Maandag, 7 november 2005The Revised Fortunetelling Changes by Wild Crane
At the moment I am teaching the Wenwang bagua 文王八卦 method of using the Yi at the Oriental College in Amsterdam. Here in the West it is a quite unknown way of using the Yi, probably because it is complicated and the Western literature which we have about this subject does not help much in comprehending it. Wenwang bagua uses a lot of words/terms which have to be properly described to understand them. It does not suffice to give a list of meanings for each of the liuqin 六親, you also have to describe them, otherwise your students are not able to add new material to the lists; they have not learned to expand on what they are taught. Alex Chiu does a good job at that, but since he made up his own words for certain terms (calling the liuqin 'stars') it is still not always easy to follow.
A name which pops up very often when you read Chinese books about WWBG is Ye He 野鶴, 'Wild Crane'. 'Ye He' is probably a pseudonym, because 'wild crane' is used to describe a recluse. I read somewhere that Ye He lived during the Song dynasty (960–1279). The book he wrote, Zengshan Pu Yi 增刪卜易, 'The Revised Fortunetelling Changes', is very influential and all major authors who write about WWBG quote from it. It is not easy material, but if you want to know where Alex got his material from, and what inspired others, you surely must take a look at Ye He's book. It can be downloaded here (you first have to register). This site contains a lot of other goodies which are worth checking out. Woensdag, 28 september 2005The 'sheng' sacrifice at Qi Shan
(If you see tiny squares where Chinese characters should be you are probably using Internet Explorer. Switch to Firefox, it does a much better job.)
Most Yijing translations translate sheng 升, the name of hexagram 46, as 'pushing upwards', 'advancing' or 'ascending'. 'Pushing upwards' and 'advancing' are not good translations to my taste, but 'ascending' is perfectly alright. But there is more to this character (as always), if we look at the etymology and the first uses of this character, we can get a picture of what is ascended and why. The text of the Yijing also helps getting this clear. On oracle bones we find this character with two meanings: - a unit for measurement, The original form of this character seems to depict some kind of ladle, with the same shape of the early form of dou 斗. But sheng often has little drops added to it (picture left), and in the bronze forms there is actually something in the ladle, where dou 斗 is empty (picture right). Already on oracle bones is dou 斗 used to refer to the star constellation beidou 北斗, the Northern Ladle, in the West known as Ursa Major or the Great Bear. The 甲骨文字典 explains dou as "疑用為星名,即北斗,夕至翌日祭之.", "probably the name of a star (constellation), namely beidou, from the evening to the next day sacrifices are made to it". However, the 甲骨文簡明詞典 adds a fragment from a bone inscription: "月庚從斗, 𢓊雨", which is read as 'when the moon passes through dou the rain will be prolonged'. It is impossible for the moon to go through the Northern Ladle, but there is also a nandou 南斗, a Southern Ladle, a constellation in the south which has the same shape as beidou but is smaller in size. As far as we know nandou was never receiving sacrifices, beidou was far more important. The Tianguan Shu 天官書 from Sima Qian 司馬遷 (135-87 BC) says:
Whether beidou had a similar meaning during the Shang and Zhou dynasties is not known, but we do know from the oracle bones that sacrifices were made to this constellation. Sheng 升 is also the precursor of 𥘥, a character which is described in the 甲骨文字典 as a utensil for measurement, used in sacrifices (p. 27). The old forms of this character sometimes have hands added to it, and/or an altar, to express the presenting of an offering. Sheng 升 was the name of a certain sacrifice, and because of the close resemblance between the old forms of sheng and dou, I believe that sheng could refer to a sacrifice made to the constellation beidou. Dou is empty, and this emptiness is already recognized in the Shijing 詩經, where we read:
Sheng, however, is full. Maybe a sheng 升 sacrifice was done to 'fill' the ladle by offering goods to it and thereby pleasing the gods, ancestors or spirits who regulated the movement of the constellation and the seasons. A logical object in this sacrifice would be a ladle. The meaning of 'ascending' comes from this sacrifice. According to Tsung-Tung Chang sheng is used in the meaning of another homophone verb which means 'bringing an offer at a high located altar ("Das zeichen steht in Orakelinschriften wie im späteren Zeichensysteem für das homophone Verb "Opfergabe auf einen höher gelegenen Kultplatz bringen" "; Der Kult der Shang-Dynastie im Spiegel der Orakelinschriften, p. 128). Chang does not specify which verb he refers to, but probably it is deng 登, of which certain old forms depict an altar with footsteps. The 王力古漢語字典 says that sheng and deng share a common root ("同源字", p. 89). In the Mawangdui 馬王堆 Yijing and the Fuyang 阜陽 Yijing deng 登 is the name of hexagram 46. The line texts of hexagram 46 tell a lot about sheng 升: Line 1 Yun 允 is used on oracle bones with the meaning of 'truly, really', as in 'it really did rain on that day' (甲骨文字典, p. 958) and is always used before a verb (甲骨文簡明詞典, p. 288). Tsung-Tung Chang says it probably depicts a person who nods his head in agreement ("Es zeigt vermutlich einen Menschen, der zustimmend nickt"; Der Kult, p. 212). According to the Shuowen 說文 the Yi originally used 𡻏(𡴞) instead of 允. 𡻏 consist of 山, 𠦍(=夲) and 允. 山 is a mountain, 夲 means 'to advance', but the 漢語大字典 adds that it happens with joy ('進趣', 1.60). Advancing on a mountain with joy seems to be connected with 允. 允升 could therefore mean 'really (and joyous) sheng sacrifice'. The offering is successfully taking place, the ladle is actually 'filled' (maybe stars were appearing in the container of the ladle, the little dots in the early form of sheng?). This brings great fortune (大吉). Line 2 Fu 孚 means 'captives of war' (甲骨文字典, p. 265, 895; 甲骨文簡明詞典, p. 164, 333; 金文大字典, p. 2694; 金文常用字典, p. 301). Nai 乃 is a so-called 'empty character' (xuzi 虛字), in most ancient texts it has a more or less abstract meaning which is not always easy to translate, but it comes close to 'thereupon', 'only then', etc., equal to nai 迺 (甲骨文簡明詞典, p. 293). On bronzes we also find nai with the meaning 'this is/has' (金文常用字典, p. 498), like in sayings as 貧乃禍中福: 'poverty, this is misfortune's blessing' (poverty is a blessing in disguise). But nai also signifies that what follows it is somewhat special, it is used to emphasize a fact or situation which needs special attention. Liyong 利用 is an old fixed expression and means '(put to) use things, objects or people' (漢語大詞典, 2.635b), like in the Guanzi 管子: "春秋冬夏,陰陽之推移也;時之短長,陰陽之利用也", "Spring and autumn, winter and summer represent shifts in the yin and yang. The shortening and lengthening of the seasons represents their appliance." (see W.A. Rickett, Guanzi, p. 117). Li signifies that the use of the object gives results and that these results are known; yong without li means that a result is not immediately expected or anticipated. I believe yue 禴 is a key character in understanding the meaning of sheng 升. Yue is the name of a sacrifice which was used mostly in summer, but also in spring. The Zhouli 周禮 says: "以祠春享先王. 以禴夏享先王 . 以嘗秋享先王. 以烝冬享先王", "Use the ci 祠 sacrifice to serve the ancestors in spring. Use the yue 禴 sacrifice to serve the ancestors in the summer. Use the chang 嘗 sacrifice to serve the ancestors in autumn. Use the zheng 烝 sacrifice to serve the ancestors in the winter"(周禮.春官宗伯; see also Shijing M166). The nature of the yue sacrifice is found
in the component 龠. The oracle bone graph is the picture
of a music instrument made from bamboo, maybe related to the 'khaen'
as still used in Laos. The 甲骨文字典 says yue is the
name of a sacrifice in which music was used, in later ages it was more and more
written as 禴 (p. 199). Music was associated with joy and
spring. Liyong 利用 signifies that what follows is probably an object, something that can be used. Putting all this together we can translate 孚乃利用禴 as 'Captives use the music instruments (of the yue sacrifice)'. To me 利用禴 does not mean that the yue sacrifice itself was used, they only used the instruments which bear the name of this sacrifice. Because I see sheng 升 itself as a sacrifice and the text of hexagram 46 as dealing with this sacrifice it would not fit to see yue 禴 as the yue sacrifice, rather I think it points to the objects of the yue sacrifice (after all, 禴 is the later form of 龠) . The fact that music is associated with joy (which reminds us of the variant form 𡴞 of 允 in the first line of hexagram 46) also adds a little bit of credit. Yue 禴 is also mentioned in the fifth line of hexagram 63: 東鄰殺牛. 不如西鄰之禴祭. Here the character ji 祭, 'sacrifice', is added to stress the act, and not the instruments used during the act. When the sacrifice itself is meant this is specifically stated, just as in 47-2: 利用亨祀 - heng 亨 being the sacrifice, si 祀, 'offer sacrifices' to stress the act. It might seem odd to let captives play musical instruments during an important sacrifice, but captives, prisoners of war, played an important role in Shang and Zhou society. If they cooperated they would be given rewards and occasionally a high position (J.C.H. Hsu, The Written Word in Ancient China, p. 846-849). Using captives during a ceremony, be it as a sacrifice or in other ways, showed the ancestors that the conquered clan was obedient and willing to serve the ancestors of the victorious clan. Besides that, a yue instrument was not difficult to play. One of the variant forms of the oracle bone graph for yue shows an A-shaped component on top of the tubes that was probably the single mouthpiece controlling the air to all the tubes, but with each tube producing only one single note. It was constructed like the modern thirteen-reed sheng 笙 pan-pipe. This meant that the player only needed to move his fingers on the holes of the tubes without blowing into each separate tube (The Written Word, p. 674). Line 3 In most Yi translations xu 虛 is translated as 'empty'. Although this is indeed one of the many meanings of xu it does not make much sense in the context of hexagram 46. If you want to use xu in the meaning of 'empty', then you must bear in mind that xu means that there is literally nothing at all. The phrase 'empty city' is therefore nonsense, because if there would still be a city, it would not be called 'empty', no matter how little is left of it. In Tang 唐and Song 宋 times the phrase 虛邑 stood for land enfeoffed to feudal lords by the king, but the lords were not allowed to levy taxes on these lands (漢語大詞典 8.820a) - there was nothing to get, it was 'empty'. Xu is also translated as 'ruins', as in Shijing M50 quoted below. This is also a better translation than 'empty'. Another, and concerning hexagram 46 more appropriate meaning of xu, is 'hill'. We have seen that sheng 升 means the ascending of a mountain, and in the Shijing sheng is also connected with hills or mountains: "升彼大阜", "ascend the great hill" (M180). In M50 it is said "升彼虛矣", and normally xu is translated here as 'old walls', but it would be equally correct to translate xu as 'hill', but a hill with inhabitants. The Shuowen supports this view. It says (quoting the Zhouli 周禮): "古者九夫為井,四井為邑,四邑為丘。丘謂之虛", "in ancient times 9 fu 夫 constituted a jing 井, 4 jing 井 constituted a yi 邑, 4 yi 邑 constituted a qiu 丘. A qiu 丘 is also called a xu 虛". It is interesting to see that in this context xu 虛 and yi 邑 are used, just as in line 3 of hexagram 46. Just like 龠, 斗 and 升 can 虛 and 邑 be seen as units for measurement. It gives the impression that the sheng 升 sacrifice was used to determine (and set straight) the measure units that were used in the country. But this is speculation, we can not really substantiate it by facts. The Shijing shows that sheng has to do with climbing, and I think xu should therefore be translated as 'hill', which would make 升虛邑 "ascending to the hill settlement". The old form of yi 邑 is the picture of a square, symbolizing a marked piece of land, and a person kneeling. On bronzes it is used in the meanings of 1. a measure word for cities, 2. a small city or town (as opposed to a dou 都, a capital), and 3. a country (金文常用字典, p. 663). Another interesting meaning is that of a capital without an ancestral temple ("指古代無先君宗廟的都城"; 漢語大字典, 6.3753). It also refers in a more general sense to a region inhabited by people. A large mountain is not just one isolated peak, normally it consists of several smaller hills which support the summit. Along the road to the top small settlements with temples would be placed, as a resting place, but also for worship during the travel. The Tai Shan 泰山 is a good example of this (see picture on the right, click to enlarge; from D.C. Baker, T'ai Shan - An Account of the Sacred Eastern Peak of China). Line 4 The original form of xiang 享 is 亯. In the small seal script (xiaozhuan 小篆), which became the standard during the Qin dynasty, 享 was written as . When the Lishu 隸書 style of writing was introduced during the Han dynasty the lower part of this character was abbreviated to 子, but the earlier form 亯 is also still in use (甲骨文簡明詞典, p. 125). 享 shares the same etymological root with 獻, 亨 and 饗. All these characters, which are close in pronunciation, share the meaning of 'serving food', to ancestors, nature spirits or guests. 享 in its earliest usage therefore referred to making offerings to please or entertain the spirits (maybe it is related to the so-called bin 賓 hosting ritual). Qi Shan 岐山, also known as 'Phoenix Mountain', is a mountain in the north of the modern 扶風 Fufeng district, the first Zhou capital Qiyi 岐邑 was established in the plain located to the south side of Qi Shan (Maria Khayutina, Where Was the Western Zhou Capital?, p. 2. See also Shijing M237). Considering the meaning of sheng 升 I believe that this is the mountain where the sheng sacrifice took place. 王用享于岐山 translates as 'The king applied an offering at Qi Shan". Line 5 Jie 階 means 'stairs'. The complete sentence could be translated as 'The divination is auspicious. Ascend the stairs (as part of the ritual)." Before a certain ritual would take place it was customary to consult the tortoise if the ancestors would approve (see for examples D. Keightley, The Ancestral Landscape, p. 41-42). In this case the ancestors approve, it is okay to proceed. Line 6 The etymology of ming 冥 is somewhat disputed. Guo Moruo 郭沫若 says we should read 冥 as mian 娩/㝃 which means 'to bear a son'. This meaning is also derived from the fact that mian often occurs with fu 婦, a title for a woman in a high position. Tang Lan 唐蘭 follows this, but adds that the graph is related to mi 幎, a veil. The earliest form shows two hands holding a piece of cloth (甲骨文字典, p. 1573), probably supposed to shield the mother from spectators while giving birth. This 'covering' gave the later meaning of 'dim, dusky, obscure' and 'evening' or 'night'. Added to the meaning of 'giving birth' the meaning of 'nether world', the dark place where spirits dwell, is formed (漢語大字典, p. 1.304). 冥升 Could mean 'dark sheng 升 sacrifice'. The 甲骨文字典 describes dou 斗 as a constellation to which "from the evening to the next day sacrifices are made to it". If sheng is a sacrifice to the constellation dou I assume that the ritual started in the evening with the ascension of Qi Shan, which takes quite some hours, and when the top is reached it will be in the middle of the night. This is when the serious work starts, it is the most important part of the ritual, the top is where the actual sacrifice takes place. Xi 息 means 'breath', but also 'to stop'. In bronze inscriptions it is used in the meaning of xiuxi 休息, 'to have a rest' (金文大字典, p. 1838). Buxi 不息 means 'not stopping, not resting'. The complete translation would then be 'Dark sheng sacrifice. Good result when performing divinations continuously'. The actual performance of the sacrifice in the dark, when the constellation beidou can be seen and you are close to the spirits, you are vulnerable to their influences. To find out if the sacrifice is going to their will it is wise to consult the oracle continuously (see for an example of a continuing divination M. Puett, To Become a God, p. 42-43). This also stresses the importance of the sheng sacrifice. From the line texts of the Yi we get the picture of a sacrifice which was performed on mountain Qi Shan, probably at the beginning of spring. A sacrifice which was performed to honor the beidou 北斗 constellation which was supposed to regulate the seasons, and maybe had something to do with setting straight the units of measurement. The sacrifice was performed from the evening through the night, and was accompanied with music to celebrate the joyous occasion. Vrijdag, 23 september 2005ButterflyWoensdag, 24 augustus 2005Contemporary Chinese sculpture artToday I visited the museum 'Beelden aan Zee' in Scheveningen, together with Jora, her father, and Irian. The current exposition was titled Xianfeng! Contemporary sculpture art from China. Xianfeng 先锋 means 'vanguard' or 'avant-garde'. Many objects were strange, to say the least, most sculptures were a strong political statement, and the art I liked the most were the ones which mixed traditional influences with modern techniques. I am quite conservative and I do not get excited over modern art. Yet this was a welcome peek in the world of the developing art scene from China. Some pictures of the visit can be seen here. More about Chinese avant-garde here. See also Xu Bing's A Book from the Sky. Woensdag, 10 augustus 2005Symmetry in the houtian bagua(Click pictures to enlarge) At first glance the houtian bagua 後天八卦 trigram circle seems devoid of any symmetry. It seems as if the trigrams follow each other in a random order, and that there is no logic behind it. But if we look at the circle in the way we are taught in the Ten Wings, namely as an order linked with time, patterns start to emerge.In the Ten Wings the trigrams are described in the sequence of the houtian circle, starting with Zhen 震 and going clockwise, ending with Gen 艮. The trigrams are supposed to follow each other in time - Zhen 震 and Xun 巽 are linked with Spring and morning, Li 離 and Kun 坤 with Summer and midday, Dui 兌 and Qian 乾 with Autumn and evening, and Kan 坎 and Gen 艮 with Winter and midnight. In time, the trigrams change in each other - Zhen changes in Xun, Xun changes in Li, etc. We can mark these changes in every trigram. When Zhen changes in Xun, all three lines change. When Xun changes in Li, the lower and the middle line change, etc. We can mark the lines that are going to change in every trigram: In Zhen 3 lines change to make Xun; in Xun 2 lines change to make Li; in Li 2 lines change to make Kun, etc. There is a balanced sequence in the amount of changing lines: 3 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2. The major change takes place in Zhen: the start of a new year and a new day. It seems as if the line created by the pair Zhen - Dui, the symbols of sunrise and sunset, divides the circle in half. The trigram pairs created in this way are each others pangtonggua 旁通卦 and fangua 反卦. A pangtonggua is the inverse of a trigram: a yin line becomes a yang line and vice-versa. A fangua is the trigram turned upside down. Xun is the combined pangtonggua and fangua of Gen; Li is the ptg and fg of Kan (although the fg is not visible because the trigram is symmetrical); Kun is the ptg and fg of Qian; Dui is the ptg and fg of Zhen. If I would switch the trigrams Zhen and Gen the circle would even be better: that way every trigram would be opposed to its ptg, and no fg would be necessary. Also the changing lines sequence would become more symmetrical: 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2. It surely makes room for speculation..... *blush*Found on eBay: The Book of Erotic Change. The box says:
'Easy on the eyes'? In other words, boring? The Chinese description, "以易經啟發陰陽調和,男女魚水之歡的要訣,六十四式秘 技,為你增加無窮的閨房樂趣...." makes clear that every hexagram of the Yijing is linked to a position, 'to harmonize yin and yang'. Hm, they beat me to that, I had that in mind. I like the expression "魚水之歡", 'the happiness of fish and water (because they are together)', which stands for the joy of being with one's true love. Sixtyfour positions. I wonder: If you practice this, do you ever have time for other things? Hexagram 10: 'stepping on the tiger's tail'. "Sorry dear. Does it hurt? Need some ice?" Fuyang Zhouyi & Shanghai Museum Chujian ZhouyiIf you have read Edward Shaughnessy's article about the Fuyang Zhouyi and would like to see a transcript of the fragments, well, it is located here. An electronic version of the Shanghai Museum Chujian Zhouyi can be found here. A comparison of the Shanghai Museum Chujian Zhouyi with the Mawangdui text and the received text can be downloaded from my site, which is here. Zondag, 7 augustus 2005Interesting articles
Some interesting articles on the web waiting for you to be found:
Some of these articles are from the journal Asia Major, they have made many articles from past issues available online. Highly recommended. Not all articles are directly related to the Yijing, but they enlarge your knowledge and view of the ancient Chinese culture. Vrijdag, 29 juli 2005Beautiful paintings
Lovely artwork by Alex Mooyman. Many paintings are inspired by the Yijing.
Woensdag, 27 juli 2005Rare uitspraken
.....lees ik op http://www.tarotconsult.com/pages/Itjingconsult.htm. Met dit soort ongefundeerde uitspraken zal de Yijing nooit een breed publiek aanspreken. Er is niets 'ontzettend ingewikkelds' aan de Yijing, het is maar wat je er van maakt en hoe je er mee omgaat. En zelden wordt de Yijing meer van generatie op generatie doorgegeven, dat is nu eerder uitzondering dan regel. Zo dat al het geval zou zijn, dan is de Yijing maar een klein onderdeel in het hele arsenaal aan hulpmiddelen (Feng Shui, alle mogelijke vormen van Chinese astrologie) die een volgende generatie overgeleverd krijgt.
Goed en kwaad zijn subjectieve begrippen die niets te maken hebben met yin en yang. Er is niets goeds of slechts aan yin of aan yang, het is zoals het is, en door het te betitelen als goed en/of kwaad geef je er een waarde-oordeel aan die je een aardige blikvernauwing geeft: 'oh, dat is slecht dus daar moeten we van af, of dat moeten we maar negeren'. Want wat slecht is, dat mag niet bestaan, zo leren we. Maar yin en yang staan boven 'goed' en 'slecht'. Wat is goed, wat is slecht - hoe kunnen we daar nu yin en yang in betrekken? De maakster van de site moet dit maar eens lezen.
Een foto? Waar is dat voor nodig? Me dunkt dat ze ook andere 'kwaliteiten' aanroept bij haar Yijing-consult. De vraag is dus wat je krijgt: een Yijing-consult of een mix van van alles en nogwat? En van copyright heeft de maakster ook nog nooit gehoord. Zomaar mijn plaatje van het trigram Vuur gebruiken. Foei.
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