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Explore historical sources, translations, research articles and critical discussions of the Yijing.

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17 March 2014

Youwang 攸往

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…

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8 March 2014

Hexagram 02, line 6

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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6 March 2014

Hexagram 02, line 5

黃裳. 元吉. Huang chang 黃裳: ‘yellow skirt’. There are different interpretations about the meaning of this phrase. Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127-200) says in his commentary to the Yi Li 儀禮: 上士玄裳，中士黄裳，下士杂裳。杂裳者，前玄后黄 A senior serviceman…

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5 March 2014

Hexagram 02, line 4

括囊. 無咎無譽. Kuo nang 括囊: a tied up large sack, probably made from leather, with a bottom (instead of a sack without a bottom, which has to be tied on both sides).…

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4 March 2014

Hexagram 02, line 3

含章可貞, 或從王事, 无成有終. Hanzhang 含章: the same phrase occurs at H44-5.  Han 含 means ‘to keep in the mouth; to hide, conceal’. The Shanghai MSS manuscript has [玉+欦], which might be related to yin 㱃,…

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3 March 2014

Hexagram 02, line 1 & 2

First line 履霜堅冰至. Thread on frost: hard ice comes. Second line 直方大.不習無不利. See for zhi 直, ‘to receive’ and other meanings this page. See also Scott Barnwell’s excellent article about de 德, The Evolution of…

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2 March 2014

Hexagram 02, Judgment

Name Just as with the name of hexagram 1, the name of hexagram 2, kun 坤 is difficult to translate, because the character only occurs in the Yijing and nowhere else (accept later…

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27 February 2014

Hexagram 06, line 1

不永所事.小有言.終吉. bu yong 不永, ‘not eternal’. Suo shi 所事, ‘this matter’ (指某一件事，這件事). Xiao 小 refers to the common people. (about 小有言 see here). This matter does not last forever. The common people will have criticism. In the…

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19 September 2013

Yijing on your outfit

If you are looking for an original present, or would like to show your interest in the Yijing in a unique way, then take a look at this webshop: http://yjcn.spreadshirt.nl/. The…

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