The Book of Changes (I Ching):

1. Composition and History:

   • The Book of Changes includes the "I Ching" and the "Ten Wings" (Yi Zhuan), and is known along with "Lian Shan" and "Gui Cang" as the "Three E's".
   • By the Qin and Han dynasties, "Lian Shan" and "Gui Cang" had been lost to history.
   • During the Han dynasty, under Emperor Wu, the Book of Changes and the Yi Zhuan were collectively referred to as the "I Ching" or simply "Yi".

2. Formation Process:

   • According to the "Book of Han · Arts and Literature", the formation of the Book of Changes was "through three sages and three ancient ages".
   • In ancient times, Fuxi left behind the images of heaven and earth.
   • In the middle ages, King Wen of Zhou elaborated on the way of the I Ching.
   • In recent antiquity, Confucius and his disciples annotated the I Ching to form the Yi Zhuan.

3. Content Structure:

   • "I Ching": Consists of sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred and eighty-four lines, each with a hexagram statement and line statement, used for divination.
   • "Yi Zhuan" (Ten Wings): Includes seven types of texts totaling ten chapters, explaining the hexagram and line statements, traditionally attributed to Confucius.

4. Academic Development:

   • During the Spring and Autumn period, the study of the I Ching evolved from official to private learning, leading to its development and differentiation.
   • After Confucius, the I Ching was revered by Confucians as a sacred text, becoming the foremost of the Six Classics.
   • The study of the I Ching branched into three main streams: Confucian I Ching studies, divination I Ching, and Taoist I Ching.

5. Cultural Impact:

   • The Book of Changes is the theoretical root of natural philosophy and human practice in traditional Chinese thought and culture.
   • Known as the "source of the great way", it is extremely rich in content.
   • It has had a profound influence on Chinese politics, economy, culture, and other fields for thousands of years.
   • The I Ching is regarded as the foremost of the classics and an important educational text.

Introduction to Some I Ching Classics:

1. "Left Country I Yi Family Speech"

   • Author: Tanigawa Ryuzan (Tanigawa Jun, Tanigawa Junyu, 1774-1832)
   • Introduction: Written by the renowned Japanese Edo period medical scholar and I Ching scholar Tanigawa Ryuzan, the book is entirely written in Chinese characters and can be read without understanding Japanese. The book discusses I Ching-related discussions in "Zuo Zhuan" and "Guoyu", including seventeen hexagram examples and five stories about human affairs told through the I Ching, making it an important document for the study of the I Ching.

2. "Zhou Yi Xi Ci Zhuan Jin Zhu"

   • Author: Zhu Xi
   • Introduction: Zhu Xi divided the "Xi Ci Zhuan" into twelve chapters for both the upper and lower transmissions and revised some text passages that were doubtful. There are two major differences from Kong Yingda's "Commentary": chapter division and the rearrangement of the text in the "Da Yan Chapter".

3. "Shao Kang Jie's Mr. Zhou Yi Shu" ("Zhou Yi Xuan Jing")

   • Author: Yu Yougong
   • Introduction: Written by Yu Yougong of the Ming Dynasty, the book's divination methods are mostly related to "Yi Shu", but different from the methods of plum blossom divination. The characteristic lies in the use of "Gui Ce" numbers, combined with the "Huang Ji Shu" of the Yuan Hui Jing Shi. Although the book includes discussions on plum blossom divination, it is not used in actual divination examples, but mainly focuses on the Gui Ce method.

4. "Hu Yuan's Zhou Yi Kou Yi"

   • Author: Hu Yuan (993-1059)
   • Introduction: Hu Yuan, styled Yi Zhi, from Taizhou Hailing, known as "Mr. An Ding", was one of the "Three Early Song Scholars". His interpretation of the I Ching focuses on the principles rather than mixing in numerical symbolism. Cheng Yi advised people to study the I Ching by first reading Wang Bi and Wang Anshi, then Hu Yuan, and Zhu Xi also highly praised him.

5. "Imperial Compilation of the I Ching Shu Yi"

   • Introduction: According to the "Siku Quanshu", the purpose is to "elucidate" the connotations of "Zhou Yi Zhe Zhong". "Zhe Zhong" has a relatively negative attitude towards the study of numbers, while "Shu Yi" uses a large amount of the study of numbers to annotate. "Zhe Zhong" takes the learning of Cheng and Zhu as the main axis, with a strong color of Song I Ching and Confucian principle I Ching. "Shu Yi" achieves a "compromise" between Song I Ching and Han I Ching, integrating various speeches, extracting the essence, and taking practicality as the foundation.

6. "Daily Lectures on the I Ching"

   • Introduction: Compiled and edited from the I Ching lectures of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, it is equivalent to Emperor Kangxi's I Ching lecture notes. Taking Zhu Xi's "Ben Yi" as the orthodox, and including Zhu Xi's "Shi Yi" and "Tu Shuo" at the beginning of the volume.