Ancient feudal fortune-telling books
Since Confucius, Zhu Zi (Xi), a great scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, should be a master of Yi studies. For this reason, Emperor Kangxi, who is good at writing and martial arts, once praised it as "the original meaning is easy, and Zhu Zi is absolutely unique". Zhu Xi once defined the Book of Changes as "the book of divination". For this reason, in the early Qing Dynasty, when Kangxi compiled the book "Book of Changes Compromise", he also wrote: "The vast preparation of the Book of Changes has not been refined in Qin and Han Dynasties! Since the Song Dynasty, Zhou Shaocheng, Zhang et al. have expounded their philosophy, while Zhu is like a heavenly principle, which has been the same and different for more than 500 years. As for Song Yuanming, Confucian scholars have already made microscopic plans. Or have a debate, and gradually doubt the future generations. " In short, what Emperor Kangxi meant was that the theory of the Book of Changes in this dynasty was based on Zhu's meaning. This shows that the Book of Changes is a book of divination, which has been defined since ancient times and is an indisputable fact.
But in recent years, some scholars who study the Book of Changes have intentionally or unintentionally avoided this question. It seems that when it comes to divination in the Book of Changes, there is always a great rebellious mentality, fearing being contaminated with feudal superstitions. To this end, Liu Dajun, a contemporary master of Yi-ology, once said: "In today's domestic Yi-ology research, there are many people arguing, but few people talk figuratively, and even fewer people talk about it."
There are countless Chinese studies, which are called "Thirteen Classics", but not every classic has the function of divination. Only the Book of Changes, with its profound will, profound thoughts and humanistic thoughts, ranks first among the classics, and with its unique divination function, is highly respected and loved by emperors, generals and ordinary people, so that Cang Sang is still enduring and timeless. The main reason is not because of its cultural characteristics, but because of its divination function of seeking good fortune and avoiding evil and educating people. Because the Book of Changes is a book of divination, it escaped the burning of books by Qin Shihuang, so Sui Shu, an ancient book, said that "Qin burned books, and Zhouyi only survived by divination".
In fact, in terms of the significance of human existence, the so-called culture is not important. Ancient people did not have the culture of modern people, but their survival history was much longer than that of modern people. They are still moral, pay attention to good and bad luck, care about everything about themselves, and care about whether they can abide by the disaster-free world. So the Book of Changes came into being, and they tried to communicate with heaven and earth through divination to achieve their own survival significance. We can imagine how pure people's hearts were at that time. How carefree the original ecological life is.
After that, the ancients thought they were more advanced and educated than the previous ancients, but at the same time they became greedy and suffered more disasters, but they still regarded the Book of Changes as a magic weapon and applied divination to a wider range of actions. They gained great wisdom from the divination of the Book of Changes. They make future generations proud, and at the same time push the study of the Book of Changes into a broader cultural context.
Nowadays, with the advent of the scientific era, the Book of Changes has developed into a new era. I ching sociology, I ching philosophy, I ching astronomy, I ching geology, I ching systematics and so on are constantly emerging. With its unique advantages, science is proving the profoundness of the Book of Changes. But all this is mostly a study of the Book of Changes, which will not change the divination and application of the Book of Changes. On the contrary, it can be proved that the divination of Yijing is based on the scientific nature of Yijing.
No matter at any time, human life is inseparable from spiritual needs, and all human survival behaviors have to face good or bad choices. Disaster, death and sin will always be the reality of human life, and modern life will intensify human thinking on this issue.
Therefore, it is of great practical significance for us to review the divination in the Book of Changes. Divination in the Book of Changes should be the first priority for people who love and study the Book of Changes today. This is the survival magic weapon left by the ancient gods in China, the merit of "saints" and the favor of the creator of heaven and earth to suffering human beings. Imagine, if the Book of Changes has lost its divination function and the significance of seeking good fortune and avoiding evil, but is just a paradoxical culture, what is the significance of the Book of Changes?
(This article is the textbook of Yijing Divination Self-study Hall)