About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby yijing » Tue May 31, 2011 11:44 am

Tienzen wrote:Our member “yijing” is an expert on Yijing. He has posted the entire Chinese text of Yijing on this forum, and the English translation links of Yijing are also provided.

Now, the original Chinese text and its translation are available from one place, this becomes the most comprehensive forum for the Yijing discussion.

As this is an international forum, it will use English as the key language for the discussion. Any original quote in Chinese should be provided with English translation. Thus, any Yijing enthusiast around the world can be enjoying the discussions.

However, if someone prefers to write in Chinese is still welcome, and our moderator will try to translate some into English if it is important to our discussion.


易 經 的 起 源 與 演 變 , 自 古 眾 說 紛 紜 。 吵 來 鬧 去 , 毫 無 意 義 。 下 列 所 述 , 即 是 定 論 。

上 古 有 三 易 : 「 連 山 」 為 「 夏 」 易 、 「 歸 藏 」 為 「 殷 」 易 、 「 周 易 」 是 「 周 易 」 。 今 「 連 山 」 、 「 歸 藏 」 已 失 傳 。 易 經 就 是 周 易 了 。

A. 「 伏 犧 」 畫 卦 。 為 「 八 卦 」 , 三 爻 卦 。 有 卦 無 辭 。

B. 「 文 王 」 重 卦
重 卦 : 八 卦 相 重 , 成 六 爻 卦 。 共 六 十 四 卦 。
演 卦 : 繫 「 卦 辭 」 。 給 予 「 卦 體 」 、 「 卦 象 」 、 「 卦 德 」 及 「 卦 名 」 。

C. 「 周 公 」 繫 「 爻 辭 」 : 「 文 王 」 卦 , 雖 已 有 名 、 體 、 象 、 德 , 但 無 法 知 吉 凶 。 于 是 , 「 周 公 」 繫 「 爻 辭 」 以 明 吉 凶 。

D. 「 孔 子 」 作 「 十 翼 」 :
「 周 易 」 分 「 經 」 與 「 傳 」 。 「 傳 」 為 「 孔 子 」 所 作 。 共 十 篇 , 又 稱 「 十 翼 」 。 十 個 趐 膀 , 幫 助 易 經 飛 翔 也 。 沒 有 十 翼 , 「 易 經 」 就 是 有 「 卦 」 無 「 義 」 。 沒 人 知 其 含 義 了 。

「 經 」 與 「 傳 」 本 是 分 開 的 。 現 在 , 「 五 傳 」 已 與 「 經 」 合 在 一 起 了 。 此 五 傳 是 : 「 彖 辭 」 上 、 下 , 「 象 辭 」 上 、 下 , 「 文 言 」 。 仍 然 獨 立 成 篇 的 是 : 「 繫 辭 」 上 、 下 , 「 說 卦 」 , 「 序 卦 」 , 「 雜 卦 」 。

「 彖 辭 」 解 釋 文 王 的 「 卦 辭 」 。
「 象 辭 」 解 釋 周 公 的 「 爻 辭 」 。
「 文 言 」 專 門 說 明 「 乾 、 坤 」 兩 卦 。
「 繫 辭 」 上 、 下 : 對 易 經 的 一 個 總 體 說 明 。
「 說 卦 」 : 說 明 卦 的 「 取 象 」 及 其 象 徵 的 意 義 。
「 序 卦 」 : 說 明 六 十 四 卦 , 排 列 秩 序 的 原 因 。
「 雜 卦 」 : 說 明 卦 序 之 外 , 卦 與 卦 的 「 錯 」 ( 旁 通 ) 「 綜 」 ( 例 置 ) 關 係 。
Last edited by yijing on Fri Aug 19, 2011 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易)

Postby Tienzen » Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:53 pm

Dear Yijing:

Many of readers and members of this forum read in English. Thus, we should discuss your Yijing program in English.
I have translated Yijing in English in 1997, and it is available at http://www.chinese-word-roots.org/yijing.htm .

If you post every hexagram in Chinese as a thread of its own, we can discuss each hexagram in detail with ease.

Let this thread be the master thread of this Yijing program. What do you think?
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Re: About Yijing (周 易)

Postby yijing » Sun Aug 21, 2011 11:31 am

Tienzen wrote:If you post every hexagram in Chinese as a thread of its own, we can discuss each hexagram in detail with ease.


A detailed and systematic lectures on Yijing by Tienzen is available at chinese-idioms/yijing-linkedin-t2065.html

Now, the Chinese text of the entire Yijing is available at this forum. The English translation of each hexagram is also linked. The following is the “Table of Content” for all hexagrams (卦).


乾 卦 (Chien hexagram), #1 chinese-culture/yijing-the-chien-hexagram-1-t50.html

坤 卦 (Kun hexagram), #2 chinese-culture/yijing-the-kun-hexagram-2-t53.html

屯 卦 (Difficult hexagram), #3 chinese-culture/yijing-the-difficult-hexagram-3-t54.html

蒙 卦 (Ignorance hexagram), #4 chinese-culture/yijing-the-ignorance-hexagram-4-t55.html

需 卦 (Desiring hexagram), #5 chinese-culture/yijing-the-desiring-hexagram-5-t56.html

訟 卦 (Contention hexagram), #6 chinese-culture/yijing-the-contention-hexagram-6-t57.html

師 卦 (Army hexagram), #7 chinese-culture/yijing-the-army-hexagram-7-t58.html

比 卦 (Accord hexagram), #8 chinese-culture/yijing-the-accord-hexagram-8-t59.html

小 畜 卦 (Small Buildup hexagram), #9 chinese-culture/yijing-the-small-buildup-hexagram-9-t60.html

履 卦 (Treading hexagram), #10 chinese-culture/yijing-the-treading-hexagram-10-t61.html

泰 卦 (Tranquility hexagram), #11 chinese-culture/yijing-the-tranquillity-hexagram-11-t62.html

否 卦 (Obstruction hexagram), #12 chinese-culture/yijing-the-obstruction-hexagram-12-t120.html

同 人 卦 (Friends hexagram), #13 chinese-culture/yijing-the-friends-hexagram-13-t121.html

大有卦 (Great Possession hexagram), #14 chinese-culture/yijing-the-great-possession-hexagram-14-t63.html

謙 卦 (Humility hexagram), #15 chinese-culture/yijing-the-humility-hexagram-15-t64.html

豫卦 (Preparation hexagram), #16 chinese-culture/yijing-the-preparation-hexagram-16-t65.html

隨卦 (Following hexagram), #17 chinese-culture/yijing-the-following-hexagram-17-t66.html

蠱 卦 (Readiness hexagram), #18 chinese-culture/yijing-the-readiness-hexagram-18-t67.html

臨 卦 (Ruling hexagram), #19 chinese-culture/yijing-the-ruling-hexagram-19-t68.html

觀 卦 (Observing hexagram), #20 chinese-culture/yijing-the-observing-hexagram-20-t69.html

嗑 卦 (no gap hexagram), #21 chinese-culture/yijing-the-no-gap-hexagram-21-t70.html

賁 卦 (Adornment hexagram), #22 chinese-culture/yijing-the-adornment-hexagram-22-t71.html

剝 卦 (Stripping Away hexagram), #23 chinese-culture/yijing-the-stripping-away-hexagram-23-t72.html

復 卦 (Return hexagram), #24 chinese-culture/yijing-the-return-hexagram-24-t73.html

無 妄 卦 (No Error hexagram), #25 chinese-culture/yijing-the-no-error-hexagram-25-t74.html

大 畜 卦 (Great Buildup hexagram), #26 chinese-culture/yijing-the-great-buildup-hexagram-26-t75.html

頤 卦 (Nourishment hexagram), #27 chinese-culture/yijing-the-nourishment-hexagram-27-t76.html

大 過 卦 (Greatly over hexagram), #28 chinese-culture/yijing-the-greatly-over-hexagram-28-t77.html

坎 卦 (Multiple Danger hexagram), #29 chinese-culture/yijing-the-multiple-danger-hexagram-29-t78.html

離 卦 (Fire hexagram), #30 chinese-culture/yijing-the-fire-hexagram-30-t79.html

咸 卦 (Sensing hexagram), #31 chinese-culture/yijing-the-sensing-hexagram-31-t80.html

恆 卦 (Persist hexagram), #32 chinese-culture/yijing-the-persist-hexagram-32-t81.html

遁 卦 (Withdrawal hexagram), #33 chinese-culture/yijing-the-withdrawal-hexagram-33-t82.html

大 壯 卦 (Strong hexagram), #34 chinese-culture/yijing-the-strong-hexagram-34-t83.html

晉 卦 (Advancing hexagram), #35 chinese-culture/yijing-the-advancing-hexagram-35-t84.html

明 夷 卦 (Enlightened obscured hexagram), #36 chinese-culture/yijing-the-enlightened-obscured-hexagram-t85.html

家 人 卦 (Family hexagram), #37 chinese-culture/yijing-the-family-hexagram-37-t86.html

睽 卦 (Opposition hexagram), #38 chinese-culture/yijing-the-opposition-hexagram-38-t87.html

蹇 卦 (Trouble hexagram), #39 chinese-culture/yijing-the-trouble-hexagram-39-t88.html

解 卦 (Resolve hexagram), #40 chinese-culture/yijing-the-resolve-hexagram-40-t89.html

損 卦 (Reduction hexagram), #41 chinese-culture/yijing-the-reduction-hexagram-41-t90.html

益 卦 (Increase hexagram), #42 chinese-culture/yijing-the-increase-hexagram-42-t91.html

決 卦 (Decision hexagram), #43 chinese-culture/yijing-the-decision-hexagram-43-t92.html

姤 卦 (Meeting hexagram), #44 chinese-culture/yijing-the-meeting-hexagram-44-t93.html

萃 卦 (Gathering hexagram), #45 chinese-culture/yijing-the-gathering-hexagram-45-t94.html

升 卦 (Rising hexagram), #46 chinese-culture/yijing-the-rising-hexagram-46-t95.html

困 卦 (Exhaustion hexagram), #47 chinese-culture/yijing-the-exhaustion-hexagram-47-t96.html

井 卦 (Water Well hexagram), #48 chinese-culture/yijing-the-water-well-hexagram-48-t97.html

革 卦 (Change hexagram), #49 chinese-culture/yijing-the-change-hexagram-49-t98.html

鼎 卦 (The Cauldron hexagram), #50 chinese-culture/yijing-the-the-cauldron-hexagram-50-t99.html

震 卦 (Thunder hexagram), #51 chinese-culture/yijing-the-thunder-hexagram-51-t100.html

艮 卦 (Mountain hexagram), #52 chinese-culture/yijing-the-mountain-hexagram-52-t101.html

漸 卦 (Gradual Progress hexagram), #53 chinese-culture/yijing-the-gradual-progress-hexagram-53-t102.html

歸 妹 卦 (Marrying a Young Girl), #54 chinese-culture/yijing-the-marrying-a-young-girl-54-t103.html

豐 卦 (Richness hexagram), #55 chinese-culture/yijing-the-richness-hexagram-55-t104.html

旅 卦 (Travel hexagram), #56 chinese-culture/yijing-the-travel-hexagram-56-t105.html

巽 卦 (Wind hexagram), #57 chinese-culture/yijing-the-wind-hexagram-57-t106.html

兌 卦 (Delight hexagram), #58 chinese-culture/yijing-the-delight-hexagram-58-t107.html

渙 卦 (Dispersal hexagram), #59 chinese-culture/yijing-the-dispersal-hexagram-59-t108.html

節 卦 (Regulation hexagram), #60 chinese-culture/yijing-the-regulation-hexagram-60-t109.html

中 孚 卦 (Sincerity in the Center), #61 chinese-culture/yijing-the-sincerity-in-the-center-61-t110.html

小 過 卦 (Small Excess), #62 chinese-culture/yijing-the-small-excess-62-t111.html

既 濟卦 (Settled hexagram), #63 chinese-culture/yijing-the-settled-hexagram-63-t112.html

未 濟 卦 (Unsettled hexagram), #64 chinese-culture/yijing-the-unsettled-hexagram-64-t113.html

系辭上 (Commentary One, on Yijing) chinese-culture/commentary-one-on-yijing-t114.html

系辭下 (Commentary Two, on Yijing) chinese-culture/commentary-two-on-yijing-t115.html

說卦 (Explanations about Yijing) chinese-culture/explanations-about-yijing-t116.html

序卦 (The sequences of the hexagrams, on Yijing) chinese-culture/the-sequences-of-the-hexagrams-on-yijing-t117.html

雜卦 (Commentary Three, on Yijing) chinese-culture/commentary-three-on-yijing-t118.html
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:26 pm

yijing wrote:Now, the Chinese text of the entire Yijing is available at this forum. The English translation of each hexagram is also linked. The following is the “Table of Content” for all hexagrams (卦). ...


Thanks. This is a big job, and a job well-done. Now, we are able to discuss Yijing in its entirety, with the original Chinese texts side by side with their English translations.

Yijing has been discussed over and over in China over 2,500 years. Thus, our discussion must consist of two parts.
1. What was discussed before? Thus, anyone who is new to Yijing can learn the basic.

2. What is the new understanding on Yijing in our modern time with the modern knowledge of sciences, the physics, mathematics, life sciences, etc.? Is it still relevant to this modern time?


With the two criteria above, we should start our discussions by answering the following questions first.
a. How did it come together to the present form, its history?

b. How does the book of Yijing structured and organized? What are its editorial guidelines?

c. What is it all about? About nature laws? About moral laws? About Chinese philosophy? About Chinese theology? Or about the whatnots? In short, what does it claim to be?

d. Are its claims still true or relevant under today’s understandings of modern physics and mathematics?


By discussing these four questions, we should get a clear picture of what the Yijing is all about.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby moderator » Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:43 am

Our member "yijing" has given an excellent account on Yijing's history. I will translate (in fact, rewrite) it in English for our international Yijing enthusiasts.

yijing wrote:A. 「 伏 犧 」 畫 卦 。 為 「 八 卦 」 , 三 爻 卦 。 有 卦 無 辭 。 


伏 犧 is a legendary ancient king who taught the people on domesticating the wild animals. The next legendary king is 神 農 who taught the people farming. The next one will be the Yellow Emperor who reigned about 5,000 years ago. As the legend goes, every era lasted about one millennium. Thus, 伏 犧 was a historical figure about 7,000 years ago.

伏 犧 was accredited for invented 八 卦 (the eight Trigrams) but 無 辭 (without any explanation or commentary).

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image


yijing wrote:B. 「 文 王 」 重 卦 
重 卦 : 八 卦 相 重 , 成 六 爻 卦 。 共 六 十 四 卦 。 
演 卦 : 繫 「 卦 辭 」 。 給 予 「 卦 體 」 、 「 卦 象 」 、 「 卦 德 」 及 「 卦 名 」 。 


文 王 (King Wen) was the founder of Chou (周) dynasty, about 3,100 years ago. King Wen did the following things for Yijing.

1. He stacked the 八 卦 (eight Trigrams) into 8 palaces, a total of 64 Hexagrams. The graph below shows the way of stacking.

Image

The following link shows the 8 palaces.
http://www.chinese-word-roots.org/Ijing0.htm

2. After each Hexagram, he gave a short sentence (卦 辭 ) to describe its name, its virtue, it essence and its symbolism. Examples:
Image 同 人 。 于 野 。 亨 。 利 涉 大 川 。 君 子 貞 。

Image 否 。 否 之 匪 人 。 不 利 君 子 貞 。 大 往 小 來 。

Image    既濟。亨,小利貞。初吉,終亂。


yijing wrote:C. 「 周 公 」 繫 「 爻 辭 」 : 「 文 王 」 卦 , 雖 已 有 名 、 體 、 象 、 德 , 但 無 法 知 吉 凶 。 于 是 , 「 周 公 」 繫 「 爻 辭 」 以 明 吉 凶 。 


In every Hexagram, it consists of six 爻 (yao). There are two types of 爻.

Yang yao Image
Yin yao Image

With King Wen's Hexagram, although having the name, the virtue, etc., a "state" of the situation is known. But, the dynamic of that "state" is not known, that is, the outcome of that state cannot be predicted. Thus, 周 公 (Duke Chou), the second son of King Wen, wrote 爻 辭 (describing the dynamics among those yaos in each the Hexagram). And, the outcome of each Hexagram can be predicted.

Example (hexagram #63):
Image    既濟。亨,小利貞。初吉,終亂。

彖曰﹕ ...

象曰﹕ ...

初九 曳其輪,濡其尾。無咎。
 
六二 婦喪其  。勿逐,七日得。

九三 高宗伐鬼方,三年克之。小人勿用。
 
六四  有衣 。終日戒。
 
九五 東鄰殺牛,不如西鄰之 祭。實受其福。
 
上六 濡其首。厲。



yijing wrote:D. 「 孔 子 」 作 「 十 翼 」 : 
「 周 易 」 分 「 經 」 與 「 傳 」 。 「 傳 」 為 「 孔 子 」 所 作 。 共 十 篇 , 又 稱 「 十 翼 」 。 十 個 趐 膀 , 幫 助 易 經 飛 翔 也 。 沒 有 十 翼 , 「 易 經 」 就 是 有 「 卦 」 無 「義 」 。 沒 人 知 其 含 義 了 。 


With King Wen and Duke Chou's Yijing, not too many people could truly understand or use it. Thus, 孔 子 (Confucius) wrote 10 commentaries on it, called 十 翼 (10 wings) which help Yijing coming alive, capable of flying now.

The King Wen and Duke Chou's Yijing was called 經 (the Canon). The 十 翼 (10 wings) was called 傳 (teacher's handbook).


yijing wrote:「 經 」 與 「 傳 」 本 是 分 開 的 。 現 在 , 「 五 傳 」 已 與 「 經 」 合 在 一 起 了 。 此 五 傳 是 : 「 彖 辭 」 上 、 下 , 「 象 辭 」 上 、 下 , 「 文 言 」 。 仍 然 獨 立 成 篇 的 是 : 「 繫 辭 」 上 、 下 , 「 說 卦 」 , 「 序 卦 」 , 「 雜 卦 」 。 


Originally, the 經 and 傳 were separated. As five 傳 discuss each Hexagram, they have been merged with each Hexagram. The other five 傳 discuss Yijing in general, they remain as standalone articles.


yijing wrote:「 彖 辭 」 解 釋 文 王 的 「 卦 辭 」 。 

彖 辭 explains King Wen's 卦 辭 . Merged.
Example:
Image    既濟。亨,小利貞。初吉,終亂。

彖曰﹕ 既濟,亨,小者亨也。“利貞”,剛柔正而位當也。“初吉”,柔得中也。 “終”止則“亂”,其道窮也。

yijing wrote:「 象 辭 」 解 釋 周 公 的 「 爻 辭 」 。 

象 辭 explains Duke Chou's 爻 辭 . Merged.
Example:
Image    既濟。亨,小利貞。初吉,終亂。

彖曰﹕ 既濟,亨,小者亨也。“利貞”,剛柔正而位當也。“初吉”,柔得中也。 “終”止則“亂”,其道窮也。

初九 曳其輪,濡其尾。無咎。
 象曰﹕ “曳其輪”,義“無咎”也。

yijing wrote:「 文 言 」 專 門 說 明 「 乾 、 坤 」 兩 卦 。 

文 言 explains only the first two Hexagrams 乾 、 坤 . Merged.

yijing wrote:「 繫 辭 」 上 、 下 : 對 易 經 的 一 個 總 體 說 明 。 

繫 辭 (I,II) give a general description of Yijing. Standalone.

yijing wrote:「 說 卦 」 : 說 明 卦 的 「 取 象 」 及 其 象 徵 的 意 義 。 

說 卦 explains how the Yijing relates to the physical universe. Standalone.

yijing wrote:「 序 卦 」 : 說 明 六 十 四 卦 , 排 列 秩 序 的 原 因 。

序 卦 explains the reasons of how and why the sequence of each Hexagram is derived.

yijing wrote:「 雜 卦 」 : 說 明 卦 序 之 外 , 卦 與 卦 的 「 錯 」 ( 旁 通 ) 「 綜 」 ( 例 置 ) 關 係 。

雜 卦 explains the relations among Hexagrams, the symmetry between Hexagrams, etc..
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:51 pm

Thanks moderator and yijing. With both of your posts, the historical account on Yijing is now clear.

If the mother tongue of our reader is Chinese languge, there is a 99% chance that he does not ever read Yijing in its entirety. Furthermore, there is a 99.99% chance that he is unable to comprehand the book of Yijing if he tries to read, although he might know every word in it. There are two reasons for this ironny fact.

1. He does not know the etymology of those words. Thus, the meanings of those words he knows today is significantly different from the meanings in Yijing.

2.He does not know what the heck that Yijing is all about, a philosophy? a theology? about physics? about mathematics? about divination? or all the whatnots! Without knowing what it is, there is no guiding point for him to comprehand its sentences. In fact, he would not be able to know the language and terms it uses.

If an Yijing enthusiast who is unable to read the Chinese text of Yijing, he has learned some opinions of others on yijing, and who knows what the heck they are.

This forum will address all issues above. Can anyone address the issue 2 first?
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby yijing » Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:17 am

Tienzen wrote:2.He does not know what the heck that Yijing is all about, a philosophy? a theology? about physics? about mathematics? about divination? or all the whatnots! Without knowing what it is, there is no guiding point for him to comprehand its sentences. In fact, he would not be able to know the language and terms it uses.

Can anyone address the issue 2 first?


Different disciplines use different terminologies. Indeed, that what the heck the Yijing it is is the key for understanding about Yijing's terminologies and language.

Yijing permeates in all areas of Chinese culture, the philosophy, the theology, the art of wars, the geomancy, the divination, etc.. And, it is the backbone of the Chinese medicine which is valid after thousands years of verification. Yet, Yijing is not a philosophy, not a theology, not about medicine, etc..

Then, what the heck exactly is the Yijing? In 系 辭上 (Commentary One), the first four sentences say, "...,乾坤定矣。...,貴賤位矣。...,剛柔斷矣。...,吉凶生矣。"

乾坤定矣 points to that Yijing is about the laws of the nature universe.

貴賤位矣 points to that Yijing is about the laws of the moral universe.

剛柔斷矣...,吉凶生矣 points to that Yijing can predict all the outcomes between the interactions (among the nature universe and the moral universe).

With the four sentences above, Yijing claims to be a TOE (theory of everything). It must encompass the entire modern physics, modern mathematics, modern life science, and all the whatnots.

Is Yijing's claim valid? It is an issue which will be and must be addressed. For the question of what the heck Yijing is, here is the answer; it is a TOE, the perfect science, philosophy, theology, etc..
Last edited by yijing on Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby r.green » Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:51 pm

yijing wrote:
Tienzen wrote:
With the four sentences above, Yijing claims to be a TOE (theory of everything). It must encompass the entire modern physics, modern mathematics, modern life science, and all the whatnots.

Is Yijing's claim valid? It is an issue which will be and must be addressed. For the question of what the heck Yijing is, here is the answer; it is a TOE, the perfect science, philosophy, theology, etc..


This is a surprisingly new interpretation about Yijing. With such a claim, Yijing might fail to be a viable Classic in front of all those modern knowledge.

Richard Wilhelm was the most respected Yijing authority in the West. His book "Lectures on the I Ching, constancy and change"(ISBN 0-691-01872-3) was translated from the German to English by Irene Eber. In the "Introduction" of the book, it wrote, "... Still, no matter how mystically or scholarly inclined a person may be, he cannot simply settle down to a reading of the I Ching and hope to understand it. The text is more often than not obscure; it refers to matters that are incomprehensible; it suggests symbols from another time and place; the language is terse and befuddling; and there is no unified and systematic exposition of a comprehensive world view. The list could be prolonged. Moreover, the book is a puzzle --- even if a tantalizing one --- not only to Westerners. According to one Chinese authority, no Chinese scholar for the past two thousand years can honestly claim to have understood the I Ching. And yet in China the book has been a perennial favorite with many an educated and even not so educated gentleman. Should one conclude then that people anywhere, tenaciously or perversely, read that which they do not understand?

Not quite. To be sure, the I Ching text is complex and obscure. Still its very abstruseness suggests an intriguing richness of multiple meanings." (page 6 of Introduction)

This is a different view about what the heck Yijing is all about. This might be of some values for our discussions here. Cheers!
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby david » Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:59 am

yijing wrote:With the four sentences above, Yijing claims to be a TOE (theory of everything). It must encompass the entire modern physics, modern mathematics, modern life science, and all the whatnots.

For the question of what the heck Yijing is, here is the answer; it is a TOE, the perfect science, philosophy, theology, etc..


It is ridiculous to say that Yijing is a TOE which encompasses all modern sciences (physics, mathematics and life sciences) as its current version was finalized about 2,600 years ago by Confucius. Yijing was simply a diviner’s manual.

Richard Wilhelm did not see Yijing as a scientific book but as a work rooted within the fabric of Chinese thinking. He used the term “ Magic thinking”, although he saw this magic thinking is as true as is logical-mathematical thinking.

Carl Gustav Jung ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung ) was another great Western scholar who studied Yijing. With the inspiration of Yijing, Jung invented two very important new concepts for the modern psychology.

1. The “archetype” which is a universally understood symbol or term is often used in myths and storytelling across different cultures. It has universal contentless forms that channel experiences and emotions. And the hexagram is an archetype.

2. The “synchronicity” which is the experience of two or more events, that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner. While events are often grouped by causes in the logical world, they may also be grouped by their meaning. Since meaning is a complex mental construction, subject to conscious and unconscious influence, not every correlation in the grouping of events by meaning needs to have an explanation in terms of cause and effect. That is, Yijing needs not being logical.

Jung did not degrade the value of Yijing for it being illogical, but he opened up a new world of illogical reality in the psychology.

What the heck is Yijing? I think that Jung gave the best answer. Yijing describes an illogical reality world which goes beyond the scientific world.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby yijing » Thu Sep 08, 2011 11:21 am

david wrote:It is ridiculous to say that Yijing is a TOE which encompasses all modern sciences (physics, mathematics and life sciences) as its current version was finalized about 2,600 years ago by Confucius. Yijing was simply a diviner’s manual. ...

What the heck is Yijing? I think that Jung gave the best answer. Yijing describes an illogical reality world which goes beyond the scientific world.


Thanks for providing the great info on Carl Jung’s view on Yijing. While Jung was one of the greatest philosophers in the 20th century, he was not known to be a mathematician. Thus, his inability of seeing the logic and mathematical part of the Yijing is all understandable. However, his view of Yijing being a great theory on reality of illogical world is a strong evidence that Yijing can be a TOE (theory of everything).

The modern binary number system, which is at the foundation of all modern digital computers, was developed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Leibniz ). Yet, it is openly known that Leibniz got his idea of binary number system after studied Yijing. He noted with fascination how Yijing’s hexagrams correspond to the binary numbers from 0 to 111111, and concluded that this mapping was evidence of major Chinese accomplishments in the sort of philosophical mathematics he admired. That is, the Yijing was a seed for the modern digital world. In addition to encompassing an illogic world, Yijing also is a seed for the modern sciences.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Thu Sep 08, 2011 12:05 pm

yijing wrote:
david wrote:It is ridiculous to say that Yijing is a TOE which encompasses all modern sciences (physics, mathematics and life sciences) as its current version was finalized about 2,600 years ago by Confucius. Yijing was simply a diviner’s manual. ...
What the heck is Yijing? I think that Jung gave the best answer. Yijing describes an illogical reality world which goes beyond the scientific world.


That is, the Yijing was a seed for the modern digital world. In addition to encompassing an illogic world, Yijing also is a seed for the modern sciences.


The new discipline of Artificial life ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_life ) is a very recent development in the modern science, the combination of computer science and modern biology.

In the late 1940s, John Von Neumann ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann ) who was regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians in modern history came up an idea of cellular automaton which is an imagined machine that processes information, proceeding logically, inexorably performing its next action after applying data received from outside itself in light of instructions programmed within itself. His idea became a new discipline -- the artificial life.

In 1980, many Self-replicating Systems (SRS) were described with the concept of cellular automaton. In 1982, Dr. Stephen Wolfram ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wolfram ) used an one-dimensional cellular automaton with cells in only two possible states -- on or off, Yin or Yang. It started with an initial configuration, a row of cells turned on or off at random. This was the 1st line. A new row beneath, 2nd line, would represent the next generation.


The state of each cell in the 2nd line was determined by three neighbors of the first generation cell on the 1st line. These triplets in the 1st line have only eight possible combinations (111, 110, 101, 100, 011, 010, 001, 000) which are identical to the Yijing eight kwa system (Trigrams).

The row of eight boxes on top of Figure below shows the rule set: for each combination of three cells in generation 0, there is a determined result for the next-generation cell below the triplet. Beginning from a single seed, these rules are applied consistently, each generation represented by a horizontal row of cells. The figure below shows five generations of growth. With this, Wolfram showed that there are only two possible classes of outcome -- dead patterns (lifeless stable structures or random noise) or very complicated patterns with very complicated behavior and often long lived.

Image


The figure below shows a comparison between the natural pattern on a mollush shell and the pattern of a simple one-dimensional cellular automaton.

Image


Ancient Chinese always claimed that the laws of Yijing are the laws of life. This claim is now supported by a modern science, the artificial life (alife). In fact, Yijing hexagram system is the most complicated cellular automata thus far.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby mariaC » Fri Sep 09, 2011 1:58 pm

Very exciting! This is the first time that I have learned so many different views on Yijing. In fact, I see, at least, five different views about Yijing from the previous posts.

1. Richard Wilhelm viewed Yijing as a result of “Magic thinking” which is as great as the logic and mathematical thinking.
a. The Yijing text is more often than not obscure.
b. It refers to matters that are incomprehensible.
c. It suggests symbols from another time and place.
d. The language is terse and befuddling.
e. There is no unified and systematic exposition of a comprehensive world view.
f. The book is a puzzle --- even if a tantalizing one --- not only to Westerners but also to all Chinese scholars.
g. To be sure, the Yijing text is complex and obscure. Still its very abstruseness suggests an intriguing richness of multiple meanings.

If I may make a conclusion of the above with an analogy, Yijing (in Wilhelm’s view) is as a junkyard while people can still find many usable treasures there. Thus, in China the book has been a perennial favorite with many an educated and even not so educated gentleman.


2. Carl Jung saw Yijing as a model for an illogical world. And, Yijing is the inspiration for his new concept of “synchronicity”.

3. Tienzen and yijing (a member of this forum) see the Yijing as a TOE (theory of everything), encompasses all modern sciences. This is the most radical position to swallow. As Tienzen is the founder of this forum, I would be patient and will lend him my ears to hear him out.

4. During the Culture Revolution (1966 – 1976), Yijing was viewed as a superstitious divination book and was not viewed as a revered Classic in China.

5. After the Culture Revolution, Yijing again was viewed as a revered Classic which carries a living and authoritative heritage, permeating into all Chinese thoughts.

These five views are significantly different among one another. Thus, before we know exactly which view is the valid one, we will not be able to discuss about Yijing at all.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:36 pm

mariaC wrote:3. Tienzen and yijing (a member of this forum) see the Yijing as a TOE (theory of everything), encompasses all modern sciences. This is the most radical position to swallow. As Tienzen is the founder of this forum, I would be patient and will lend him my ears to hear him out.


Thanks.

mariaC wrote:These five views are significantly different among one another. Thus, before we know exactly which view is the valid one, we will not be able to discuss about Yijing at all.


Indeed! Before discussing Yijing in details, we must address three key issues.
1. What is Yijing exactly, a philosophy, a science, a religion or the whatnots? That is, we must know what exactly Yijing claims to be by itself.
2. Is Yijing’s self claim correct and valid?
3. What are the views of others on Yijing?

In this post, I will discuss only the issue 1, “what is Yijing exactly?”

In moderator’s post ( post386.html#p386 ), it already gives a detailed description about Yijing. Yet, I want to give a more clear and precise picture here.

The current edition of Yijing (周 易 ) is mixed up the Jing (經) and (傳) together, and this was discussed in moderator’s post.

The etymology of the word 傳 is to pass on or pass down. So, 傳 is simply the teacher’s handbook for helping students to learn the subject. In this case, the 傳 was edited or authored by Confucius. Thus, in order to know exactly what the Yijing is, we must remove the 傳 from the current Yijing book. Using the 乾 卦 (Chien hexagram) as an example, the current Yijing book contains the following.

Image 乾。 元亨。利貞。


彖曰﹕ 大哉乾元,萬物資始,乃統天。
雲行雨施,品物流形。大明終始,六位時成,時乘六龍以御天。
乾道變化,各正性命,保合太和,乃利貞。首出庶物,萬國 咸寧。

象曰﹕天 行 健;君 子 以 自 強 不 息。
潛 龍 勿 用, 陽 在 下 也. 見 龍 在 田, 德 施 普 也. 終 日 乾 乾, 反 復 道 也. 或 躍 在 淵, 進 無 咎 也. 飛 龍 在 天, 大 人 造 也. 亢 龍 有 悔, 盈 不 可 久 也. 用 九, 天 德 不 可 為 首 也.


 初九 潛龍。勿用。
 象曰﹕“潛龍勿用”,陽在下也。


九二 見龍在田。利見大人。
 象曰﹕“見龍在田”,德施普也。


九三 君子終日乾乾,夕惕若。厲,無咎。
象曰﹕“終日乾乾”,反復道也。


 九四 或躍在淵。無咎。
象曰﹕“或躍在淵”,進無咎也。


 九五 飛龍在天。利見大人。
象曰﹕“飛龍在天”,大人造也。


 上九 亢龍。有悔。
象曰﹕“亢龍有悔”,盈不可久也。


 用九 見群龍無首。吉。
象曰﹕“用九”,天德不可為首也。



文言曰﹕

  元者,善之長也; 亨者,嘉之會也;利者,義之和也;貞者,事之干也。
君 子 體 仁 足 以 長 人,嘉 會 足 以 合 禮,利 物 足 以 和 義,貞 固 足 以 干 事。
君 子 行 此 四 德 者,
故曰﹕“乾。元、亨、利、貞。”


  初九曰﹕“潛龍勿用。”
何謂也?子曰﹕“龍德而隱者也。”不易乎世,不成 乎名。遁世無悶,不見是而無悶。樂則行之,憂則違之。確乎其不可拔,潛龍也。 …

But the Jing (經) contains only the following, with only three parts, the 卦 (hexagram), the 卦辭 (comments of 文王 [King Wen] on the hexagram as a whole) and the 爻辭 ( comments of 周公 [Duke Chou] on each yao (爻) of that hexagram).

Part 1. the 卦 (hexagram) Image

Part 2. The 卦辭 --- 乾。 元亨。利貞。

Part 3. The 爻辭 which has 6 sentences. Note: for the first and the second hexagram, there are 7 sentences.

初九 潛龍。勿用。

九二 見龍在田。利見大人。

九三 君子終日乾乾,夕惕若。厲,無咎。

 九四 或躍在淵。無咎。

 九五 飛龍在天。利見大人。

 上九 亢龍。有悔。

 用九 見群龍無首。吉。

Now, we know what the Yijing exactly is in “form” without the mixing up with the 傳; the 彖曰, 象曰 and 文言曰 are all removed. In all senses, Confucius' 傳 is just commentaries the same as yours or mine, although his is much more revered. By removing all comments from the Jing, we can now begin to discuss what Yijing as it was in its “essence”, a philosophy or ... . This will be our discussion in the future posts.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby mariaC » Sat Sep 10, 2011 1:55 pm

Tienzen wrote:
Now, we know what the Yijing exactly is in “form” without the mixing up with the 傳; the 彖曰, 象曰 and 文言曰 are all removed. In all senses, Confucius' 傳 is just commentaries the same as yours or mine, although his is much more revered. By removing all comments from the Jing, we can now begin to discuss what Yijing as it was in its “essence”, a philosophy or ... . This will be our discussion in the future posts.


For the past 2,600 years, the sayings were as follow.

1. 六十四 卦 (64 hexagrams) 有 “象” 無 辭 (having imagines but without meaning), 是以 “文王” 作 “卦辭” (thus, King Wen wrote comments on the Hexagrams), “周公” 作 “爻辭” (Duke Chou wrote comments on Yaos). Thus, the hexagram system became a useful book “Yijing” (周易).

2. Without Confucius’ “Ten Wings” (十翼, the 易傳), the Yijing could not be understood.

Now, you want to remove Confucius’s 易傳 to discuss the Yijing. You are the first person doing so in the past 2,600 years.

Of course, if Confucius could make up some meanings from Yijing 2,600 years ago, you might be able to whip up some new meanings for Yijing now as we all have much more modern knowledge than Confucius did. Thus, I will try to hear you out.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:59 pm

mariaC wrote:Of course, if Confucius could make up some meanings from Yijing 2,600 years ago, you might be able to whip up some new meanings for Yijing now as we all have much more modern knowledge than Confucius did. Thus, I will try to hear you out.


Thanks for your patient and encouragement.

In my previous post, I stated that Yijing consists of only three parts.
1. A hexagram system, the 64 hexagrams.
2. King Wen’s 卦辭 (comments on the hexagrams).
3. Duke Chou’s 爻辭 (comments on the yao of each hexagram).

In this post, I will talk only about the hexagram system (HS) without those 辭 (comments) as the HS is the body of the Yijing while those 辭 are only comments.

In the modern science, two stand out as the greatest modern achievements. One is the manifestation of the digital world, the computer, the internet, the HDTV, etc.. The other is the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI).

The digital world is wholly based on the development of the binary system, and I have showed that the modern binary system was inspired from Yijing as it was the first highly developed binary system, the Yin (Image) and the Yang (Image) .

The recent great advancement of AI is wholly based on the idea of artificial life (alife, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_life ). The weak alife position denies the possibility of generating a "living process" outside of a chemical solution. Its researchers try instead to simulate life processes to understand the underlying mechanics of biological phenomena. The strong alife (cf. Strong AI) position states that "life is a process which can be abstracted away from any particular medium" (the view of John von Neumann, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann , one of the greatest mathematicians in modern history). AI took the strong alife position.

A Cellular automaton ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_automata ) is the base for the studies of alife, and it is still often used for ease of scalability and parallelization. Alife is a discrete model studied in computability theory, mathematics, physics, complexity science, theoretical biology and microstructure modeling. It consists of a regular grid of cells, each in one of a finite number of states, such as "On" and "Off" (in contrast to a coupled map lattice). The grid can be in any finite number of dimensions. For each cell, a set of cells called its neighborhood (usually including the cell itself) is defined relative to the specified cell.

I have showed that 八卦 (Trigrams) forms a Cellular automaton in Dr. Stephen Wolfram’s work. In fact, the 64 hexagram system forms the most complex Cellular automaton today. That is, the 64 hexagram system describes a “living life” universe and is the most advanced alife system.

Of course, Confucius did not know a digital world and not know the new discipline of alife and AI which require the knowledge of computability theory, modern mathematics, physics, complexity science, theoretical biology and microstructure modeling.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby kenny » Sat Sep 10, 2011 9:29 pm

Tienzen wrote:I have showed that 八卦 (Trigrams) forms a Cellular automaton in Dr. Stephen Wolfram’s work. In fact, the 64 hexagram system forms the most complex Cellular automaton today. That is, the 64 hexagram system describes a “living life” universe and is the most advanced alife system.


Thanks for the links on alife and cellular automaton. It will take me awhile to learn those advanced new sciences although I am a trained logician.

As the trigrams do form a cellular automaton according to Wolfram’s work, the 64 hexagram system must also be a cellular automaton according to logic. But, your statement that the 64 hexagram system forms the most complex Cellular automaton today needs more elaboration. Nonetheless, I will take your words for now.

However, that 64 hexagram system could be developed by those ancients by happenstance. That is, they came up the system without knowing about it being a system describing a “living life” universe. Did they know? Is there clear evidence showing that they knew about it?
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Sun Sep 11, 2011 11:01 am

kenny wrote:However, that 64 hexagram system could be developed by those ancients by happenstance. That is, they came up the system without knowing about it being a system describing a “living life” universe. Did they know? Is there clear evidence showing that they knew about it?


Excellent question! But the answer is a definitely “No”, not by a happenstance. There were precise procedures and underlying logic for constructing those 64 hexagrams.

Step one: The cosmology --- the creation from nothingness.
In 系辭上 (Commentary One) [ chinese-culture/commentary-one-on-yijing-t114.html ], it says, 是故易有太極,是生兩儀,兩儀生四象,四象生八卦。 This sentence describes “the creation from nothingness” process. From 無 極 [ (Wuji, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuji_%28philosophy%29 ) , the state before the creation of the universe, being completely formless with the total homogeneousness and the total symmetry] to 太 極 (Tai Chi, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiji ), it was called 一 劃 開 天 ( one stroke created the universe) which is discussed in the post post223.html#p223 . This procedure is as followings.
1. 無 極 (Wuji, the nothingness) <---> 太 極 (Tai Chi, the greatest ultimate)
2. 太 極 (Tai Chi, the greatest ultimate) begets “Ying and Yang” with 一 劃 (the one stroke)
3. Ying and Yang forms eight trigrams (八卦).


Step two: The structure and the evolution of the universe.
Why “Ying and Yang” take three lines to form trigrams, not two lines nor four lines? In 系辭下 (Commentary Two) [ chinese-culture/commentary-two-on-yijing-t115.html ], it says, 有天道焉,有人道焉,有地道焉。兼 ”三材” 而 “兩之”,故六。 Again, in 說卦 (Explanations about Yijing) [ chinese-culture/explanations-about-yijing-t116.html ] , it says, 兼 “三才” 而 “兩之”,故易六畫而成卦。

三 材 is 天 (the Heaven), 地 (the Earth) and 人 (the humanity). That is, in addition to a nature universe, the Yijing universe is human centered with three pillars, the Heaven, the Earth and the Man. Thus, the Yijing universe is described with three parts, that is, three lines. Three lines in a binary system (Ying and Yang) can only form eight trigrams, and no more.

兩之 is doubling up or stacking up. Stacking up the 8 trigrams, it forms 64 hexagrams. So, Yijing universe is completed with these 64 hexagrams. But, why stacking up? Not tripling again? This is an important issue, and I will discuss it in the future.
So, after the initial creation steps, 1, 2 and 3, the final step (4) is stacking up the trigrams to form 64 hexagrams.


In addition to the above precise creation and evolution procedures, Yijing also sees the above evolution procedure in a different angle. In 說卦 (Explanations about Yijing) [ chinese-culture/explanations-about-yijing-t116.html ], it says, 乾,天也,故稱乎父;坤,地也,故稱乎母;震一索而得男,故謂之長男;巽 一索而得女,故謂之長女;坎再索而得男,故謂之中男;離再索而得女,故謂之中 女;艮三索而得男,故謂之少男;兌三索而得女,故謂之少女。 That is,

Image 乾 as father.

Image 坤 as mother.

Image 震, the eldest son from 坤.

Image 坎, the second son from 坤.

Image 艮, the youngest son from 坤.

Image 巽, the eldest daughter from 乾.

Image 離, the second daughter from 乾.

Image 兌, , the youngest daughter from 乾.


With this paragraph, the trigrams are no arising by simple permutation of three lines in a binary system. The Yijing trigrams form a family system, a moral system.

Thus, the ancient Yijing authors not only viewed the 64 hexagrams as a living life universe (such as a alife system) but viewed it also as a moral universe.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby yijing » Sun Sep 11, 2011 2:09 pm

Tienzen wrote:兩之 is doubling up or stacking up. Stacking up the 8 trigrams, it forms 64 hexagrams. So, Yijing universe is completed with these 64 hexagrams. But, why stacking up? Not tripling again? This is an important issue, and I will discuss it in the future.



I have studied Yijing over 40 years, knowing all the traditional teachings. The ancient Chinese always claimed that Yijing describes a living universe. Yet, this is the first time that I learned that Yijing is making contact with the most advanced modern disciplines, the cellular automaton and the alife (artificial life).

I have always taking the stacking the trigrams into 64 hexagrams for granted, as a nature thing to do. Is there a modern reason which demands that operation?
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:55 pm

yijing wrote:I have always taking the stacking the trigrams into 64 hexagrams for granted, as a nature thing to do. Is there a modern reason which demands that operation?


Excellent question! Yes, the stacking operation has very important mathematical meanings.

The trigrams are, in fact, vectors in modern mathematics, and they can be written as followings when we assign Yang = 1 and Ying = 0. If you do not already know that a vector is, in general, expressed as an ordered numbers (enclosed in either parentheses or angle brackets), such as V = (a, b, c), please visit the page on “Vector notation” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_notation


Image 乾 = (1, 1, 1)

Image 坤 = (0, 0, 0)

Image 震 = (1, 0, 0)

Image 坎 = (0, 1, 0)

Image 艮 = (0, 0, 1)

Image 巽 = (0, 1, 1)

Image 離 =(1, 0, 1)

Image 兌 = (1, 1, 0)


In vector calculus (or vector analysis) [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_calculus ], there are two important algebra operations.

1. Inner (dot) product --- multiplication of two vector fields, yielding a scalar field: V1 * V2
2. Cross product --- multiplication of two vector fields, yielding a vector field: V1 x V2

For every vector space, these two operations are its innate laws. After these two operations, the above trigram vector space will produce a 64 hexagram vector space. The Yijing stacking operation is isomorphic to the combination of these two vector operations.

Is the stacking operation sufficient to encompass a final universe? Do we need tripling operation? The answer is that a double-stacking operation is enough as the associative law (http://www.mathsisfun.com/associative-c ... utive.html ) is valid in the vector calculus. Thus, any higher stacking can always be reduced to a function of trigrams and hexagrams.

In addition to being a cellular automaton, the hexagram system also forms a vector space, and the vector calculus can be used to analyze it.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby r.green » Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:02 am

Tienzen wrote:In addition to being a cellular automaton, the hexagram system also forms a vector space, and the vector calculus can be used to analyze it.


This is very fascinating . What kind of new insight will we get from this?
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:16 am

r.green wrote:This is very fascinating . What kind of new insight will we get from this?


Vector calculus is a pure mathematics. It describes the entire essence and attributes of the vector space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_space or Vector field, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_field ). That is, for every vector object, it must follow the laws in the vector calculus. For example, the electromagnetic field is a vector space, and it must follow all laws and theorems of the vector calculus. In general, we call this “the application” of vector calculus on the electromagnetic field. But, at here, I would like to change the terminology, changing the word of “application” to “association”. That is, when vector calculus is associated with electromagnetic field, that vector calculus becomes “electromagnetic dynamics”. This change is very important to our future discussion. Again, the key word is the “association”.

Being a vector space, the hexagram system encompasses the entire vector calculus. Yet, I would like to discuss only two special traits about the vector calculus.
1. Divergence ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divergence ) --- it is a vector operator that measures the magnitude of a vector field from a distant point to its source. This magnitude is no longer a vector. In layman’s term, the power of a vector diminishes when the distance from the source is increased. In fact, this is a common sense. The further away from a power source, the weaker that power can be felt. With the first thought, this seems to be a bad thing. Yet, from a positive view, this, in fact, points out that that power source has the ability to reach out and to strike at distance although with diminished magnitude. Thus, divergence of a vector means that the power of a vector can “move” forward in distance. Without this great trait of the vector, a TV station would not be able to send its signals to our homes.

2. Curl ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curl_%28mathematics%29 ) --- it is a vector operator that describes the infinitesimal rotation of a 3-dimensional vector field. In laymen’s term, the whirlpool of draining water in a sink is the result of this curl effect. Another example of curl is the bullet spinning in a rifle. This curl force keeps the bullet going out straight. Thus, the curl provides the ability for a vector field to maintain its direction. So, we can aim our radar signals to a certain direction.

Yet, what are meanings of these two traits? They show that every vector field is dynamic (not stationary) and has the power to strike at distance.

When the vector calculus is associated with an electromagnetic field, it becomes “electromagnetic dynamics which is the base for producing TV signals, radar signals, etc..

When the vector calculus is associated with a politic vector space, it becomes a politic power. When it is associated with moral laws, it becomes a moral dominion.

While the Trigrams form a (1 x 3) vector space, the Hexagrams can actually form a (2 x 3) matrix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_%28mathematics%29 ). Again, when matrix algebra is associated with the “uncertainty principle”, it becomes “Quantum Mechanics” (QM). Note: Schrödinger used partial differential equations to describe the QM while Heisenberg used matrix algebra.

Yet, both Trigrams and Hexagrams are something unique. Trigrams form a unitary (1 x 3) vector space. That is, it is the base for any vector space which is larger than it. In common terms, any vector space which has higher order can be rewritten in terms of trigrams. It is the same for the Hexagrams which form a unitary (2 x 3) matrix.

That is, the Trigrams are “language” of vector space, and the Hexagrams are “language” of matrix algebra. In fact, they can be the languages for all modern sciences [modern physics (electromagnetic dynamics, quantum mechanics, etc.), modern mathematics, etc.]. With some efforts, those modern physics equations can be rewritten with Trigrams and Hexagrams.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby kenny » Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:54 pm

Tienzen wrote:That is, the Trigrams are “language” of vector space, and the Hexagrams are “language” of matrix algebra. In fact, they can be the languages for all modern sciences [modern physics (electromagnetic dynamics, quantum mechanics, etc.), modern mathematics, etc.]. With some efforts, those modern physics equations can be rewritten with Trigrams and Hexagrams.


It is amazing. You can make a 3100 year old dinosaurs becoming a modern spaceship. However, I cannot deny the fact that the trigrams are indeed vectors. But, this fact does not mean that those ancients understood the vector calculus. Thus, I have three simple questions.

1. Did those ancient Yijing authors know about those points you just mentioned?

2. It is obvious that those ancients did not associate hexagrams with the electromagnetic field as they did not invent TV and computers. What kind of associations (if any) had they done with the hexagrams?

3. I did follow your links of cellular automaton and alife. But, I am still not very clear about how the hexagrams to be an alife. Can you give a better description on this?
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:05 pm

kenny wrote:Thus, I have three simple questions.

1. Did those ancient Yijing authors know about those points you just mentioned?

2. It is obvious that those ancients did not associate hexagrams with the electromagnetic field as they did not invent TV and computers. What kind of associations (if any) had they done with the hexagrams?

3. I did follow your links of cellular automaton and alife. But, I am still not very clear about how the hexagrams to be an alife. Can you give a better description on this?


These are good questions. I will answer them one at a time.

For alife (artificial life), it must imitate the real biological life. Thus, we should list the basic traits and attributes of the real life first. The followings are the key attributes.

1. There is a set (in finite numbers) of amino acids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid ).

2. These amino acids produce a set (in finite numbers) of proteins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein ).

3. There is a set (in finite numbers) of enzymes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme ) which are special kind of proteins, and they act as traffic controller for the movements of amino acids and proteins.

4. The three above constitute the process of metabolism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism ) which allows organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments.


The above life attributes can be imitated with the followings.
1. The living space (the environment) is a space (1 to n dimensions) divided into grids (cells).

2. There is a set (in finite numbers) of life substances. Each substance can take up one grid. The simplest alife has only one life substance, a black stone, such as in the most famous alife, “Conway's Game of Life” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life ). These substances imitate the amino acids.

3. There is a set (in finite numbers) of rules for those life substances to be either dead or alive after “a time step”. These rules mimic the enzymes.

4. There is a set (in finite numbers) of emerged “stable” patterns after a finite numbers of time steps. These patterns mimic the proteins.

By having proteins (the stable patterns), the metabolism of the system can be maintained, and it becomes an alife.


While the living space can be (and should be) infinitely big (open), the life substances (~ amino acids) and the life moving rules (~ enzymes) must be in finite numbers (closed). Thus, every alife is,
a. a moving (dynamic) system,
b. a closed system.

Note: there is no limitation on the numbers of the life products (the stable patterns), but in general it will be in finite numbers because that the interaction is limited. For example, every cell has only 8 neighbors in a two-dimension space.


The hexagram system meets the two criteria above. A hexagram can become a different hexagram after one of its six lines is changed to its opposite. This change can be done by a set of preset rules, the interaction of it with its neighbors (the environment). Yet, no amount of change can create something out side of those 64 hexagrams.

I will show a simplest hexagram alife by using Conway’s Game of Life which is described in details at the web page provided above. Here, I will only give a short summary of it.

1. It is a “zero-player” game, meaning that its evolution is determined by its “initial state”, requiring no further input. One interacts with the Game of Life by creating an initial configuration and observing how it evolves. Note: this is very important as our universe is a zero-player game. After its creation, it evolves by itself.

2. There is only one “live-substance”, such as a blackstone.

3. This live-substance lives on grids (cells) of infinite size.

4. This live-substance has only two possible states, dead or alive.

5. There is a set of rules to determine the fate of any life-substance. Every live-substance interacts with its eight neighbors, which are in the cells that are horizontally, vertically, or diagonally adjacent. At each step in time, the following transitions occur:
a. Any live-substance (blackstone) with fewer than two live neighbors dies, as if caused by under-population.
b. Any blackstone with two or three live neighbors lives on to the next generation.
c. Any blackstone with more than three live neighbors dies, as if by overcrowding.
d. Any dead cell (without blackstone) with exactly three live neighbors becomes alive (with a blackstone), as if by reproduction.


The above constitutes the Conway’s Game of Life. After an initial seeding, such as randomly spread out a handful of blackstones to a clean grids, some stable patterns will evolve. And there are three types, the Still lifes, the Oscillators and Spaceships. In the Spaceships category, a stable pattern is called “glider” which is the one that I will use as the body (the carrier) for the hexagram alife. The life cycle of the glider is described below.

Image

As you can see that after three generations, the glider “replicates” itself, and it becomes a genuine life, an alife to be exact. Yet, there is a problem for glider which was never discussed before. That is, it is an immortal. It will not die by itself if it is not perturbed externally. Thus, it cannot be a model for any earthly life which is always a mortal. However, this problem can be resolved by adding the hexagrams into the life of glider. I will show this with the following steps.

1. Those 64 hexagrams are inert and opaque blackstones. By using these 64 opaque blackstones in the glider, it is still a Conway’s glider.

2. Those 64 hexagrams are inert but transparent blackstones. By using these 64 transparent (but still inert) blackstones in the glider, two different gliders might consist of from different hexagrams.

3. Those 64 hexagrams are transparent but no longer inert. A hexagram will interact with its neighbors in addition to Conway’s blackstone rules. For example, we add the following “internal” rules.
a. If a hexagram (blackstone) has two live neighbors, the bottom line of that hexagram will change to its opposite, Ying to Yang, or Yang to Ying.

b. If a hexagram (blackstone) has a live neighbor which is identical to itself, it will die. In fact, both die.


With these two internal rules, an immortal glider can slowly reach to a state that two blackstones die because of these internal changes, and thus end the life of that glider.

These two internal rules are aging process. And, the hexagram-glider becomes a mortal life, an earthly-like life.

This simple example gives only a hint of how hexagram system works in an alife system.
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby kenny » Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:53 pm

The introduction of an aging process for Conway’s glider could be the greatest advancement on alife. But, I must ask my old question again, “ Did those ancient Yijing authors know about those points you just mentioned?”
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Re: About Yijing (周 易) --- The general discussions

Postby Tienzen » Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:39 pm

kenny wrote:“ Did those ancient Yijing authors know about those points you just mentioned?”



I have made two points on Yijing thus far.
1. The hexagram system is a “language” which is capable of describing all nature laws.
2. The hexagram system describes the nature as a “living-life” system.

Did those ancient Yijing authors (including Confucius) know about these two points? The answer is “Yes.”

Of course, they did not know anything about vector calculus, but they did see the hexagram system as a “language” for describing the nature. In 系辭下 (Commentary Two), it says,
"... 近取諸身,遠取諸物,于是始作八卦,以通神明之德,以類萬物之情。"
"... 爻象動乎內,吉凶見乎外,... 。"

These two sentences point out that the trigram and hexagram system is a language of describing everything. I will discuss these two sentences in detail in the future. So, I will not translate them now. You should just take my words for now.

Again, those ancients did not know anything about cellular automaton and alife, but they did see hexagram system as the language describing a “living-life” universe. There are four major principles as the foundation for the hexagram system.
1. The binary principle --- the ying and yang.

2. The human centered universe --- the Heaven, the Earth and the Humanity, that is, the three pillars. Together with the binary principle, it forms the trigram system.

3. The mutual immanence principle --- this is different from the complementary principle, as its two parts are mutually excluded from each other. The two parts in mutual immanence can never be completely separated from each other as you can see from the Taiji pictograph.

Image

4. The dynamic principle --- the universe is constantly in motion, the ying transforming into yang and vice versa (the result of the mutual immanence principle). All hexagrams are also constantly in motion, for example, the hexagram-gliders.

These four principles were the understanding of those ancients. I have summarized those laws of life of Yijing with the following 7 laws.


A: Laws of Yin-Yang:
1. Whatever exists embodies both yin and yang.

2.Yin and Yang are mutually immanent in each other, that is, yang contains yin and vice versa.

3.Any inference that some existence is 100% yang and 0% yin is false, and vice versa.

B: Laws of Mutual Immanence:
4.The mutuality of yin-yang is also mutually immanent (the second order of mutual immanence), such as: the amount of mutuality of yin-yang in one existent may be y% and thus lack mutuality in the amount of (100-y)%, and vice versa.

5.Any inference that some existence embodies or lacks the mutuality of yin-yang in the amount of 100% is false, and vice versa.

C: Laws of Dynamics:
6. Any inference that yin and yang are embodied in any static way is false because existence (tao) is dynamic.

7. Any inference that the amount of the mutuality of yin-yang and the amount of the lack of mutuality of yin-yang embodied in any existent are in any static way is false, because existence (tao) is dynamic.

Note: tao here is the tao of Yijing, not the tao of Laotze. The detail of these laws is discussed at http://www.chinese-word-roots.org/Taolife.htm
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