the hexagram images and appended the statements, making fortune and misfortune visible. It says, "Change and transformation are the images of advance and retreat" -- the changes of the hexagrams and lines are nothing more than reflections of human advance and retreat. It concludes by prescribing the noble person's daily practice: "observe the images and savor the statements; observe the changes and savor the prognostications." This chapter is about how to use the language of the Zhouyi.
Chapter Three: "The tuan (Judgments) are what speak of the images." It explains, one by one, the basic terms of this book: tuan, yao (line), fortune, misfortune, regret, distress, and "without blame" -- the five characters "without blame means being skilled at correcting one's errors" compose the most compassionate sentence in the entire Zhouyi. This chapter is the dictionary of this language.
Chapter Four: "The Yi is commensurate with Heaven and Earth." It rises abruptly, declaring that this book's scope matches that of Heaven and Earth, that it "encompasses the Dao of Heaven and Earth." It speaks of the hidden and the manifest, of life and death, of ghosts and spirits; it arrives at "One who delights in Heaven and understands destiny does not grieve," and at "Shen has no fixed direction, and the Yi has no fixed form." This is the most magnificent chapter in the entire book.
Chapter Five: "One yin and one yang: this is called the Dao." The summit of the entire book, and the source of some of the weightiest sentences in the history of Chinese thought: "What continues it is the good; what completes it is the nature"; "The benevolent see it and call it benevolence; the wise see it and call it wisdom"; "The common people use it daily without knowing it"; "The ceaseless generating of life is called yi"; "The unfathomable in yin and yang is called shen." If you are permitted to read only one chapter, read this one.
Chapter Six: "The Yi -- how vast and great it is!" Continuing from the heights of the previous chapter, it speaks of the vastness of the Dao of Change: of Qian -- "in its stillness it is concentrated; in its movement it is direct" -- and of Kun -- "in its stillness it draws together; in its movement it opens out." Describing how each behaves in stillness and in movement, it portrays Heaven and Earth as two elders of different temperament; the brushwork is exquisite.
Chapter Seven: "The Yi -- has it not reached the utmost$17" An extremely brief chapter, yet it is the master outline of the sage's cultivation: "Knowledge is lofty, ritual is lowly; the lofty models itself on Heaven, the lowly models itself on Earth"; "Completing one's nature and preserving it always: this is the gate of Dao and righteousness." Wisdom must reach the highest extreme; practice must descend to the lowest. Within a single person there is already a Heaven and Earth. Our friend from afar posed his second question about this chapter; the seventh lecture will answer it.
Chapter Eight: "The sage had the means to perceive the profound complexity of the world." The Master takes up seven line statements and expounds upon them one by one, like seven short sermons: "A calling crane in the shade; its young one harmonizes with it" speaks of the sympathetic resonance of words and deeds. "When two people are of one mind, their sharpness can cut through metal" speaks of the power of shared purpose. "A toiling, modest noble person" speaks of one who has achieved merit yet does not presume upon it. "The dragon that has overreached will have regrets" speaks of the regret of being exalted without a proper position. "The prudent and discreet do not let words escape" speaks of the discipline of speech. "One who carries on his back yet rides in a carriage" speaks of the disaster that comes when virtue and rank are mismatched. This is the most intimate and approachable chapter in the entire book.
Chapter Nine: "Heaven is one, Earth is two." It discusses numbers: the numbers of Heaven and Earth total fifty-five; the number of the great expansion is fifty, of which forty-nine are used -- providing a complete account of the ancient method of sorting milfoil stalks to produce a hexagram. Though it appears to be mere numerology, it is in fact a profound effort by pre-Qin thinkers to replicate the rhythms of Heaven and Earth through number. Readers who fear numbers may rest assured: the ninth lecture will demonstrate this ancient method step by step.
Chapter Ten: "The Yi contains the Dao of the sage in four aspects." It speaks of the four aspects of the sage's Dao contained in this book, and concludes with the immortal sentence: "The Yi is without deliberation, without contrivance, utterly still and unmoving; when stimulated, it penetrates all situations under heaven." Ultimate stillness and ultimate responsiveness are two faces of one body.
Chapter Eleven: "Opening up things and accomplishing affairs." It speaks of the Yi's function of opening up all things and bringing affairs to completion; it says, "The sage uses this to purify his heart, withdrawing and hiding in the innermost place." Then it unfolds that famous diagram of generation: "The Yi contains the Supreme Ultimate (taiji); this generates the Two Modes; the Two Modes generate the Four Images; the Four Images generate the Eight Trigrams."
Chapter Twelve: "Writing cannot exhaust speech; speech cannot exhaust meaning." The conclusion of the entire book: the limits of language, the deep significance of establishing images, "What is above form is called Dao; what is below form is called vessel," and finally, "To make things luminous through shen depends upon the person; to accomplish in silence and to be trusted without words depends upon virtue and conduct." When all that can be said has been said, whether it comes to fruition depends on the person, not the book. The twelfth lecture ends the series at precisely this point, reserving this sentence as our parting gift.
The journey through the twelve chapters follows a general pattern of three risings and three descents. Chapters one through three establish the framework, explaining the origins and reading of hexagrams, lines, statements, and images. Chapters four through seven reach the greatest depths, speaking of the Dao, of shen, of virtue. Chapters eight through twelve carry the teaching into practice, speaking of speech and action, of number, of sympathetic resonance, and of the boundary between words and meaning. It is like climbing a mountain: first one identifies the trail at the foot of the mountain, then one enters the clouds, and finally one descends, carrying what one has seen on the mountain back to the human world.
The attentive reader will ask: what then of the Lower Xici$18 The Lower Xici also has twelve chapters, discussing the fashioning of implements and the exaltation of images, the nine hexagrams of anxiety and adversity, and "the great virtue of Heaven and Earth is called life" -- it is no less brilliant than the Upper. This time we will first complete the Upper Xici; if circumstances permit in the future, we will begin a separate series for the Lower. The wild goose of the hexagram Jian did not fly to the hilltop in a single day.