Articles, sources and criticism
Explore historical sources, translations, research articles and critical discussions of the Yijing.
Subjects assigned by the editor take priority. Unclassified articles are provisionally matched by title and excerpt; the complete archive remains available above.
21 April 2014
Line 4 困蒙.吝. Kun 困: hindered, blocked (阻礙) 吝: difficulties; difficult progress (see hexagram 3, line 3) Blocked ignorance. Difficulties. Line 5 童蒙.吉. About tong meng 童蒙: see Judgment Repeated ignorance. Auspicious. Line 6 擊蒙.不利為寇.利禦寇.…
Read article →9 April 2014
勿用取女.見金夫不有躬.無攸利. Qu nü 取女 = 娶: Qu 取 normally means ‘to take by force’, but the phrase qu nü 取女 is most probably equal to the character qu 娶, which has…
Read article →7 April 2014
包蒙吉.納婦吉.子克家. Bao meng 包蒙: Several old books, like Lu Deming’s 陸德明 Jingdian Shiwen 經典釋文, claim that older texts used biao 彪 instead of bao. 唐石經作”苞”. 京房、鄭玄、陸績、一行作”彪”. The Tang Stone Classics use bao 苞.…
Read article →4 April 2014
發蒙.利用刑人.用說桎梏.以往吝. Fa meng 發蒙 = fa meng 發矇: make a blind person recover lost eye sight. Analogy for enlightening the stupid, open one’s eyes to new point of views (使盲人眼睛復明. 喻啟發矇昧;…
Read article →3 April 2014
Name Meng 蒙: ignorant, confused, dark, hidden. Tuan 彖 亨.匪我求童蒙.童蒙求我.初筮告.再三瀆.瀆則不告.利貞. Fei 匪 = fei 非: ‘not, not be’. Qiu 求: ask, inquire (請求; 詢問) Tong meng 童蒙: same as tong meng 瞳矇…
Read article →24 March 2014
乘馬班如.泣血漣如. See also line 2 and 4. Qixue 泣血 is a fixed expression used in several ancient texts: ‘weep tears of blood’. In the Lun Heng 論衡 we read: 厲、武之時，卞和獻玉，刖其兩足，奉玉泣出，涕盡，續之以血。夫鄒衍之誠，孰與卞和?見拘之冤，孰與刖足？仰天而歎，孰與泣血? At the time…
Read article →24 March 2014
Line 4 乘馬班如.求婚媾.往吉. 無不利. See also line 2. Carts lingering, Seeking marriage (for tying bonds). Going is auspicious. Nothing disadvantageous. Line 5 屯其膏.小貞吉.大貞凶. Gao 膏: The best; cream; quintessence of something. The 王力古漢語字典 gives…
Read article →23 March 2014
即鹿無虞.惟入于林中.君子幾不如舍.往吝. Ji 即: approach; be close to Lu 鹿: general term for deer, reindeer, moose, etc. According to Lu Deming’s 陸德明 Jingdian Shiwen 經典釋文 the Wang Su 王肅 notes have lu 麓, the foot of a hill or…
Read article →21 March 2014
屯如邅如.乘馬班如.匪寇婚媾.女子貞不字.十年乃字. Tun 屯: to gather, assemble; to station troops, (to) garrison. Ru 如: According to 古代漢語虛詞詞典 (p. 458-459) ‘多用于形容詞或副詞之后，也有用于動詞之后的，表示事物或動作的状态.可譯為“….一的樣子”、“….的” ‘ . Used behind a verb it denotes appearance, how something behaves or acts. Similar to…
Read article →17 March 2014
Name Tun 屯: to gather, assemble; to station troops, (to) garrison (漢語大詞典, Vol. 1, p. 483). Tuan 彖 元亨.利貞.勿用有攸往.利建侯. You wang 攸往: see here. This phrase is currently under reinvestigation. About wang 往: The opposite of…
Read article →17 March 2014
I am reinvestigating the phrase you wang 攸往: Li Xueqin 李学勤 says you 攸 was a place where king Di Yi 帝乙 travelled to, to perform sacrifices. This is interesting because Di Yi is mentioned…
Read article →8 March 2014
龍戰于野.其血玄黃. Zhan 戰, ‘battle’ (different from dou 鬥, ‘fight’). A battle of dragons was a bad omen. In the Lun Heng 論衡 it is said, 夏將衰也，二龍戰於庭… When the downfall of the Hsia dynasty was imminent,…
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