L1.8 - The Classic of Changes (Yijing)

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From the course by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Explorations in Confucian Philosophy

10 ratings

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Explorations in Confucian Philosophy

10 ratings

Is Confucianism synonymous with Chinese culture? While it may be an overstatement to equate the two, there is little doubt that Confucianism pervades every level of Chinese culture and society. To be sure, other traditions such as Daoism and Buddhism have also left an indelible mark; nevertheless, Confucianism remains central to the shaping of the Chinese imagination. The influence of Confucianism extends beyond China to East Asia and through migration and cultural diffusion, other parts of the world. Confucianism traces its origins to the teachings of Confucius. What makes Confucius so special and what did he teach? This course will explore some of the key concepts in Confucian philosophy. Much of the discussion will centre on the Analects of Confucius, the foundational text of Confucian wisdom, although attention will also be given to the subsequent unfolding of the Confucian tradition. We will attempt to situate Confucian philosophy in its own context and to bring out its contemporary significance. Confucianism is a living tradition. Its vitality hinges on not only its continuing relevance in Chinese society but also its contribution to meeting the global challenges confronting the world today. There are no prerequisites for this course, other than a keen interest in Chinese tradition and culture, and the willingness to engage the Analects of Confucius.

From the lesson

Part 1 - The World of Confucius

Meaningful engagement with Confucian philosophy requires a disciplined and informed imagination. Confucius (or Kongzi, in Chinese) flourished in a time of considerable change and political instability. Some understanding of the world of early China would be critical, as Confucian ideas did not grow out of a historical vacuum. In this context, we will examine the Analects—known in Chinese as Lunyu—a compilation of sayings and conversations attributed to Confucius that is essential to our understanding of Confucian philosophy.

L1.1 - Orientation5:02

L1.2 - The Ideal of Harmony in Chinese Philosophy5:41

L1.3 - Early China: The Roots of Confucian Philosophy9:18

L1.4 - The Roots of Confucian Philosophy: Shang Culture and Religion8:48

L1.5 - Shang Rituals and Divination9:18

L1.6 - "Heaven" and the World of Zhou Dynasty China12:34

L1.7 - The Classical Tradition before Confucius: The Six Arts and the Six Classics13:56

L1.8 - The Classic of Changes (Yijing)12:56

L1.9 - The Life of Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.)6:03

L1.10 - The Analects of Confucius7:25

L1.11 - Biographical and Autobiographical Sayings in the Analects9:01

Meet the Instructors

Alan K. L. Chan
Toh Puan Mahani Idris Daim Chair Professor of Humanities & Dean
College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

[MUSIC]

Welcome back, today we'll conclude

our discussion of the five Confucian classics,

and we will be focusing

on the famous Yijing, the Book or Classic of Changes.

Now the Yijing was originally a book of divination,

consisting of 64 linear symbols or hexagrams,

so called because they have six lines each as you see here.

Now the hexagrams are themselves derived from eight more

basic linear symbols called triagrams.

That is, with three lines each, which are in turn derived

from two basic constituents: a broken line and an unbroken line.

As you can see, simple geometric progression will take us

from two to eight and then to sixty-four.

Each hexagram is accompanied by a short judgement text

on the basis of which the diviner makes his or her recommendations.

For example, hexagram elven is called Tai, usually translated as peace,

and it is made up of three unbroken lines at the bottom and

three broken lines on top.

Usually when we read a hexagram, we start from the bottom and

we move upwards to the top.

Here the judgement text reads, quite literally, "Tai, the small goes,

the large comes, or the small departs, the large arrives,

good fortune, smooth flowing."

The important point for our consideration is that from an early time,

it has been recognized that the Yijing has much more to offer than divination and

that it contains profound philosophic insight.

On the divination part of the work, commentaries were added

during the Zhou period to bring out its philosophical meaning.

The Book of Changes as we have it today is therefore a composite work,

that is to say, written by many authors over a long period of time.

Tradition has it that Confucius himself compiled and edited the work.

This view however can hardly be substantiated, although it is quite

certain that Confucius knew the work and considered it very important.

The Yijing is truly very difficult, the language is archaic and

it makes use of very diverse symbolism.

Besides the numerological symbols,

natural symbols such as animals and plants are also used frequently.

The meaning might have been very clear to the original audience,

but even in premodern times, they became the subject of intense hermeneutical debate.

Much contested, but also providing fertile ground for

intellectual innovation. So, what is the Book of Changes about?

The word yi means, basically, change. It has been suggested

that the word originally meant a chameleon, and by extension, movement and change.

Another interpretation is that the word originally meant what is fixed and

straight.

Phonetically, it is very close to the Chinese word for the numeral 1,

which suggests what is constant.

In modern Chinese, the word "yi" also means what is easy,

straightforward, or ready at hand.

The exact etymology of the word should not concern us, what should be noted

is that from the outset we are confronted with a paradox.

While changes may be varied and unpredictable,

change itself is constant, universal, unchanging.

In religious terms, this is equated with the way of Heaven in the Yijing.

At the risk of some over-simplification,

I would suggest that the Yijing attempts to move from the everyday,

visible, ever-changing phenomena

to the invisible and constant,

so as to lay bare the movement of change itself,

so that one can gain insight and act accordingly.

Now, change may appear haphazard to the uninitiated, but to the trained

eye of the shaman or the discerning mind of the wise, it is otherwise.

Consider the regularity of the seasons, the movement of time,

the positions of the stars, the cycles of growth and decay, life and death.

Change, in this sense, reveals itself to have a deeper structure or

pattern which stems from Heaven and may be understood by human beings.

This then is the goal of the Yijing,

to discern the will of Heaven by mapping out the terrain of change,

to understand the inner harmony or balance or order of the universe.

The structure of change is characterized by polarity.

For example, what is hot versus what is cold,

summer versus winter, hard versus soft, for which, the general terms

Yin and Yang have been applied.

Heaven, hot, summer, male,

these are grouped together as yang phenomena.

Whereas Earth, cold, winter, female,

belong collectively to the yin category.

Originally, the word yang refers to the south side

or the sunny side of a mountain and has to do with the idea of bright sunshine.

Yin, on the other hand, points to the north side of the mountain,

suggesting what is shaded and therefore dark and cold.

In the context of the Yijing, Yang and

Yin then refer to the unbroken and

the broken lines in the hexagram respectively.

Philosophically, Yin and Yang then were extended to mean

fundamental opposites such as movement and rest, light and darkness.

Let me make two more points here.

First, yin and yang do not represent hard opposites but

signal what may be called a complementary polarity.

Think not so much of how summer is opposed to winter but

rather how summer turns into winter and winter becoming summer once more.

Not how male is opposed to female, but how the two join in union in procreation.

The concept of harmony is important here,

consider the famous yin-yang diagram which you see here.

Although this is a much later formulation, it does express the idea very clearly.

See how the one flows into the other,

and see how in the yin part of the circle, there is a yang element and vice versa.

In other words, what you have here is not absolute opposition.

Now the second point I want to make is that

the yin yang concept signals a relational understanding.

The husband, for example, may occupy

a yang position in relation to his wife but

the same person would be in the yin position in relation to his father.

In the Zhou dynasty and the time of Confucius,

the yin yang concept served as an abstract formula to explain the world of change.

And the underlying order or harmony of the universe.

Yin and yang complement and complete each other,

imbalance is what causes human ills.

For this reason, I hesitate to use the term "dualism"

because it often implies two opposing forces.

Whereas the point here, at least in its original or earliest form,

is not a struggle between two cosmic forces,

but rather that there is an order to the universe.

As a footnote, I should perhaps add that originally,

the yin yang polarity did not include the opposition between good and evil.

It was later, perhaps from the Han Dynasty period,

when yang was identified with the good, and yin with evil.

In summary, let me just say that the Book of Changes

identifies change as the great constant and

announces that there is an order to change in both nature and society.

The Yijing sets out precisely to provide a basis for

understanding this order or structure.

In the later commentaries that now accompany the Classic of Changes,

the meaning of change is further explored, often on a metaphysical level.

Extending the two basic linear symbols to two fundamental concepts,

and in this way, Yin and Yang have come to embrace all opposites.

The Yijing is very important to the development

of Chinese culture and thought.

It cuts across really all intellectual partisan divides,

and it pervades both the elite and popular culture.

The fact that it is the only classic really that is still widely

known today, although not necessarily read or understood.

I think that itself is an eloquent testimony to its enduring significance.

Its influence extends beyond China, consider,

for example, the national flag of the Republic of Korea.

Having said that, however, we should remember that in the Zhou period,

in the classical formative period of Chinese philosophy,

the Yijing was only one important classic.

The others were equally instrumental in shaping the course of Chinese philosophy.

For each of these works,

commentaries were written by successive generations of scholars,

which created a very large body of literature and

a long tradition of exegesis.

Together with other key texts such as the Analects,

they then define the classical Chinese intellectual landscape.

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