This essay offers an in-depth reading of the passage on 'the imagery of music' (sheng yue zhi xiang) in Xunzi's 'Discourse on Music,' elucidating how musical sounds embody character-qualities that correspond to heaven, earth, and the myriad things, and situating the discussion within Master Xun's Confucian vision of transforming human nature through ritual and music.

A line-by-line exegesis of 'Substantiating Intent, Modeled on the Flying Serpent,' the third technique of the Seven Techniques of the Yin Tally in the Original Canon of the *Guiguzi*. Beginning from the definition 'substantiated intent is the deliberation of qi,' it traces the pathology of a hollow intent, the cultivation sequence from calming the five viscera to contemplating the Great Void, the cognitive attainment of 'knowing all under Heaven without leaving one's door,' and clarifies the image of the flying serpent through three pieces of pre-Qin evidence drawn from the *Xunzi*, *Shenzi*, and the *Great Treatise*.

A line-by-line reading of the second chapter of the Upper Xici. The sage's four acts -- establishing the hexagrams, observing the images, appending the statements, clarifying fortune and misfortune -- run in exact reverse order to the noble person's four acts -- observing the images, savoring the statements, observing the changes, savoring the divination. The four clauses "is the image of..." form a chain tracing effect back to cause; "the repose in which he dwells" echoes the Doctrine of the Mean's "dwelling in ease, awaiting the Mandate"; and the chapter closes by quoting the top line of hexagram Da You, "From Heaven comes its aid," gathering the whole into the two words compliance and good faith. Grounded in Confucian and Daoist thought, and drawing on the Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, and the Zuo Tradition, it explores how the noble person finds repose between Heaven and Earth and acts amid change.

This article offers a deep exploration of the philosophical significance of Hexagram 37 'Jiaren' (Family) in the Zhouyi (Book of Changes), analyzing the relationship between the Wind-over-Fire trigram image and the Way of the family, and elucidating the foundational status of 'family' in ancient social structures through pre-Qin Confucian thought on 'roots' (ben) as found in Confucius, Mencius, and the Great Learning.

This paper examines the physical underpinnings of pre-Qin theories of *qi*, positing *qi* as a unified abstraction of matter, energy, and information. By analyzing texts such as those by Zhuangzi and Laozi, it reveals a cognitive revolution within pre-Qin thought, transitioning from mysticism towards naturalistic rationality and redefining the core value and scientific significance of *qi* in cosmology and life sciences.

This article deeply analyzes the semantic fission of the character "ming" (命) in pre-Qin thought, tracing its evolution from divine mandate and innate nature to an active mission, demonstrating that it was not passive fatalism but rather proactive assumption of responsibility beyond cognitive horizons. By re-examining core propositions like Confucius's "knowing the mandate of Heaven," the study reveals the dynamic relationship of Heaven-human interaction in pre-Qin philosophy, showcasing the robust subjectivity and sense of mission within traditional Chinese culture.