Abridged Meanings of the Yi Weft Texts: Zhang Huiyan of the Qing compiling the Chiseling Open the Regularity of Qian

《乾鑿度》曰：易者，易也，變易也，不易也，管三成德，為道苞鑰。易者，以言其德也，通情無門，藏神無內也。光明四通，佼易立節。天地爛明，日月星辰佈設，八卦錯序，律曆調列，五緯順軌，四時和栗孳結，四瀆通情，優遊信絜，根著浮流，氣更相實，虛無感動，清靜照哲，移物致耀，至誠專密，不煩不撓，淡泊不失。此其易也。

The Chiseling Open the Regularity of Qian says: the name "Change" (Yi) holds three layers of meaning together—easiness and simplicity, change and alteration, and the unchanging; it governs these three meanings and thereby completes the virtue of the Way of Change, and is the crucial lock and key that opens the Great Way. First, "easiness and simplicity": this layer is spoken of in terms of the virtue of the Way of Change. It penetrates the conditions of the ten thousand things yet has no gate that can be followed; it stores the mysterious yet has no interior that can be pointed to. Its brightness runs through the four quarters, and by the way of easiness it establishes measure. Thereupon heaven and earth stand out in brilliant distinction; sun, moon and stars each spread in their places; the eight trigrams interlace in order; the pitch-pipes and the calendar are tuned and arrayed; the "Five Wefts" (五緯)—the five great planets of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth—travel their tracks; the four seasons are harmonious and plants sprout and bear fruit; the vapours of the Four Ducts (四瀆)—the Jiang, the He, the Huai and the Ji—communicate; they are easy and trustworthy, clean and unmixed. Roots take hold in the ground and water-vapour floats and flows; the two qi (氣) of yin and yang fill by turns. Void and still, doing nothing, yet able to respond and so communicate; clear and limpid, able to illuminate the ten thousand principles. It shifts the ten thousand things so that each shows its radiance; utterly sincere, single-minded, and densely without slackness. It does not trouble, does not tangle; it keeps to itself in quiet and does not lose its constant. This is the easy-and-simple side of the Way of Change.

變易也者，其氣也。天地不變，不能通氣；五行迭終，四時更廢。君臣取象，變節相和，能消者息，必專者敗。君臣不變，不能成朝。紂行酷虐，天地反；文王下呂，九尾見。夫婦不變，不能成家。妲己擅寵，殷以之破；大任順季，享國七百。此其變易也。

So-called "change and alteration" speaks of the circulating of qi. If heaven and earth congealed and did not change, the two qi would have no way to communicate; it is precisely because the Five Phases succeed one another and, ending, begin again, that the four seasons can rise and fall in turn. Lord and minister take their model from this image of things, changing with the festivals and blending with one another: one who is willing to withdraw himself is on the contrary able to live and grow; one who monopolises and decides alone is certain to perish. If lord and minister do not know how to change and accommodate, they cannot make a dynasty—Zhou of Shang was cruel and without the Way, and heaven and earth turned abnormal for it; King Wen of Zhou, in a lower seat, courteously engaged Lü Shang, and the omen of the nine-tailed fox appeared at once. If husband and wife do not know how to change and accommodate, they cannot make a household—Daji monopolised favour, and Yin Shang fell thereby; Tairen (the mother of King Wen of Zhou) served Jili in compliance, and the Zhou house enjoyed the realm for seven hundred years. This is the changing-and-altering side of the Way of Change.

不易者也，其位也：天在上，地在下，君南面，臣北面，父坐子伏，此其不易也。故易者，天地之道也，乾坤之德，萬物之寶。至哉！易一元以為元紀。易含三義皆元也，天地合於一元，易義於此為大。

So-called "the unchanging" speaks of allotted place. Heaven constantly occupies the above, earth constantly occupies the below; the ruler sits facing south, the minister stands facing north; the father sits, the children bow—these names and portions will not be altered, and this is precisely the unchanging side of the Way of Change. Therefore "Change" is the law by which heaven and earth run; it is the virtue possessed by the two hexagrams Qian (乾) and Kun (坤); it is the treasure by which the ten thousand things stand. How great it is! The Changes take the "One Origin" as the beginning of numbering the years and setting the measures. The three layers of meaning contained in Change are all rooted in this "origin"; heaven and earth will in the end return and join in the same primordial qi, and the meaning of Change here reaches its greatest.

《乾鑿度》曰：文王因陰陽，定消息，立乾坤，統天地。夫有形者生於無形，則乾坤安從生？故曰：有太易，有太初，有太始，有太素。太易者，未見氣；太初者，氣之始；太始者，形之始；太素者，質之始。氣形質具而未相離，故曰渾淪。言萬物相渾淪而未相離，視之不見，聽之不聞，循之不得，故曰易也。易無形埒也。

The Chiseling Open the Regularity of Qian says: King Wen of Zhou followed the principle of yin and yang, determined the "waxing and waning" (the sequence of yang waxing and yin waning marked by the twelve hexagrams of waxing and waning), and established the two hexagrams Qian and Kun, using them to govern heaven and earth. Since what has form is born from the formless, from what then were Qian and Kun themselves born? Therefore it is said: the generation of the cosmos has four stages—Grand Change (太易), Grand Beginning (太初), Grand Commencement (太始) and Grand Plain (太素). Grand Change is the stage at which even qi has not yet appeared; Grand Beginning is the stage at which qi first appears; Grand Commencement is the stage at which shape first appears; Grand Plain is the stage at which substance first appears. When qi, shape and substance are already present yet mixed as one body, not yet divided from one another, this is called "undivided chaos" (渾淪). So-called undivided chaos is the ten thousand things fused together and not yet separated: look at it and it cannot be seen, listen for it and it cannot be heard, feel for it and it cannot be grasped, and therefore it is called "Change." Change has no bounded form of which one can speak.

易變而為一，一變而為七，七變而為九。九者，氣變之究也，乃復變而為一。一者，形變之始。清輕上為天，濁重下為地。物有始有壯有究，故三畫而成乾；乾坤相併俱生，物有陰陽，因而重之，故六畫而成卦。

From "Change" there changes out "one"; from one it changes to seven; from seven it changes to nine. Nine is the ultimate of the transformations of qi; arriving at the extreme it turns back and changes into one. This one is the starting-point of the transformations of form: what is clear and light rises and becomes heaven; what is heavy and turbid sinks and becomes earth. Every thing has three stages—beginning, robust fullness and ultimate end—so drawing three lines makes one canonical trigram (the original "gan" is Qian); Qian and Kun are born side by side as equals, and once the ten thousand things have divided into yin and yang, the canonical trigrams are doubled upon one another, and drawing six lines makes one distinct hexagram. The three strokes take their image from beginning, robust fullness and ultimate end; the six strokes take their image from yin and yang doubled upon each other: this is the principle by which the eight trigrams and the sixty-four hexagrams are generated.

卦者，掛也，掛萬物視而見之。故三畫已上為地，四畫已上為天。物感以動，類相應也。陽氣從下生，動於地之下則應於天之下，動於地之中則應於天之中，動於地之上則應於天之上。故初以四，二以五，三以上，此謂之應。

"Hexagram" (gua) is "to hang" (gua): it hangs the ten thousand things out on display so that people can see them. Therefore a hexagram has six lines: from the third stroke downward they belong to earth; from the fourth stroke upward they belong to heaven. When a thing is summoned it must move; among things of the same kind there is naturally mutual response. Yang qi arises from below: if it stirs beneath the earthly section, it answers beneath the heavenly section; if it stirs in the midst of the earthly section, it answers in the midst of the heavenly section; if it stirs above the earthly section, it answers above the heavenly section. Therefore the first line and the fourth correspond, the second and the fifth correspond, the third and the top correspond: this is called "correspondence" (應). When Han-dynasty Changes learning speaks of line-positions that "have correspondence" or "have no correspondence," its basis is precisely here.

陽動而進，陰動而退，故陽以七，陰以八為彖。易一陰一陽合而為十五之謂道。陽變七之九，陽變八之六，合於十五，則彖變之數若。

The nature of yang is to move and advance; the nature of yin is to move and withdraw; therefore seven is taken to represent yang and eight to represent yin, and they are used to establish the "judgment" (the settled body of a hexagram). In the Changes one yin and one yang pair and complete fifteen: this is called the Way—seven plus eight is exactly fifteen. Yang changes from seven to nine; yin changes from eight to six (in the base text both sentences here read "yang changes"; the latter sentence "yang changes from eight to six" must be a corruption of "yin changes from eight to six"); nine plus six also completes fifteen, so it can be seen that after the change the judgment-number is still thus. Seven and eight are the unchanging numbers, that is, lesser yang and lesser yin; nine and six are the already-changed numbers, that is, old yang and old yin. Whether changed or unchanged, the sum of one yin and one yang always returns to fifteen: this is precisely the numerical basis of the yarrow method's "using nine" and "using six."

陽動而進，變七之九，象其氣之息也；陰動而退，變八之六，象其氣之消也。故太一取其數以行九宮，四正四維皆合於十五。五音、六律、七宿由此作焉。故大衍之數五十，所以成變化而行鬼神也。日十干者，五音也；辰十二者，六律也；星二十八者，七宿也。凡五十，所以大閡物而出之者也。此原七八九六之始、一陰一陽之位，說詳《虞氏消息》。

Yang moves and advances, changing from seven to nine, symbolising the growth of yang qi, that is "waxing"; yin moves and withdraws, changing from eight to six, symbolising the fading of yin qi, that is "waning"—this "waxing and waning" is precisely what the twelve hexagrams of waxing and waning take as the basis of their meaning. Therefore the Grand One (太一, the spirit of the Pole Star) takes this set of numbers to tour the Nine Palaces (九宮): distributing one through nine in the nine-palace grid, the four cardinal palaces (Kan, Li, Zhen, Dui) and the four corner palaces (Qian, Kun, Gen, Xun), together with the centre, add so that every line—vertical, horizontal or diagonal—completes fifteen. The later layouts of Taiyi Nine Palaces and Qimen Dunjia have their numerical source right here. The divisions of the five notes, the six pitch-pipes and the twenty-eight lodges are also established from this. Therefore the Great Expansion yarrow method takes the number fifty, precisely in order to complete transformation and to drive the ghosts and spirits. The ten Heavenly Stems are paired with the five notes, two stems to one note; the twelve Earthly Branches are paired with the six pitch-pipes, two branches to one pipe; the twenty-eight lodges belong to the four quarters, seven lodges to each quarter. Ten plus twelve plus twenty-eight is exactly fifty, and this number fifty is what is used to open the ten thousand things on a great scale and bring them forth. The above traces the origin of the four numbers seven, eight, nine and six and the line-positions of one yin and one yang; the detailed discussion is to be seen in Zhang Huiyan's own Waxing and Waning according to the Yu Family.

《乾鑿度》曰，孔子曰：陽三陰四，位之正也。故易卦六十四，分而為上下，象陰陽也。夫陽道純而奇故，上篇三十所以象陽也；陰道不純而偶故，下篇三十四所以法陰也。乾坤者，陰陽之根本，萬物之祖宗也，為上篇始者，尊之也。離為日，坎為月，日月之道，陰陽之經，所以終始萬物，故以坎離為終。

The Chiseling Open the Regularity of Qian records Confucius as saying: yang takes the number three, yin takes the number four—these are the positional numbers by which yin and yang each obtain what is correct. Therefore the sixty-four hexagrams are divided into an upper and a lower part, used to symbolise yin and yang. The way of yang is pure and belongs to the odd, so the upper part has thirty hexagrams, taking the number "three" to image yang; the way of yin is not pure and belongs to the even, so the lower part has thirty-four hexagrams, taking the number "four" to model yin. The two hexagrams Qian and Kun (the original "gan" is Qian) are the root of yin and yang and the first ancestors of the ten thousand things; placing them at the head of the upper part is to show honour. Hexagram Li is the sun, hexagram Kan the moon; the way the sun and moon travel is the constant warp of yin and yang, and the ten thousand things thereby end and begin again, so the upper part closes with the two hexagrams Kan and Li.

咸恆者，男女之始，夫婦之道也。人道之興必由夫婦，所以奉承祖宗，為天地主也，故為下篇始者，貴之也。既濟、未濟為最終者，所以明戒慎而存王道。

The two hexagrams Xian and Heng speak of the beginning of the mutual stimulus of man and woman and of the way husband and wife dwell together. The rise of human relations must begin from husband and wife; only with husband and wife can one serve the ancestors and continue the ancestral temple, becoming a host who stands between heaven and earth; therefore placing Xian and Heng at the head of the lower part is to show that they are valued. The whole classic closes with Jiji and Weiji, the point being to make clear that "when a matter is already complete one must still be wary, and when a matter is not yet complete there is still something that can be done," and thereby to preserve the way of a king. In Jiji all six lines occupy their due positions: it is the image of completeness already settled. In Weiji all six lines lose their positions: it is the image of the unsettled still awaiting completion. One complete and one not yet, one sees precisely the cycling of the heavenly Way, never coming to an end.

孔子曰：泰者，天地交通，陰陽用事，長養萬物也；否者，天地不交通，陰陽不用事，止萬物之長也。上經象陽，故以乾為首，坤為次，先泰而後否。損者，陰用事，澤而萬物損也，下損以事其上；益者，陽用事而雷風益萬物也，上自損以益下。下經以法陰，故以咸為始，恆為次，先損而後益，各順其類也。

Confucius said: hexagram Tai is the image of the two qi of heaven and earth communicating, of yin and yang taking effect, of generating and nurturing the ten thousand things; hexagram Pi is the image of heaven and earth not communicating, of yin and yang not taking effect, of the ten thousand things ceasing to grow. The Upper Canon takes its image from yang, so it begins with hexagram Qian (the original "gan" is Qian), with Kun next, and in the hexagram sequence Tai comes first and Pi afterwards. Hexagram Sun is yin qi in command: the Dui marsh of the lower trigram is diminished and the ten thousand things are injured, symbolising those below diminishing themselves in order to serve those above. Hexagram Yi is yang qi in command: Zhen thunder below and Xun wind above assist one another and the ten thousand things obtain benefit, symbolising those above diminishing themselves in order to increase those below. The Lower Canon takes its model from yin, so it begins with hexagram Xian, with Heng next, and in the hexagram sequence Sun comes first and Yi afterwards. The Upper Canon is first communication then blockage; the Lower Canon is first diminishment then increase: each is arranged following the sequence of the categories of yin and yang.

《乾鑿度》曰，孔子曰：易有六位，三才天地人道之分際也。三才之道，天地人也：天有陰陽，地有柔剛，人有仁義，法此三者，故生六位。六位之變，陽爻者制於天也，陰爻者制於地也。天動而施曰仁，地靜而理曰義。仁成而上，義成而下，上者專制，上者順從。正形於人，則道德立而尊卑定矣，此天地人道之分際也。

The Chiseling Open the Regularity of Qian records Confucius as saying: a hexagram has six line-positions; this is the result of Heaven, Earth and Man, the Three Powers, each dividing their bounds. The way of the Three Powers is the way of Heaven, the way of Earth and the way of Man: Heaven has yin and yang, Earth has the yielding and the firm, Man has humaneness and rightness; modelling these three pairs of opposed natures, six line-positions are therefore born—the first and second are the positions of Earth, the third and fourth the positions of Man, the fifth and top the positions of Heaven, each Power occupying two lines. Within the movements of the six positions, a yang line takes its model from Heaven, a yin line from Earth. Heaven runs without rest and bestows upon the ten thousand things, and this is called "humaneness"; Earth is quiet and unmoving and patterns the ten thousand things, and this is called "rightness." Humaneness is completed above, rightness completed below; one who occupies the upper position governs and decides, one who occupies the lower position complies and follows (in the base text both sentences read "the one above"; the latter sentence must be a scribal error for "the one below complies"). When this principle is carried into human affairs, virtue is established and honour and humility are settled: this is precisely the several bounds of the three ways of Heaven, Earth and Man.

天地之氣必有終始，六位之設皆由上下。故易始於一，分於二，通於三，口於四，盛於五，終於上。初為元士，二為大夫，三為公，四為諸侯，五為天子，上為宗廟。凡此六者，陰陽所以進退，君臣所以升降，萬人所以為象則也。

The qi of heaven and earth must have an end and a beginning; the establishment of the six line-positions all follows the sequence from below upward. Therefore the Changes begin from the first line, this "one"; they are distinguished at the second line; they run through at the third line; they "kou" at the fourth line (the base text has this character as "kou," which must be a dropped corruption of "he," to join; it is here recorded as it stands and not supplied); they are great at the fifth line; they end at the top line. Paired with ranks of nobility, the first line is the principal officer, the second the grand master, the third the Three Dukes, the fourth the feudal lord, the fifth the Son of Heaven, the top the ancestral temple. These six positions are precisely that by which yin and yang advance and withdraw, that by which lord and minister rise and descend, and that from which the people of the realm take their model. When Han-dynasty Changes learning discusses the nobility or meanness of line-positions and judges occupying the due position or losing it, what it relies on is precisely this set of rank-assignments.

故陰陽有盛衰，人道有得失，聖人因其象隨其變為之設卦：方盛則托吉，將衰則寄凶。陰陽不正皆為失位，其應實而有之皆失義。雖微細必見吉端，惡雖纖芥必有悔吝，所以極天地之變，盡萬物之情，明王事也。某繫之曰：立象以盡意，設卦以盡情，偽繫辭焉，以盡其言。孔子曰：易六位正，王度見矣。

Therefore yin and yang have flourishing and decline, and human affairs have gain and loss. The sage, relying on the images of the hexagrams and lines and following their transformations, establishes hexagrams and sets meanings: when qi is just flourishing he lodges the auspicious in it; when qi is about to decline he lodges inauspicious harm in it. Yang occupying a yin position, yin occupying a yang position, are both counted as "losing position"; two lines that ought to be empty awaiting correspondence yet each are solid and hold the place are also counted as losing the meaning they ought to have. Though good is fine, it is certain to show a token of the auspicious; though evil is as fine as a mustard seed, it is certain to bring regret—above "though fine" the base text has dropped a "good"; it is here recorded according to the source text and not supplied. By this method the sage exhausts the transformations of heaven and earth and writes out the conditions of the ten thousand things, in order to make clear the affairs of a king. Therefore the Appended Remarks say: hexagram-images are set up to exhaust the mind's intent; hexagram-bodies are set to exhaust the actual conditions; remarks are appended to exhaust what one wishes to say (in the base text "a certain one appended and said" should be "the Appended Remarks say," and "falsely appended remarks" should be "appended remarks thereto," both scribal errors, here recorded together as they stand). Confucius said: once the six line-positions of the Changes are set right, the statutes of a king also appear.

《乾鑿度》曰，孔子曰：易始於太極，太極分而為二，故生天地。天地有春秋冬夏之節，故生四時。四時各有陰陽剛柔之分，故生八卦。八卦成列，天地之道立，雷風水火山澤之象定矣。

The Chiseling Open the Regularity of Qian records Confucius as saying: the Changes begin from the Grand Ultimate (太極); the Grand Ultimate divides into two, and thereupon heaven and earth are born. Between heaven and earth there are the festivals of spring, autumn, winter and summer, and thereupon the four seasons are born. The four seasons each further have the divisions of yin and yang, firm and yielding, and thereupon the eight trigrams are born—each of the four seasons divides into yin and yang, two times the four cardinals yielding eight. Once the eight trigrams are arrayed in sequence, the way of heaven and earth is established, and the images of thunder (Zhen), wind (Xun), water (Kan), fire (Li), mountain (Gen) and marsh (Dui) are thereby fixed.

其佈散用事也：震生物於東方，位在二月；巽散之於東南，位在四月；離長之於南方，位在五月；坤養之於西南方，位在六月；兌收之於西方，位在八月；乾制之於西北方，位在十月；坎藏之於北方，位在十一月；艮終始之於東北方，位在十二月。八卦之氣終，則四正四維之分明，生長收藏之道備，陰陽之體定，神明之德通，而萬物各以其類成矣。皆易之所包也。至矣哉，易之德也！

The sequence by which the eight trigrams, distributed to the quarters, take command in turn is: the Zhen trigram in the east causes the ten thousand things to sprout, and answers to the second month; the Xun trigram in the southeast causes the ten thousand things to spread, and answers to the fourth month; the Li trigram in the south causes the ten thousand things to grow large, and answers to the fifth month; the Kun trigram in the southwest nurtures the ten thousand things, and answers to the sixth month; the Dui trigram in the west gathers in the ten thousand things, and answers to the eighth month; the Qian trigram in the northwest cuts and regulates the ten thousand things, and answers to the tenth month (the original "gan" is Qian); the Kan trigram in the north stores the ten thousand things, and answers to the eleventh month; the Gen trigram in the northeast causes the ten thousand things both to end and to begin, and answers to the twelfth month. This is the framework of "hexagram qi" (卦氣) that pairs the Later-Heaven positions of the eight trigrams with the twelve months: Kan, Li, Zhen and Dui occupy the four cardinal positions of Zi, Wu, Mao and You; Qian, Kun, Gen and Xun occupy the four corner positions of Hai, Wei, Chou and Si. When the qi of the eight trigrams has turned one circuit, the allotted places of the four cardinals and four corners are clear, the sequence of generating, growing, gathering and storing is complete, the bodily segments of yin and yang are determined, the virtue of the spiritual brightness runs through, and the ten thousand things thereupon are completed each according to its kind. All this lies within the covering of the Changes. How great is the virtue the Changes possess!

孔子曰：歲三百六十日而天氣周，八卦用事各四十五日方備歲焉。故艮漸正月，巽漸三月，坤漸七月，乾漸九月，而各以卦之所言為月也。

Confucius said: a year of three hundred and sixty days is one circuit of the heavenly qi; the eight trigrams take command in turn, each trigram governing forty-five days; eight times forty-five is exactly three hundred and sixty days, and only then is the year complete. This is the hexagram-qi calculation of the Chiseling Open the Regularity of Qian, evenly dividing the days of the celestial circuit among the eight trigrams, and it takes a different path from the "six days and seven parts" doctrine of the line of Meng Xi and Jing Fang, which divides the year among sixty hexagrams, each hexagram obtaining six days and seven parts: that doctrine has the twenty-four lines of Kan, Li, Zhen and Dui separately govern the twenty-four solar terms, and divides the remaining sixty hexagrams into three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter days, hence each hexagram six days and seven eightieths of a day; this doctrine does not ask after the leftover fraction, and simply has each of the eight trigrams govern forty-five days. Since one trigram spans forty-five days, what it governs is not limited to a single month; therefore the qi of the Gen trigram gradually reaches the first month, the qi of the Xun trigram the third month, the qi of the Kun trigram the seventh month, and the qi of the Qian trigram the ninth month (the original "gan" is Qian); while the text above marks a given trigram as "positioned in a given month," this is in each case speaking of the one month that is the trigram's own seat of government.

乾者，天也，終而為萬物始，北方萬物所始也，故乾位在於十月。艮者，止物者也，故在四時之終，位在十二月。巽者，陰始順陽者也，陽始壯於東南方，故位在四月。坤者，地之道也，形正六月。四維正紀，經緯仲序畢矣。

Qian is heaven (the original "gan" is Qian); it ends one circuit and opens a new circuit of the ten thousand things, and the north is precisely the land where the ten thousand things begin, so Qian's position is placed at the Hai ground of the tenth month, occupying the northwest and close against due north. Gen is the trigram that causes the ten thousand things to come to rest, so it occupies the end of the four seasons, positioned at the Chou ground of the twelfth month. Xun is the trigram in which yin qi first complies with yang qi; yang qi begins to be robust from the southeast, so it is positioned at the Si ground of the fourth month. Kun is where the way of Earth resides, and its form occupies precisely the Wei ground of the sixth month. Once the outline of the four corners (Qian, Kun, Gen, Xun) is set right, the mid-months governed by the four cardinal trigrams and the last and first months spanned by the four corners interweave as warp and weft, and the sequence of the year is here entirely complete.

孔子曰：乾坤，陰陽之主也。陽始於亥，形於丑，乾位在西北，陽祖微據始也。陰始於巳，形於未，據正立位，故坤位在西南，陰之正也。君道倡始，臣道終正，是以乾位在亥，坤位在未，所以明陰陽之職，定君臣之位也。

Confucius said: the two hexagrams Qian and Kun are the governors of yin and yang. Yang qi first is born at Hai (the tenth month) and takes form at Chou (the twelfth month), yet Qian's position is placed at the Hai ground in the northwest (the original "gan" is Qian), because yang as ancestor has a beginning that is extremely slight, and the position is set at the place where it issues. Yin qi first is born at Si (the fourth month) and takes form at Wei (the sixth month); the position is set at the exact place where it takes form, so Kun's position is placed at the Wei ground in the southwest, which is the correct position of yin qi. The way of a lord is prized in advocating the opening of a beginning; the way of a minister is prized in ending well and obtaining correctness; therefore Qian's position takes Hai and governs the beginning, Kun's position takes Wei and governs correctness: this is used to make clear the several offices of yin and yang and to settle the ranks of lord and minister, above and below.

孔子曰：八卦之序成立，則五氣變形，故人生而應八卦之體，得五氣以為五常，仁義禮智信是也。夫萬物始出於震，震，東方之卦也，陽氣始生，受形之道也，故東方為仁。成於離，離，南方之卦也，陽得正於上，陰得正於下，尊卑之象定禮序也，故南方為禮。

Confucius said: once the sequence of the eight trigrams is established, the qi of the Five Phases thereupon changes and takes form; a person is born endowed with this pattern, the bodily form answering to the body of the eight trigrams, receiving the five qi and completing the five constant virtues, which are humaneness, rightness, ritual, wisdom and trust. The ten thousand things first are born in the Zhen trigram; Zhen is the trigram of the east; yang qi has just issued, which is precisely the principle by which the ten thousand things receive form, so the east is paired with "humaneness." The ten thousand things grow to completion in the Li trigram; Li is the trigram of the south; one yin occupies the centre and two yang are without; yang obtains its correct position above, yin its correct position below, and the image of honour and humility is thereby determined, which is precisely the order of ritual, so the south is paired with "ritual."

入於兌，兌，西方之卦也，陰用事而萬物得其宜，義之理也，故西方為義。漸於坎，坎，北方之卦也，陰氣形盛，陰陽氣含閉，信之類也，故北方為信。夫四方之義皆統於中央，故乾坤艮巽位在四維，中央所以繩四方行也，智之□也，故中央為智。

The ten thousand things are gathered in at the Dui trigram; Dui is the trigram of the west; yin qi first takes command and the ten thousand things each obtain what is fitting, which is precisely the principle of "rightness," so the west is paired with "rightness." Advancing further to the Kan trigram, Kan is the trigram of the north; the form and substance of yin qi are at their height; the two qi of yin and yang are gathered in and closed away, stored without loss, arriving when due, belonging to the category of "trust," so the north is paired with "trust." The principles of the four quarters all return and belong to the centre; therefore Qian, Kun, Gen and Xun occupy the four corners, and the centre is what is used to keep the running of the four quarters true; in the sentence "zhi zhi □ ye," the base text here lacks a character and leaves a box in doubt, not daring to supply it by conjecture; its meaning must be that the centre is that to which wisdom belongs, so the centre is paired with "wisdom."

故道興於仁，立於禮，理於義，定於信，成於智。五者，道德之分，天人之際也，聖人所以通天意、理人倫而明至道也。凡六位八卦之說，具《虞氏消息》。

Therefore the Way issues in humaneness, is established in ritual, is patterned in rightness, is settled in trust, and is completed in wisdom. These five are the fields of virtue, and also the interface where the heavenly Way and human affairs meet; it is precisely by this that the sage communicates the mind of Heaven, orders human relations and makes the ultimate Way manifest. The various statements above on the six line-positions and the quarters of the eight trigrams are all fully recorded in Waxing and Waning according to the Yu Family—this sentence is Zhang Huiyan's note, pointing the reader to that monograph of his own in which he elucidates Yu Fan's hexagram examples of waxing and waning, of the same kind as "the discussion is detailed in Waxing and Waning according to the Yu Family" earlier.