Nowadays, the Zhouyi is often linked to fortune-telling, so what was the purpose of King Wen in deducing the Zhouyi in the first place?

The Zhouyi is linked to "metaphysics". This is quite related to the "Wei Jin metaphysics". One of the characteristics of Wei and Jin metaphysics is that Confucianism and Taoism have merged to a considerable extent, that is, it is argued that "the name of the religion is out of nature". Nominalism is Confucian ethics; nature is Taoist metaphysics. There is a documentary basis for this convergence of the two schools of thought, and this is what metaphysicians at the time called the "three mysteries": Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Zhouyi. The first two books are Taoist, only the "Zhou Yi" has always been regarded as a Confucian classic: Confucianism to "six" for the original, and the "Zhou Yi" for the so-called "six of the first". But in fact, the Zhouyi did not matter which of the six Confucian schools it belonged to. But the fact is that many of the pre-Qin scholars were associated with the Zhouyi.

Not only that, in fact, it can be said that the history of Chinese thought since then is also, to a considerable extent, a history of the interpretation of the Zhouyi. In the Han dynasty, the science of "Yi" flourished; Dong Zhongshu's philosophy, which was based on the concept of "Zhouyi," was particularly notable. The next step was the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin dynasties, as described above. The Buddhism of the Han and Tang dynasties also had much to do with the Zhouyi, and we need only point out one thing: it is well known that Prajnaparamita was born out of metaphysics. As for the Song and Ming philosophies, the Yijing was a great sect, and all the philosophers were all in charge of the Yijing, and the philosophers were often Yijing scholars at the same time. Until the modern so-called "New Learning", the Zhou Yi still plays the role of a basic mode of thinking. For example, Mr. Xiong Shili, the founder of modern Neo-Confucianism, claimed that his "New Vaisnavism" is "based on the Great Yi".

This is the first time that the Chinese government has taken a step back in time. It seems that it is impossible to understand Chinese thought and culture without knowing the theory of "Yi". Then, how should we study "Zhou Yi"? I think, first of all, we must have a correct attitude. The so-called correct attitude, I feel the most urgent is to break the superstition. Since the 80's "I Ching fever", people on the "Zhouyi" show several common superstitions: ? One is the "applied" superstition. Considering the book of "Zhou Yi" this book "divination book" characteristics, this point is particularly important. The first thing you must avoid when studying the book is the idea of asking the gods for advice and divining good and bad luck.

The second is "scientific" superstition. Nowadays, some people in the academic world, there is a big superstition, that is, thinking that the ancients are much more intelligent than the present. In their view, it is not as if monkeys have become human beings, but rather human beings have become more and more like monkeys. In the study of Zhouyi, an important manifestation of this superstition is the belief that Zhouyi is more scientific than today's science. Is Zhouyi a science? My answer is categorically no. We can use scientific methods to study it today, but it is not science itself. When we study it scientifically, it becomes an object of science, just as when we study the caterpillar scientifically, the caterpillar becomes an object of science.