Title: A Companion to Yi Jing Numerology and Cosmology: Chinese Studies of Images and Numbers from Han (202 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) to Song (960-1279 C.E.) (review)
Abstract: Reviewed by: A Companion to Yi Jing Numerology and Cosmology: Chinese Studies of Images and Numbers from Han [inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="01i" /] (202 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) to Song [inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="02i" /] (960-1279 C.E.) Tze-ki Hon (bio) Bent Nielson . A Companion to Yi Jing Numerology and Cosmology: Chinese Studies of Images and Numbers from Han [inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="03i" /] (202 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) to Song [inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="04i" /] (960-1279 C.E.). London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. xix, 391 pp. Hardcover $114.95, ISBN 0-7007-1608-4. In the late eighteenth century, the editors of the Siku quanshu (Complete works of the Emperor's Four Treasures) faced the daunting task of classifying hundreds of commentaries on the Yijing (Book of changes) written since the first century B.C.E. To underscore both the similarities and the differences among these commentaries, they coined the phrase "two schools and their six variants" (liang pai liu zong).1 By two schools they meant the "image and number" (xiangshu) and the "meaning and pattern" (yili). The former focused on the graphic symbolism of the sixty-four hexagrams and the mathematical calculation in divination; the latter stressed the philosophical and moral implications of the classic and its relevance to political and social changes. With respect to the history of Yijing studies, the "image and number" school appeared first, and was closer to the original form of the Yijing as a divination text. From the perspective of the Yijing as a canonical text, the "meaning and pattern" school was more important because it helped to win imperial blessing and the support of the literati. In China, from the nineteenth century to the present day this illuminating conclusion by the editors of the Siku quanshu has been the accepted framework for studying the Yijing commentaries. In the West, although we have known about the two schools for a long time, our studies of the Yijing have been persistently one-sided. From the missionaries' translations of the Yijing in the nineteenth century to the philological and philosophical inquiries of the Yijing text in recent times, our studies have been based on the "meaning and pattern" school.2 As a result, we know a great deal about how to read the Yijing as "a book of wisdom" for profound philosophical and moral insights, but we do not know as much about the graphic symbolism and mathematical beauty of the sixty-four hexagrams. We know a great deal about the importance of the Yijing in the development of Confucianism and Neo Confucianism, but we do not know as much about its role in Chinese cosmology and numerology. We know a great deal about the Yijing commentaries of Wang Bi (226-249) and Cheng Yi (1033-1107), the two masters of the "meaning and pattern" school, but we do not know as much about the Yijing commentaries of the "image and number" school, especially those of the Han dynasty, which laid the foundation for the commentarial school. Filling in this lacuna, Bent Nielsen's A Companion to Yi Jing Numerology and Cosmology (hereafter, Companion) marks an important milestone in Western [End Page 453] studies of the Yijing. In an admirable feat of scholarship, Nielson has compiled hundreds of entries about the "image and number" school. These entries, consisting of technical terms, concepts, and biographies, are essential to understanding the philosophical assumptions and different uses of the commentarial school. With respect to hexagram images, these entries tell us how the hexagrams are symbols of virtually everything in this universe including the four seasons, the Five Agents, the eight parts of the human body, and the twelve months. They also explain how one hexagram can easily be transformed into another through such measures as "waxing and waning" (xiao xi), "ascent and descent" (sheng jiang), and "flying and hiding" (fei fu). With regard to numerology, the entries show how the hexagrams can be represented in different mathematical systems including...
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 1
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