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Yi Jing is one of the ancient literatures, respectfully named as the greatest of the Five Classics by the Confucianists. As the earliest doctrine of ancient philosophy, its ideology describes verything in the world based on the changes of Yin & Yang. Starting with the divinatory symbols, it gives explanations with regard to religion, medicine, astronomy, math, literature, music, art, military, martial arts, etc. The study of Zhou Yi is essential in order to understand world of Chinese culture.
There are two schools of research on Zhou Yi: Yi Li and Xiang Shu. The former emphasizes the meanings of 8 and 64 divinatory symbols which explain the Gua Yi; the latter strengthens the philosophical value of Zhou Yi, such as using single and divided lines in eight groups of three lines each to explain how things happen. Actually, when studying Zhou Yi, the focus must on both Yi Li and Xiang Shu. The researcher believes that studying Zhou Yi is helpful in understanding Yi Jing; according to the ideology of Zhu Xi, Yi Jing can be easily comprehended.
Zhu Xi devoted his whole life to instructing and learning; he concentrated on exploring each school and invented a new philosophy, which is a significant cultural heritage. In his "References for the Four Books” which is the ideological bible of the Chinese, he summarized his principles and made them the foundation of the ideological philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties for the Confucian schools. His Bai Ludong Academy was the pioneer of the educational institutions. Some say that Zhu Xi is like Immanuel Kant, a western philosopher; because of his ideology, philosophy in modern times has crucially changed. Without Zhu Xi’s concepts, the Confucian schools would have no focus in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It is hoped that after comprehending Zhou Yi, the functions of Yi jing Xiang Shu and Yi Li can be applied in determining the correct directions in life and providing assistance to mankind.
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