The Eight Manifestations of the World · Earth Water

坤水之象，所關甚巨，而東漢人皆不知，致解「利涉大川」，爻詞卦詞，靡不舛錯，獨九家《易》知之。說《蠱》之「利涉大川」云：「此卦泰，乾天有河，坤地有水，二爻升降，出入乾坤，利涉大川也。」按九家《易》向不知為何人，《釋文》敘列九家，為荀爽、京房、馬融、鄭玄、宋衷、虞翻、陸績、姚信、翟子玄等九人，並云不知何人所集，稱荀爽者，以荀為之主也。而《隋》《唐志》及《釋文》，皆稱為《荀爽九家集解》。夫既不知何人所集，胡為名之曰荀九家？荀亦九家之一耳，胡得云為之主？《釋文》之言，不可信也。

The image of "Kun as Water" is of great significance, but people of the Eastern Han dynasty did not understand it, leading to confusion in interpreting the phrase "beneficial to cross great rivers" in both the hexagram statement and line statements of the Zhou Yi. Only the Nine Schools' interpretation of the Yi understood this. The Nine Schools' explanation of the phrase "beneficial to cross great rivers" in the Gu卦 says: this hexagram comes from Tai. Qian represents Heaven and has rivers, while Kun represents Earth and has water. The second line moves up and down between Heaven and Earth, thus making "beneficial to cross great rivers" meaningful. According to the Nine Schools' interpretation of the Yi, it is unknown who compiled it. Lu Deming's Classic Interpretation lists the names of the nine scholars: Xun Shuang, Jing Fang, Ma Rong, Zheng Xuan, Song Zhong, Yu Fan, Lu Ji, Yao Xin, and Zhai Zi Xuan. He also says it is unknown who compiled it, and the reason for naming it after Xun Shuang is because he was the main contributor. However, the Sui Shu, Jing Ji Zhi, Tang Shu, Yi Wen Zhi, and Classic Interpretation all refer to it as the "Xun Shuang Nine Schools' Commentary." If it is unknown who compiled it, how can it be called the "Xun School's Nine Schools"? Xun Shuang was merely one of the nine scholars. How can he be considered the main contributor? The account in the Classic Interpretation is unreliable.

《文獻通考》云：「陳氏曰：九家者，漢淮南王所聘明《易》者九人，而荀爽嘗為之集解。」以九家為西漢易師，以集解為荀爽所集，依陳氏之言，則名與實符矣。此雖不知陳氏之所本，然以坤水之象證之，陳氏之言殊勝。則以此象東漢人皆不知，獨九家知之，與《易林》合。又乾河之象，《易林》常取之，亦惟九家與《易林》合。爽輯其說，卽知其象，故說「利涉大川」，略與九家乾河坤水同。又九家說《同人》云：「乾舍於離。」「同而為日。」乾日之象，東漢人亦不知，惟荀爽知之。由乾日坤水等象證之，知九家必為西漢人，而非東漢。設為東漢，則乾日坤水，極重之象，東漢人不難皆知。觀馬、鄭、荀爽諸易說，虞氏無不知，此其證也。故陳氏所言，殊多可信。茲將坤水之象，標出如下：

The "Literary and Historical Comprehensive Survey" cites Chen Zhensun's words: the so-called nine schools refer to nine scholars who were hired by Prince Huainan of the Han dynasty and who were expert in the study of the "Book of Changes" (Yi Jing). Xun Shuang once compiled a commentary on their interpretations. This view treats the nine schools as Yi teachers of the Western Han dynasty and considers the compilation as Xun Shuang's work—according to Chen's account, the name and reality correspond. Although we do not know the basis for Chen's statement, using the image of "Kun represents water" as evidence, Chen's view is much more reasonable: because this image was not understood by people of the Eastern Han dynasty, but was understood only by the nine schools, which coincides with the "Yi Lin." Furthermore, the image of "Qian represents the river" is often used in the "Yi Lin," and only the nine schools agree with it. Since Xun Shuang compiled their interpretations, he naturally knew these images, so when he explained "it is advantageous to cross a great river," his explanation was roughly similar to the nine schools' views on Qian as the river and Kun as water. Moreover, the nine schools' interpretation of the hexagram "Tongren" says "Qian resides in Li" and "unity becomes the sun," the image of "Qian represents the sun" was also not understood by people of the Eastern Han dynasty, but was understood only by Xun Shuang. By using these images of Qian as the sun and Kun as water as evidence, we can conclude that the nine schools must have been people of the Western Han dynasty, not the Eastern Han dynasty. If they were people of the Eastern Han dynasty, then these very important images such as Qian as the sun and Kun as water would not be difficult for people of the Eastern Han dynasty to understand; however, examining the interpretations of the Yi by Ma Rong, Zheng Xuan, Xun Shuang, and others, including Yu Fan, we find that actually none of them could comprehend them (the original text has an error in this sentence), which is clear evidence. Therefore, Chen's statement is very credible. Now we present the image of Kun representing water as follows.

《乾》之《觀》云：「江河淮海，天之奧府。」按《觀》下重坤，故曰「江河淮海」。又《坤》之《升》云：「憑河登山。」《升》上坤，坤水，故曰「憑河」。又《訟》之《泰》「弱水之西」，坤水坤柔，故曰「弱水」。又《履》之《坤》云：「循河榜舟，旁淮東遊。」是亦以坤為河。又《履》之《大壯》云：「水流趨下，遠至東海。」《大壯》通《觀》，《觀》下坤，坤為水為下為海。又《賁》之《損》云：「龍蛇所聚，大水來處。」《損》中爻坤，故曰「大水」。又《觀》之《大有》「山沒邱浮，陸為水魚」，《大有》通《比》，《比》下坤，上互艮，山在水上，故曰「邱浮」。又《師》之《復》「淵泉堤孩，水道利通」，皆以坤為水之證也。

The commentary on "Observing the Heaven" from the "Dry" hexagram says: "Rivers, lakes, and seas are the hidden reservoirs of heaven." The lower trigram of "Observing the Heaven" is "Earth," and the second to fourth lines also form an interrelated trigram of "Earth," so the "Earth" trigram is repeated. Since "Earth" represents water, it is said "rivers, lakes, and seas." Again, the commentary on "Rising" from the "Earth" hexagram says: "Crossing rivers and climbing mountains." The upper trigram of "Rising" is "Earth," which represents water, so it is said "crossing rivers." Again, the commentary on "Contention" to "Harmony" says: "West of the weak river." "Earth" represents water and has a nature of softness and compliance, so it is called "weak river." Again, the commentary on "Following the Footsteps" to "Great Strength" says: "Water flows downward, reaching the East Sea." The opposite hexagram of "Great Strength" is "Observing the Heaven," whose lower trigram is "Earth," which represents water, being downward, and being the sea. Again, the commentary on "Brightness" to "Loss" says: "Dragons and snakes gather, where great water comes from." The third to fifth lines of "Loss" form an interrelated trigram of "Earth," so it is said "great water." Again, the commentary on "Observing the Heaven" to "Great Possession" says: "Mountains sink and hills float, land becomes water for fish." The opposite hexagram of "Great Possession" is "Comparison," whose lower trigram is "Earth," representing water, and the third to fifth lines form an interrelated trigram of "Gen," representing mountain. Mountains float on water, so it is said "hills float." Again, the commentary on "Army" to "Return" says: "Deep springs, embankments, and children, water channels are convenient." These are all evidence that "Earth" represents water.

《蹇》之《渙》云：「從風放火。」《渙》中爻艮，艮為火，與巽連，故「從風放火」。又《大壯》之《遯》云：「火爛銷金。」《遯》上乾，為金；下艮火，故「銷金」。又《恆》之《艮》云：「順風縱火，芝艾俱死。」《艮》中爻震，伏巽，故「順風」；艮火，故曰「縱火」。又《坎》之《謙》云：「門燒屋燔。」《謙》下艮，艮為門為屋；艮火，故「燔燒」。又《解》之《謙》云：「三火起明，雨滅其光。」《謙》下艮，為火，納丙數三，故曰「三火」；上互坎，故「雨滅其光」。此《易林》以艮為火之證也。

The Lin commentary on "Jian" changing to "Huan" says: "From wind, set fire." "Huan" has water above and wind below. The third to fifth lines form the hexagram Gen, which represents fire. Since Gen is connected to the upper trigram Wind, it is said "from wind, set fire." Again, the commentary on "Da Zhuang" changing to "Dun" says: "Fire burns through metal." "Dun" has heaven above and Gen below. According to "Shuo Gua," heaven represents metal; Gen represents fire, which can melt metal, hence "burn through metal." Again, the commentary on "Heng" changing to "Gen" says: "Follow the wind and set fire, both herbs and weeds die." "Gen" is double Gen. The third to fifth lines form Zhen, whose hidden (related) trigram is Xun, representing wind, hence "follow the wind." Gen represents fire, hence "set fire." Again, the commentary on "Kan" changing to "Qian" says: "The door burns and the house is set on fire." "Qian" has Gen below. According to "Shuo Gua," Gen represents door and gate, hence "door" and "house." Gen also represents fire, hence "burning." Again, the commentary on "Jie" changing to "Qian" says: "Three fires arise and shine, rain extinguishes their light." "Qian" has Gen below, representing fire. According to the method of Najia, Gen takes the stem Bing, which is the third in the heavenly stems, hence "three fires." The second to fourth lines of "Qian" form Kan, representing rain, hence "rain extinguishes their light." These are all evidence from the "Yi Lin" that Gen represents fire.

坎土之象，後儒尤怪之，《易林》亦數用也。《節》之《井》云：「宣髮龍叔，為王主國，安土成稷，天下蒙福。」「安土成稷」者，《井》上坎，下互大坎，坎為土，巽為稷。稷者，社稷也，《風俗通》所謂「稷為百穀長，五穀不能偏祭，立稷而祭之」是也。稷以土築成，《井》上下皆坎土，故曰「安土成稷」。又《臨》之《蠱》云：「火生月窟，下土思塞。」《蠱》上艮，為火；下巽，為月窟；下互大坎，坎為土為塞，故曰「下土恩塞」。又《豐》之《大過》云：「相呼南去，膏潤下土。」《大過》為大坎，坎為膏潤為土。又《夬》之《震》云：「可以履土。」《震》互坎，坎為土，震為足，故曰「履土」。又《隨》之《節》云「水土不同」，《師》之《漸》云「拜治水土」，《無妄》之《解》云「載土販鹽」，皆以坎為水土。此《易林》以坎為土之證。蓋坎為塞而中堅實，故象土也。

The image of Kan as earth is considered strange by later Confucian scholars, but the "Yi Lin" frequently uses it. In the "Lin" phrase of "Jie" changing into "Jing," it says: "Promote Longshu, serve as king and govern the country, secure the land and cultivate millet, the world receives blessings." The phrase "secure the land and cultivate millet" refers to the lower trigram of "Jing" being Xun and the upper trigram being Kan. The upper trigram is Kan, and the first to fourth lines together form a large Kan image, which represents earth. The lower trigram Xun represents millet. "Millet" refers to the state of the country, as stated in "Fengsu Tongyi": "Millet is the leader of all grains; since it is impossible to worship all five grains, millet is used to represent them." The state altar is built with earth, and since both upper and lower trigrams of "Jing" are Kan (earth), it is said "secure the land and cultivate millet." Another example is the "Lin" phrase of "Lin" changing into "Gu": "Fire arises from the moon's dwelling place, the earth below desires to be blocked." The upper trigram of "Gu" is Gen, representing fire; the lower trigram is Xun, representing the moon's dwelling place (as Xun is located in the southwest, which is the moon's dwelling place). The first to fourth lines together form a large Kan, which represents earth and obstruction, hence the phrase "the earth below desires to be blocked." Another example is the "Lin" phrase of "Feng" changing into "Da Guo": "Calling out to the south, the rich moisture nourishes the earth." The entire "Da Guo" hexagram is a large Kan, which represents rich moisture and earth. Another example is the "Lin" phrase of "Guai" changing into "Zhen": "It is possible to walk on the earth." The third to fifth lines of "Zhen" form the trigram Kan, which represents earth. The "Say Gu" states "Zhen represents the foot," so the foot can walk upon it, hence the phrase "walk on the earth." Additionally, "Si" changing into "Jie" says "water and earth differ," "Shi" changing into "Jian" says "worship and manage water and earth," and "Wu Wang" changing into "Jie" says "carry earth and trade salt," all of which take Kan as water and earth. These are all evidence from the "Yi Lin" that Kan represents earth. Probably, because the trigram Kan has a yang line in the center, which is obstructive and solid, it is taken as representing earth.

巽石之象，後儒怪之，與坎土同，而《易林》數用之。《同人》之《小畜》云：「戴石上山。」《小畜》上巽下乾，巽為石，乾為首，石在首上，故曰「戴石」。又《夬》之《姤》云：「山石朽破。」《姤》上乾，乾為山，詳後；下巽，巽為石，下斷，故曰「山石朽破」。又《明夷》之《革》云：「掘井得石。」《革》兌為井，互大坎，坎窖亦為井，互巽為石，故曰「掘井得石」。是《易林》以巽為石之明證。他若《大壯》之《觀》云「五石示象」，《觀》上巽，數五，巽為石，故曰「五石」；又《家人》之《否》云「反得弊石」，《否》互巽，巽為石為弊，故曰「弊石」，亦明明以巽為石。然《觀》與《否》皆互艮，艮亦為石，恐觀者未能分明，故首舉《小畜》《姤》《革》以為證，《小畜》《姤》《革》皆無艮象，石專指巽也。由《易林》推之，《易》《困》六三云「困于石」，《困》中爻巽，三正當巽初，故曰「困于石」，是《易》亦以巽為石也。後儒怪之者，由易象失傳，故雖見於經而不知。

The image of Xun as stone is also considered strange by later scholars, just as Kan is considered as earth. However, the "Yi Lin" frequently uses this image. In the "Lin" of "Tong Ren" changing to "Xiao Xu," it says: "Wearing stone on the mountain." The lower trigram of "Xiao Xu" is Qian and the upper trigram is Xun, so Xun is stone. The "Shuo Gu" says "Qian is the head," so stone is placed on the head, hence "wearing stone." Again, in the "Lin" of "Guai" changing to "Gou," it says: "Mountain stone rots and breaks." The upper trigram of "Gou" is Qian, which is mountain (see details later); the lower trigram is Xun, which is stone. The first line of Xun is yin, and its line is broken, hence "mountain stone rots and breaks." Again, in the "Lin" of "Ming Yi" changing to "Ge," it says: "Digging a well and finding stone." The upper trigram of "Ge" is Dui, which is well; within the hexagram, the lines two to four form a large Kan, which is a cellar, that is, a well; lines two to four also form Xun, which is stone, hence "digging a well and finding stone." This is clear evidence from the "Yi Lin" that Xun is stone. Furthermore, in the "Lin" of "Da Zhuang" changing to "Guan," it says "five stones show the image." The upper trigram of "Guan" is Xun, which has the number five, so Xun is stone, hence "five stones." In the "Lin" of "Jia Ren" changing to "Pǐ," it says "reversing and obtaining a broken stone." The lines three to five of "Pǐ" form Xun, which is stone and also broken, hence "broken stone." This clearly uses Xun as stone. However, both "Guan" and "Pǐ" also contain the mutual trigram Gen, which is also stone, so readers might be confused. Therefore, we first cite the three hexagrams "Xiao Xu," "Gou," and "Ge," which do not contain the trigram Gen. In these three hexagrams, the "stone" can be specifically attributed to Xun. Going back from the "Yi Lin" to the "Zhou Yi," the line six three of "Kun" says "trapped by stone." The lines three to five of "Kun" form Xun, and the line six three is exactly the first line of the mutual Xun, hence "trapped by stone." This shows that the "Zhou Yi" also takes Xun as stone. Later scholars found this strange because the images of the "Yi" have been lost, so even though it is clearly mentioned in the text, they did not recognize it.

由是證之，邵子之日月星辰水火土石等八象，豈惟《易林》皆有，《易》亦多有也。乃東漢人皆不知，其失傳與先天象數等。他若《易林》以乾為江河為山，以坎為肉，以震為南為神，以兌為華，以坤為魚，以艮為祖為臣，詳皆見後，率源本於經，而東漢人尤不知，致解經皆誤。朱子嘆易象失傳，豈知其自東漢而已然哉。

From the above examples, we can conclude that the eight symbols used by Shao Yong—sun, moon, stars, constellations, water, fire, earth, and stone—are not only fully present in the Yi Lin, but also largely found in the Zhou Yi. However, people of the Eastern Han dynasty did not understand them, and their loss is similar to the loss of the Earlier Heaven symbolic system. Additionally, the Yi Lin interprets Qian as rivers and mountains, Kan as flesh, Zhen as south and spirits, Dui as flowers, Kun as fish, and Gen as ancestors and ministers. These details are elaborated later, mostly derived from the classic text, yet people of the Eastern Han dynasty were even more ignorant, leading to frequent errors in interpreting the classics. Zhu Xi lamented the loss of the symbolic meanings of the Yi, but he did not realize that this situation had already existed since the Eastern Han dynasty.

學者謂宋以前無言先天象者，非也。《左傳》閔二年，成季之將生，筮之，遇《大有》之《乾》，曰：「同復於父，敬如君所。」杜注不知先天象，祇釋「同於父，敬如君」，於「復」字、「所」字，皆不知其所謂，而不釋之，猶不失先聖闕疑之旨。孔疏則不知而強解之，曰：「國人敬之，其敬如君之處所。」夫乾處西北，離處正南，人敬離，如何與乾之處所相同乎？此不通也。所者，位也；復者，復其位也。言乾為君為父，離變乾，既同於君父，乾南離亦南，更復其君父之位，故人敬離位，亦同於君父之位也。乾南之象，至明白矣。

Scholars claim that no one discussed the Earlier Heaven hexagrams before the Song dynasty, which is incorrect. The "Zuo Zhuan" records that in the second year of Min Gong, when Cheng Ji was about to be born, a divination was performed and the hexagram "Dà Yǒu" changed into "Qian" (the hexagram of Heaven) with the fifth line changing. The divination text says: "Returning to the father, respecting as the king's place." Du Yu's commentary did not understand the Earlier Heaven hexagram, only explaining "returning to the father" and "respecting as the king," and was confused about the words "fu" (return) and "suo" (place), so he left them unexplained — which still follows the ancient sages' principle of leaving doubts unresolved. Kong Yingda's "Zhengyi" misunderstood and forced an explanation, saying "the people respect him, respecting his place as if it were the king's place." But we should know that in the Later Heaven arrangement, Qian is located in the Northwest and Li is located in Due South. If people respect Li, how could it be the same as Qian's place? This does not make sense. In fact, "suo" means place, and "fu" means returning to the original position. This divination text says that Qian represents the king and the father, and the upper trigram of "Dà Yǒu," which is Li, changes into Qian. Thus, it has already returned to the position of the king and father. In the Earlier Heaven arrangement, Qian is located in the South, and Li is also located in the South in the Later Heaven arrangement, which is equivalent to returning to the original position of the king and father. Therefore, people respecting the position of Li is equivalent to respecting the position of the king and father. The image of Qian being in the South is clearly explained here.

又成十六年，晉與楚戰，公筮之，遇《復》，史曰：「南國蹙，射其元王中厥目。」元者，首也，《左傳》哀十一年「歸國子之元」是了。乾為首為王，離為目，乾若不在南，陽報射南，祇中離目可矣，胡為射中王首哉？杜注祇知離目象，不知乾南象，故云「離受其咎」。豈知射中王首，乾亦受咎也。卦象失傳，《左氏》尚不能釋，焉有於《易》。

In the "Zuo Zhuan," during the 16th year of Duke Cheng of Jin, when Jin and Chu fought the Battle of Yancheng, Duke Lizi of Jin ordered a divination, and the hexagram "Fu" was obtained. The chief historian said, "The southern state is squeezed, shoot its head, the king hits his eye." "Head" here refers to the head, as seen in the "Zuo Zhuan" during the 11th year of Duke Ai's reign, where it says "return the head of the state's son," using the same meaning. Qian represents the head and the king, while Li represents the eye. If Qian were not in the south, then shooting south would only hit the eye of Li, which would be enough. How could the king's head also be hit? This shows that the southern position has both the Earlier Heaven's Qian and the Later Heaven's Li. One arrow shot south would hit both. Du Yu's commentary only recognized Li as the eye, but did not understand the image of Qian being in the south. Therefore, he only said "Li suffers the blame." But he did not realize that the king's head was also hit, so Qian also suffers the blame. Once the hexagram images are lost, even the "Zuo Zhuan" cannot explain it, let alone the original text of the "Zhou Yi."

《左氏》以外，釋《易》之書莫古於《乾鑿度》，蓋《說卦》亞。《乾鑿度》云：「易者，不易也，變易也。不易也者，其位也，天在上，地在下，君南面，臣北面，此其不易也。變易也者，其氣也，天地不變，不能通氣，五行迭終，四時更廢。」卽後天卦位之震春木、離夏火、兌秋金、坎冬水也，故曰「變易」。又云：「八卦成列，天地之道立，雷風水火山澤之象定矣。其散佈用事也，震生於東方，離長於南方，兌收於西方，坎藏於北方」云云。可見八卦未散佈用事之時，其方位不在此，至為明白矣。

In addition to the Zuo Zhuan, no other book explaining the Zhou Yi is older than the Yi Wei · Gan Zao Du, which holds a position second only to the Shuo Gua. The Gan Zao Du says: the term "Yi" contains two meanings, "Bu Yi" and "Bian Yi." "Bu Yi" refers to position: heaven is above, earth is below, the sovereign faces south, and the subject faces north; these are unchanging. "Bian Yi" refers to qi: if heaven and earth do not change, their qi would not communicate, so the five phases take turns and the four seasons alternate. This is exactly what is referred to in the Later Heaven卦 position, where Zhen belongs to spring wood, Li to summer fire, Dui to autumn metal, and Kan to winter water, hence called "Bian Yi." The Gan Zao Du also says: when the eight trigrams are arranged in sequence, the way of heaven and earth is established, and the images of thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain, and marsh are determined; when they spread out and each take their place, there is Zhen originating in the east, Li flourishing in the south, Dui gathering in the west, and Kan hidden in the north. This clearly shows that before the trigrams "spread and took their place," their positions were not the Later Heaven system.

《說卦》之演先天也，亦不明言其方位，以當時人人皆知也。若後天，則恐人生疑，故明釋其義。乃《說卦》《乾鑿度》以為人盡知者，至後漢竟失傳矣。管輅不知先天象，生以後天為不合矣。此與十二消息卦，《坤》上六用之，《臨》繇詞用之，《坤》文言用之，《左氏》用之，《乾鑿度》用之，漢人解《易》者皆用之，而皆未明言，則以消息卦人人皆知也。乃至後世，竟有以荀爽解「大明終始」云「離坎者，乾坤之家，陰陽之府」，為發諸儒所未發者矣，《困學紀聞》如此言，則亦將失傳也。先天方位亦猶是也。幸《左傳》猶存，《乾鑿度》未全佚，焦氏《易林》言之尤詳，且盡得以證明邵子先天象及《經世》八象之有本耳。不然，隨聲附和者流，不知伊于胡底也。

In discussing the Earlier Heaven trigrams in the "Say on the Trigrams," the text does not explicitly mention directions, because at that time everyone was already familiar with them. However, for the Later Heaven trigrams, perhaps to prevent confusion, the meaning was clearly explained. Yet, things considered common knowledge by the "Say on the Trigrams" and the "Guan Zao Du" were actually lost by the Eastern Han dynasty. Guan Lu did not understand the Earlier Heaven trigrams and only used the Later Heaven ones, but found them inconsistent everywhere. This is similar to the case of the twelve message trigrams: the Upper Sixth line of the "Kun" hexagram uses them, the "Yao Ci" of "Lin" uses them, the "Wenyan" of "Kun" uses them, the "Zuo Zhuan" uses them, the "Guan Zao Du" uses them, and Han dynasty commentators on the "Yi Jing" also used them, yet none of them explicitly mentioned them, because everyone already knew about the message trigrams. However, in later times, some people took Xu Shuang's explanation of "Da Ming Zhongshi" that "Li and Kan are the homes of Qian and Kun, the repositories of yin and yang," as an original idea that had never been expressed before (Wang Yinglin in "Kun Xue Ji Wen" said this). This shows that the message trigrams are also in danger of being lost. The fate of the Earlier Heaven directions is the same. Fortunately, the "Zuo Zhuan" still exists, the "Guan Zao Du" has not entirely disappeared, and Jiao Yanshou's "Yi Lin" explains them in great detail. Therefore, we can fully confirm that Shao Yong's Earlier Heaven trigrams and the eight images in the "Huang Ji Jing Shi" have their origins. Otherwise, those who follow blindly would cause endless confusion.

又按九家注《同人》云：「乾舍於離。」舍者，次也，是以乾為南也。又曰：「同而為日。」是以乾為日，同於《易林》也。又荀爽注《同人》云：「乾舍於離，相與同居。」是亦以乾居南，與《左氏》「敬如君所」義同也。而治漢《易》者向不稱述，王定柱云：「以中其所忌也。」故王、毛等皆不不引。近獨姚配中，王與姚同時，注《易》，於九家及荀注「乾舍於離」之說，知為反對乾南者之大障也，則駁之。夫《明夷》上坤下離，九家及荀胡以不云「坤舍於離」？則以不同位也。後之解經者，邪僻淫私，無理取鬧，經何由通乎？故夫解經須有解經之德也。

Now looking at the annotations on the hexagram "Tong Ren" (Union) from the Nine Schools of the Zhou Yi, it says, "Qian resides in Li" — "Reside" here means to stop or stay, referring to lodging or dwelling. This is because Qian is located in the south, as Qian and Li both belong to the southern direction, so Qian is said to reside in Li. It also says, "Union becomes the sun," meaning that Qian is regarded as the sun, consistent with the "Yi Lin." Xun Shuang also annotated "Tong Ren" saying, "Qian resides in Li, and they dwell together," which again takes Qian to be in the south, similar to the meaning in the "Zuo Zhuan" of "respecting as the sovereign's command." However, those who studied the Han dynasty's interpretation of the Yi have never cited this passage. Wang Dingzhu said, "Because it struck at their taboo." Therefore, people like Wang Maosheng and Mao Qilin did not cite it. Recently, only Yao Peizhong (who lived at the same time as Wang Dingzhu) wrote the "Yao Shi Xue" on the Zhou Yi, realizing that the view of "Qian residing in Li" from the Nine Schools and Xun Shuang was a major obstacle to the idea that Qian is in the south, and thus he refuted it. Now ask, the hexagram Mingyi (Darkness) has the upper trigram Kun and the lower trigram Li. Why didn't the Nine Schools and Xun Shuang say "Kun resides in Li"? Because Kun and Li are not in the same position. Later interpreters of the classics, with their crooked intentions and selfishness, made unreasonable disturbances, how could the meaning of the classics still be coherent? Therefore, those who interpret the classics must first possess the virtue of interpreting the classics.

按姚氏所駁九家之說，謂「火同於天，若天不同於火」者，皆暗避乾南之說。又謂「傳於離言火言電不言日」，而忘《離》傳之言日，愈迥護愈分明，至為可哂。益足證乾南之象，荀氏已知，與管輅所疑同也。王氏為漢學鉅子，獨於先天不徇流俗，誠以其左證不能掩也。又杭氏云：「《大有》《同人》《比》《頤》《噬嗑》《節》《豐》等卦，皆以先後天同位而命名。」自東漢卦象失傳，皆不知此等卦名由於先後天，苦求其故而不得，遂穿鑿矣。

Now looking at Yao Peizhong's refutation of the nine schools, he says, "It is fire that corresponds to Heaven, not Heaven that corresponds to fire," such statements are all trying to avoid the idea that "Heaven is in the south." He also says that the Commentary on the Judgment and the Image Commentary mention fire and lightning but not the sun when discussing the hexagram Li, yet he overlooks the fact that the commentary on Li clearly refers to the sun. The more he tries to cover up, the more obvious the flaws become; it is truly laughable. This actually further proves that the image of "Heaven in the south" was already known by Xun Shuang, and it is the same issue that Guan Lu doubted. Wang Dingzhu is a renowned scholar of the Han school, yet he alone does not follow the common view on the Earlier Heaven, because the evidence is clear and cannot be concealed. Hang Xinzhai also says that the hexagrams Da You, Tong Ren, Bi, Yi, Shi He, Jie, and Feng are all named based on the meaning of the same position in both Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven. Since the Han dynasty lost the knowledge of the hexagram images, people no longer knew that these hexagram names originated from the positions in Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven. They struggled to find reasons but could not understand them, so they had to resort to forced interpretations.

又按《太玄》云：「南北定位，東西通氣。」是以南北釋「天地定位」，以東西釋「水火不相射」及「相逮」也，皆先天位也。故《漢上易》引以為注。此亦乾南坤北離東坎西之見於西漢者也。

Yang Xiong's "Tai Xuan" says: "North and south are fixed positions, east and west are channels for energy." This uses north and south to explain the "Heaven and Earth are positioned" in "Shuo Gua," and uses east and west to explain "water and fire do not oppose each other" and "water and fire complement each other." All of this discusses the Earlier Heaven arrangement. Therefore, Zhu Zhen's "Han Shang Yi Zhuan" cites it as a commentary. This is also an example of the idea that Qian is in the south, Kun in the north, Li in the east, and Kan in the west appearing in the Western Han dynasty.

行唐尚秉和節之撰

This volume is still written by Shang Binghe, a native of Xingtang (now Xingtang County, Hebei Province). Shang's name is "Jie Zhi."

余自幼好讀焦氏《易林》，如《蒙》之《節》云：「三夫共妻，莫適為雌，子無名氏，翁不可知。」及《坤》之《剝》云：「南山大獲，盜我媚妾，怯不敢逐，退而獨宿。」等林詞，酷愛其語，而莫能通其義。所謂通其義者，非祗知其故事人物，以林詞既為某卦而設，其詞必與卦象有關。乃求之既久，毫無所入，遂亦置之。後忽思《節》林之「三夫共妻」，因《節》卦中爻震為長男，艮為少男，上坎為中男，共三男象，震為夫，故曰「三夫」；祗下兌一女象，故曰「三夫共妻」，果林詞從象生也。由此推之，其言正象者，往往而解，然十不過二三，其餘再四求索，仍不能通，遂又置之，而從事於《易》。

I have always loved reading Jiao Yanshou's "Yi Lin," such as "The Meng Hexagram to the Jie Hexagram" which says, "Three men share one wife, none can be the female, the son has no name, the old man is unknown," and "The Kun Hexagram to the Bo Hexagram" which says, "The southern mountain has great harvest, thieves take my beautiful concubine, I am timid and dare not chase, I retreat and sleep alone." I greatly admire the wording of these Yi Lin verses, but I do not understand their meanings. To understand the meaning is not only to know the stories and characters; since each Yi Lin verse is set for a particular hexagram, the words must be related to the hexagram's image. However, after searching for a long time without finding a way in, I gave it up. Later, I suddenly thought about the "Three Men Share One Wife" line from the Jie Hexagram: The Jie Hexagram has the兑 (Dui) above and the坎 (Kan) below. The second to fourth lines form the Zhen (Zhen) trigram, which represents the Elder Son, and the third to fifth lines form the Gen (Gen) trigram, which represents the Younger Son. The upper trigram is Kan, representing the Middle Son. There are three male images, and Zhen represents the husband, so it is called "three husbands." The entire hexagram has only one female image in the lower trigram Dui, so it is called "three husbands share one wife." This shows that the Yi Lin verses indeed come from the hexagram's image. By analogy, whenever the primary hexagram's image is used, it is often possible to understand, but among ten verses, only two or three can be understood. The rest, after repeated searching, still remain unclear, so I put it aside again and turned my attention to studying the Zhou Yi.

久之，知《易》用旁通。旁通者，卽來氏所謂「錯」，今所謂「對象」，乾對坤，坎對離，艮對兌，震對巽是也，相對卽相通。《說卦》「山澤通氣」，氣通則往來不分；「雷風相薄」，相薄則合而為一；「水火相逮」，相逮則凝而為一。故《履》下兌，兌通艮，卽言虎；《睽》上離，離通坎，故《睽》上九爻詞象全用坎；《鼎》，形卦也，而《鼎》之形不在《鼎》而在《屯》，《鼎》通《屯》故也。

After long study, one comes to understand that the Zhou Changes use the concept of "parallel transmission" or "bypassing." What is meant by "parallel transmission" is what Lai Zhide called "error," and today we call it "opposite." For example, Qian corresponds to Kun, Kan corresponds to Li, Gen corresponds to Dui, and Zhen corresponds to Xun. In these pairs, the two hexagrams have all six lines reversed in yin and yang, and thus they are opposite and connected. The Sayings on the Hexagrams say, "Mountains and marshes communicate through their qi," meaning that when qi is connected, movement and stillness are not separated. It also says, "Thunder and wind are in conflict," meaning that when they are in conflict, they merge into one. It also says, "Water and fire are in mutual pursuit," meaning that when they are in mutual pursuit, they coalesce into one. Therefore, the hexagram of Li (Walking) has its lower trigram as Dui, and since Dui corresponds to Gen, and Gen represents the tiger, the hexagram statement and line statements of Li mention "walking on a tiger's tail." The hexagram of Gui (Strife) has its upper trigram as Li, and since Li corresponds to Kan, the line statement of the ninth line at the top of Gui uses the imagery of Kan, such as "carrying a ghost in a cart," "first drawing the bow," and "not robbers but wedding guests." The hexagram of Ding (Tripod) is based on the shape of the vessel, but the shape of the tripod is not found in the hexagram itself, but rather in the hexagram of Tun (Obstruction), because Ding and Tun are opposite to each other.

又知《易》用覆象，來氏曰「綜」，亦名「反象」。《大過》九五「枯楊生華」，以上兌為反巽，巽木，故亦曰「楊」，與九二同。《損》六五爻詞與《益》六二同，以《損》覆卽為《益》，《益》六二卽《損》六五。《夬》九四與《姤》九三爻詞同，以《夬》覆卽為《姤》，《姤》九三卽《夬》九四也。

The Zhou Changes use the concept of "covering the image" (覆象), which Lai Zhide calls "comprehensive" (综) or "reversed image" (反象). This means turning a hexagram upside down to obtain a corresponding image. In the line statement of the fifth line of the hexagram Da Guo (大过), it says "a withered elm produces flowers." The upper trigram of Da Guo is Dui (兑), and when turned upside down, it becomes Xun (巽). The Sayings on the Trigrams state that Xun represents wood, so here it refers to "elm," matching the line statement of the second line of Da Guo, "a withered elm produces a sprout." The line statement of the fifth line of Dun (损), "a tortoise with ten friends," is exactly the same as the line statement of the second line of Yi (益). This is because turning Dun upside down results in Yi, and the second line of Yi corresponds to the fifth line of Dun. The line statement of the fourth line of Guai (夬), "the buttocks have no skin, his movement is hesitant," is the same as the line statement of the third line of Gou (姤). This is because turning Guai upside down results in Gou, and the third line of Gou corresponds to the fourth line of Guai.

又知《易》用半象。半象之名，起於虞翻。翻注《需》「小有言」云「震象半見」，《小畜》「密雲不雨」及《兌》云「坎象半見」，故後人皆以半象始於虞翻。《易林》常用之。實《履》與《歸妹》之「眇能視，跛能履」，皆半象也。故小象曰：「眇能視，不足以有明也；跛能履，不足以有行也。」兌為半震，故曰「行不足」；為半離，故曰「明不足」。《歸妹》下亦兌，故詞與《履》同。

It is also known that the "Zhou Yi" uses the concept of "half image." The term "half image" originated from Yu Fan. He explained the line statement "small words" in "Xu" nine two as "the image of Zhen is half visible," and in "Xiao Xu" "dense clouds without rain" and in the "Dui" hexagram as "the image of Kan is half visible," so later scholars believed that the concept of "half image" began with Yu Fan. In fact, the "Yi Lin" frequently uses this concept. In "Lv" six three and "Gui Mei" initial nine and nine two, "blind but able to see, lame but able to walk," both use the concept of "half image." Therefore, the "Small Image Commentary" says: "blind but able to see, is not sufficient for clear vision; lame but able to walk, is not sufficient for movement." The lower trigram of "Lv" is Dui, and the second and third lines of Dui consist of one yang and one yin, which correspond exactly to the lower half of Zhen. Therefore, it is called "half Zhen," since Zhen governs movement, and only half is obtained, hence "movement is insufficient." These two lines are also the lower half of Li, so it is called "half Li," since Li governs brightness, and only half is obtained, hence "brightness is insufficient." The lower trigram of "Gui Mei" is also Dui, so the line statements are the same as those of "Lv."

又知《易》用中爻。《繫詞》云：「若夫雜物撰德，辨是與非，則非其中爻不備。」中爻者，三至五互一卦，二至四互一卦，卽上下互也。說者謂言互卦最古者莫過於《左傳》。《左傳》陳厲公筮敬仲，遇《觀》之《否》，曰：「風為天。」言巽變乾。「於土上，山也。」言《否》二至四互艮也。又曰：「猶有觀焉。」言《否》三至五仍為巽，雖變為《否》卦，仍上巽下坤，與《觀》卦同也。自杜注以來，解此句皆誤。

It is also known that the Zhou Changes use the concept of 'middle lines'. The Great Treatise says: 'When dealing with complex matters, expressing virtue, and distinguishing right from wrong, one cannot be complete without the use of the middle lines.' The middle lines refer to the hexagram formed by the lines three to five and the hexagram formed by the lines two to four, which are called the upper mutual hexagram and the lower mutual hexagram. Commentators believe that the earliest record of mutual hexagrams is found in the Zuo Zhuan. The Zuo Zhuan records that Chen Li Gong, for Jingzhong, cast a divination and obtained the hexagram Guan changing into Po. The diviner said, 'Wind is heaven,' meaning that the upper trigram of Guan, Xun, changed into Qian. He also said, 'On the earth, it is a mountain,' referring to the hexagram Po, where the lines two to four form the trigram Gen (mountain), with the earth trigram Kun below. He further said, 'There is still the aspect of observation,' meaning that the lines three to five of Po still form the trigram Xun, although Po has become the hexagram, it remains with Xun above and Kun below, the same as the hexagram Guan. Since Du Yu made his commentary, all those who have explained this sentence have been wrong.

豈知《易》《謙》九三云「勞謙君子」，以二至四互坎，坎為勞卦，故曰「勞謙」；《豫》六二云「介于石」，以二至四互艮，艮石，故曰「介于石」，是《易》用下互也。《小畜》九三云「夫妻反目」，以三至五互離，離目，故曰「反目」；又《賁》六四云「白馬翰如」，以三至五互震，震為馬，為的顙，故曰「白馬」，是《易》用上互也。

It is not known that in The Zhou Changes (I Ching), the line "Lao Qian Jun Zi" (the humble and diligent gentleman) in the hexagram of "Modesty" (Qian) is because the lines two to four form the trigram Kan, and The Sayings on the Hexagrams states that Kan is the trigram of labor, hence it is called "Lao Qian." In the hexagram of "Joy" (Yu), the line "Jie Yu Shi" (between stone) is because the lines two to four form the trigram Gen, which represents stone, hence it is said "between stone" — this is the use of the lower mutual trigram in The Zhou Changes. In the hexagram of "Small Accumulation" (Xiao Xu), the line "Fu Qi Fan Mu" (spouses quarrel) is because the lines three to five form the trigram Li, and The Sayings on the Hexagrams states that Li represents the eye, hence it is said "quarrel" — this is the use of the upper mutual trigram in The Zhou Changes. In the hexagram of "Brightness" (Ben), the line "Bai Ma Han Ru" (white horse galloping) is because the lines three to five form the trigram Zhen, and The Sayings on the Hexagrams states that Zhen represents a horse, and concerning horses, it says "the forehead" (white mark), hence it is said "white horse."

他若《噬嗑》六二云「噬膚滅鼻」，以《噬嗑》下互艮，艮為膚為鼻，是《易》用下互；六三云「噬臘肉遇毒」，則以三至五互坎，坎為毒為肉，故三四五三爻皆曰肉。虞翻等以肉屬下互艮，後儒因之，誤之遠矣。豈知孟氏逸象原有肉，以字訛為「內」，此象遂爾失傳。《易林》以坎為脯，是其證，是又用上互，尤為顯著。此其概略也。

In addition, the line statement of the sixth line in the second position of the "噬嗑" hexagram says "to bite the flesh and destroy the nose," because the lower trigrams (second to fourth lines) form the trigram Gen, which represents flesh and the nose. This is using the lower trigrams. The line statement of the sixth line in the third position says "to bite dried meat and meet poison," because the trigrams formed by the third to fifth lines form the trigram Kan, which represents poison and meat. Therefore, the line statements of the third, fourth, and fifth lines all mention "meat." Yu Fan and others assigned "meat" to the lower trigrams Gen, and later scholars followed this view, which was a great mistake. They did not realize that Meng Xi's lost images originally included "Kan represents meat," but the character "meat" was mistakenly written as "inner," causing this image to be lost. The "Easy Forest" (易林) takes Kan as representing dried meat, which is clear evidence—this is using the upper trigrams, especially evident. This is a general explanation of how images are used in the "Zhou Changes."

蓋對象者，陽與陰相對，陰與陽相對，陰陽既相對，卽常往來流通，合而為一，不能分析。覆象者，艮反為震，震反為艮，兌反為巽，巽反為兌，正倒雖不同，而體則一。半象者，杭辛齋雲基於卦位：震初位，艮三位，震起艮止，中自然離，故離兼艮震，離位二也；巽位在四，兌位在上，兌見巽伏，中自然坎，故坎兼兌巽，坎位五也。清儒焦循謂半震亦可作半兌，半艮亦可作半巽，以是駁虞仲翔，蓋因不知卦位，故誤若此。今按《易林》所用卦位之說，亦不拘也。

In general, the concept of "opposite" refers to the mutual opposition between a yang line and a yin line, or between a yin line and a yang line. Since yin and yang are opposite, they often flow and interact, merging into one and being inseparable. The term "inverted image" refers to the reversal of the trigrams: Gen becomes Zhen, Zhen becomes Gen, Dui becomes Xun, and Xun becomes Dui. Although viewed from front or back they appear different, the structure of the trigram remains the same. The term "half image" is explained by Hang Xinzhai as being based on the positions of the trigrams. Zhen is in the first position, Gen in the third. Zhen represents movement, Gen represents stillness. Between them naturally arises Li, so Li includes both Gen and Zhen. Li is in the second position. Xun is in the fourth position, Dui in the top position. When Dui appears, Xun is hidden. Between them naturally arises Kan, so Kan includes both Dui and Xun. Kan is in the fifth position. Qing scholar Jiao Xun argued that half Zhen can also be considered as half Dui, and half Gen as half Xun, thus refuting Yu Fan. This misunderstanding arose because he did not understand the positions of the trigrams. However, according to my examination, the "Yi Lin" does not strictly adhere to this theory of trigram positions.

至中爻上下互，尤為《易經》之根本。昔人謂《易經》無一字不根於象，《易》若無中爻，則詞多泛設矣，有是理哉。朱子晚年蓋深知易象之重，而嘆象失其傳，然其注《易》，仍不敢用中爻，祗《大壯》一卦用之，則以《程傳》方風行，恐乾物議也。豈知《程傳》之浮泛無根，更甚於王弼哉。

As for the middle line and its upper and lower interacting trigrams, they are especially fundamental to the Yi Jing. Earlier scholars said that every word in the Yi Jing is rooted in imagery; if the Zhou Yi did not use the middle line, then the line statements would be mostly empty talk, which would be unreasonable. Zhu Xi, in his later years, probably deeply understood the importance of the trigrams, and lamented the loss of the imagery, yet when commenting on the Zhou Yi, he still dared not use the middle line, only using it once in the hexagram Da Zhuang. This was because Cheng Yi's Yichuan Commentary on the Changes was widely popular, and he feared criticism. Little did he know that the superficial and rootless nature of the Cheng Commentary was even worse than that of Wang Bi.

以上易說，既少有窺，尋再讀《易林》，遂解者漸多，乃恍然悟《易林》之詞，無一不本於《易》也。《易》《比》九五云「顯比」，坎隱伏，胡有顯象？則以對象離主文明也。《大有》六五云「有孚」，象曰「信以發志」，夫曰孚、曰信、曰志，離皆無此事，則以對象《比》上坎，坎為孚為信為志也。《易林》本之，各卦爻詞用對象者十之三四，本象與對象雜用者十之三四，其專用本卦象者，二三而已。

The four kinds of interpretation (by analogy, by reversal, by half-interpretation, and by the middle line) have already been roughly understood. Then, when reading the "Yi Lin," the number of passages that can be explained increases gradually, and I suddenly realized that every phrase in the "Yi Lin" originates from the "Zhou Yi." For example, the "Bi" hexagram's "Nine in the Fifth" says "visible comparison," and the upper trigram of "Bi" is Kan. The "Shuo Gua" says that Kan represents concealment, so how can there be an image of "visible"? Actually, it takes the opposite hexagram "Da You" and uses its trigram Li, which represents civilization, hence "visible." The "Da You" hexagram's "Six in the Fifth" says "having sincerity," and the "Xiao Xiang" says "trust to inspire the mind." The terms "sincerity," "trust," and "mind" are not found in the trigrams of Li. Actually, it takes the upper trigram Kan from the opposite hexagram "Bi," since Kan represents sincerity, trust, and mind. The "Yi Lin" follows this principle: in the divinatory phrases of each hexagram, about a third to a fourth are taken from the opposite hexagram, about a third to a fourth combine the original and opposite hexagrams, and only about a third to a fourth use the imagery of the original hexagram alone.

如《復》之《巽》云：「三人俱行，一人言北，伯仲欲南，少叔不得，中路分道，爭闘相賊。」繇詞巽，而象則全用震。震為人為行，數三，上震下震，二至四反震，共三震，故曰「三人俱行」。震為南，互坎，坎數一，二至四反震，與上下震相反，故曰「一人言北」，震為言也。震為伯，坎為仲，故曰「伯仲」；震為南，故曰「欲南」；艮少男，故曰「少叔」；艮為覆震向下，故曰「不得」，言不從伯仲南行也。艮為道路，坎為中，或向南或向北，則分道矣。震為爭，艮為手，二至上反正兩艮震相背，故曰「爭鬥」；坎為盜賊，故曰「相賊」，無一字不用震象。

For example, the line from the hexagram "Fu" changing into "Xun" says: "Three people are walking together, one says north, the elder brother and middle brother want to go south, the younger and younger brother cannot follow, they part ways in the middle of the road, and there is fighting and betrayal." The line is associated with the hexagram "Xun," but it uses the image of "Zhen." This is because the hexagram "Xun" corresponds to "Zhen" through the concept of mutual opposition. "Zhen" represents people and movement, and its number is three. The hexagram "Xun" has two "Xun" trigrams, each containing a hidden "Zhen." The lines two to four form the trigram "Dui," which contains a hidden "Gen," and "Gen" is the inverted "Zhen," known as "reverse Zhen." In total, there are three "Zhen," hence the phrase "three people are walking together." "Zhen" is located in the south in the Earlier Heaven arrangement. The lines three to five form the trigram "Li," which contains a hidden "Kan," and "Kan" has the number one in the Later Heaven arrangement. The direction of the "reverse Zhen" is opposite to the upper and lower "Zhen," hence the phrase "one says north," with "saying" also derived from "Zhen." "Zhen" represents the eldest son, hence "the elder brother," and "Kan" represents the middle son, hence "the middle brother." Therefore, "the elder brother and middle brother want to go south." "Gen" represents the youngest son, hence "the younger and younger brother." "Gen" is the inverted "Zhen" facing downward, hence "cannot follow," meaning he does not follow the elder and middle brothers to the south. "Gen" represents roads, and "Kan" represents the middle, so one going south and one going north results in "parting ways in the middle of the road." "Zhen" represents conflict, and "Gen" represents hands. Between the second and top lines, there are two sets of "Gen" and "Zhen" facing each other, hence "fighting and conflict." The "Sayings of the Divination" states "Kan represents theft," hence "mutual betrayal." The entire line of interpretation uses only the image of "Zhen."

又若《訟》之《鼎》云：「虎聚摩牙。」《鼎》中爻兌，兌為牙；對象艮，艮為虎，艮手，為摩。之《小過》云：「青牛白咽。」《小過》對象互大離，為牛；震東方，色青，故曰「青牛」，則又本象與對象兼用。推焦氏之意，陰陽氣既相薄相通相逮，卽混合而不能分，此立竿則彼必見影，見其一既知其二，故混同若此。反之於《易》，亦往往如此也。《左傳》史蘇曰：「《震》之《離》亦《離》之《震》。」此易說之最古者也，卽旁通也。晁景迂云：「陰伏肇乎所配，而終不脫乎本，以隱顯佐神明者謂之伏。」伏卽對象也。學者能明晁氏之言，則《易》與《易林》用旁通之故，可瞭然矣。

For example, "The hexagram 'Strife' changing to 'Tripod' says: 'Tigers gather and rub their teeth.' In 'Tripod,' the third to fifth lines form the trigram Dui, which represents mouth, hence teeth; Dui's object is Gen, which represents tiger, and Gen also represents hand, hence rubbing. 'The hexagram 'Strife' changing to 'Excess' says: 'A green ox and white throat.' 'Excess' has 'Zhongfu' as its object. 'Zhongfu' has all yang lines above and below, and all yin lines in the middle, forming the image of a large Li trigram, which represents ox; 'Excess' has Zhen as its upper trigram, which in Later Heaven is located in the east, and the color of the east is green, hence 'green ox'—this example uses both the original image and the object. Investigating Jiao Yanshou's intention: since yin and yang energies are close to each other, communicate with each other, and follow each other, they blend together and cannot be separated. If a pole is set up here, a shadow must appear there; seeing one implies knowing the other, hence the images are mixed together in this way. Conversely, looking at the 'Zhou Yi,' it is often like this. The 'Zuo Zhuan' records Shi Su saying: 'Zhen changes to Li, which is also Li changing to Zhen.' This is the oldest interpretation of the 'Zhou Yi,' explaining the concept of mutual transformation. Chao Shuo Zhi (with the courtesy name Jingyu) said: 'Yin's concealment arises from its matched side, yet ultimately does not separate from its original form; using concealment and revelation to assist the divine, is called "fu." ' Here, 'fu' refers to the object. If scholars understand Chao's statement, then the reason why the 'Zhou Yi' and 'Yi Lin' use mutual transformation becomes clear.

《易》之用覆象，如「十朋之龜」，如「臀無膚」，如「枯楊生華」，皆顯著，人能知之；其幽深之處，則不易知。如《困》卦之「有言不信」，則用覆兌也；《中孚》之「鶴鳴子和」，則用覆震覆艮也。推之於《頤》之「慎言語，節飲食」，《損》之「懲忿窒欲」，無不皆然。

The Zhou Changes use inverted images, such as the "ten tortoises" in the sixth line of the Duan hexagram and the second line of the Yi hexagram, or the "no skin on the buttocks" in the ninth line of the Guai hexagram and the ninth line of the Gou hexagram, or the "withered elm producing flowers" in the ninth line of the Da Guo hexagram, all of which are clearly visible and easily understood by everyone. However, for those more profound aspects, they are not so obvious. For example, the phrase "words are not believed" in the Kun hexagram uses an inverted Dui (Lake) trigram, with two Dui trigrams facing each other. The phrase "the crane calls in the shade, and its young respond" in the ninth line of the Zhong Fu hexagram uses an inverted Zhen (Thunder) and an inverted Gen (Mountain). Similarly, in the image of the Yi hexagram, "be cautious with words and restrain food," and in the image of the Shen hexagram, "restrain anger and suppress desires," all follow the same principle.

此外，如《左氏》昭五年《明夷》之《謙》云：「於人為言。」《謙》下艮，艮為覆震，震為人為言。又曰：「敗言為讒。」震覆卽言敗。又曰：「主人有言，主必讒也。」誠以《謙》反正兩震言相背，故曰「讒」。「有言」卽讒者，《明夷》離正反兩兌口相背，與《謙》之兩震言相背同，皆用覆也。

In addition, the "Zuo Zhuan" records in the fifth year of Zhao Gong that Zhuang叔 performed a divination for Mu Zi, obtaining the hexagram "Ming Yi" changing into "Qian." It says, "In human terms, this is 'speech'": the lower trigram of "Qian" is Gen, which is the inverted form of Zhen, and Zhen represents people and speech. It also says, "Speech leads to slander": when Zhen is inverted, "speech" becomes corrupted. Furthermore, it says, "If the master speaks, there must be slander": because the hexagram "Qian" contains both a positive and a negative Zhen, two "speeches" that are opposite to each other, thus resulting in "slander." The "speech" in "Ming Yi" is also slander because the lower trigram of "Ming Yi" is Li, which contains both a positive and a negative Dui, two "mouths" that are opposite to each other, following the same principle as the two "speeches" in "Qian" being opposite—both are based on the concept of inverted trigrams.

又晉筮嫁伯姬於秦，遇《歸妹》之《睽》，曰：「西鄰責言。」兌為西，故曰「西鄰」；兌為口舌為言，而三至四覆兌，兩兌口相對卽相背，故曰「責言」，與《明夷》之「有言」同也，用覆兌也。又曰：「敗於宗丘。」震為主為宗，為覆艮，故曰「宗丘」，亦用覆也。而《集解》古注，除九家以震為覆艮、虞翻以兌為反巽外，餘用者少。獨《易林》凡遇正反兩兌、兩震、兩艮，相反或相對者，不曰「相囓」，卽曰「相訟」；不曰「相擊」，卽曰「相闘」。而於《謙》卦，不曰「齊魯爭言」，卽曰「長舌為災」，尤與《左氏》讒義相合。於是《易》與《左氏》用覆之處，始得真解，回視東漢人所說，皆煙雲也。

For example, in the divination of the state of Jin, when Bo Ji was married to the state of Qin, the hexagram obtained was 《归妹》 changing into 《睽》. The yao text says, "The western neighbor demands words." Since Dui is located in the west in the Later Heaven, it is called "the western neighbor." The 《说卦》 says "Dui represents mouth and tongue," hence it refers to words. The third and fourth lines also form an inverted Dui, with two Dui mouths facing each other, hence "demanding words," which is similar to the "having words" in 《明夷》, both using the concept of inverted Dui. The yao text also says, "Defeated at the ancestral hill." Zhen represents the main element and the ancestral, while at the same time Zhen is the inverted image of Gen (Gen represents a hill), hence "ancestral hill," also using the concept of inverted images. However, in Li Dingzuo's 《周易集解》, the ancient annotations collected, except for the nine schools of 《易》 which take Zhen as the inverted Gen and Yu Fan who takes Dui as the inverted Xun, few use the concept of inverted images. Only 《易林》, whenever encountering two Dui, two Zhen, or two Gen that are opposite or facing each other, either says "mutual biting" or "mutual quarreling," or "mutual striking" or "mutual fighting." In the hexagram 《谦》, it is either "the states of Qi and Lu quarrel over words" or "long tongues bring disaster," especially consistent with the 《左传》 interpretation of inverted images as meaning slander. Thus, the use of inverted images in the 《The Zhou Changes (I Ching)》 and the 《左传》 has finally been properly explained. Looking back at the views of the people of the Eastern Han dynasty, they were nothing more than fleeting phenomena.

《易》用半象，前既言之矣。然《易》用半象之處不多，故《易林》用之亦少，獨於《既》《未濟》二卦，十八九用之。他若《解》《家人》《蹇》《睽》《漸》《歸妹》六對象，亦往往用之。初視之皆不解其所謂，後由《易》推《易林》，始知其用半象。如《需》之《既濟》云「遊居石門」，則以《既濟》中爻有半艮象，故曰「居」曰「石」曰「門」，半震為遊；《渙》之《未濟》云「三虎上山」，《未濟》有三半艮形，故曰「三虎上山」，半震為登為上，皆用半象也。

The Zhou Changes use half-figures, which has already been mentioned. However, the use of half-figures in the Zhou Changes is not frequent, so their use in the Yi Lin is also limited, except in the two hexagrams of Ji Ji and Wei Ji, where nearly all instances employ them. Additionally, in three pairs of hexagrams that are mutual counterparts—Xu and Ji Ji, Jian and Kui, Jie and Gui Mei—half-figures are also often used. At first glance, these Yi Lin phrases seem meaningless, but after deducing the Yi Lin from the Zhou Changes, it becomes clear that they employ half-figures. For example, "Xu to Ji Ji" says "dwelling by the stone gate": the Ji Ji hexagram contains a half-figure of Gen (a mountain), which is composed of one yin and one yang moving upward, exactly the upper half of Gen. Gen represents stopping, small stones, and gateways, hence the terms "dwelling," "stone," and "gate." The hexagram also contains a half-figure of Zhen (thunder), which signifies movement, hence the term "traveling." Another example is "Huan to Wei Ji" saying "three tigers ascending the mountain": the Wei Ji hexagram has six lines with alternating yin and yang, containing three half-figures of Gen. Gen represents tigers and mountains, hence the phrase "three tigers ascending the mountain"; the half-figure of Zhen signifies ascending. These are all examples of the use of half-figures.

《易》有上下互，漢魏人除王輔嗣外，殆皆用之。惟《易經》六十四卦中，中四爻爻詞往往與初上異，故下《繫》云：「若夫雜物撰德，辨是與非，非中爻不備。」是中爻似重於初上也。《易林》本之，往往視中爻象重於本象。如《坤》之《離》云「齊魯爭言，戰於龍門」，則以《離》中爻上兌，兌魯；下巽，巽齊；正覆兩兌口相背，故曰「爭言」；兌伏艮，故曰「門」；巽伏震，故曰「龍門」，全於本象不及。又《大壯》之《離》云「築室水上，危於一齒，丑寅不徙，辰巳有咎」，亦全用中爻。

The Zhou Changes include upper and lower mutual trigrams. Except for Wang Bi (styled Fuxi), scholars of the Han and Wei dynasties mostly used them. Among the sixty-four hexagrams of the Book of Changes, the statements of the fourth line often differ from those of the first and top lines. Therefore, the Great Treatise says: "To deal with complex matters, express virtue, and distinguish right from wrong, one cannot be complete without using the middle line." This shows that the middle line seems more important than the first and top lines. The Yi Lin follows this approach, often considering the image of the middle line more important than that of the primary hexagram. For example, in "Kun changing to Li," it says, "Qu and Qi disputed words, fighting at the Dragon Gate." Li is a double Li; the trigrams formed by lines three to five are Dui, representing Lu; and the trigrams formed by lines two to four are Xun, representing Qi. The two Dui trigrams, one upright and one inverted, face each other, hence "disputed words." Dui is hidden beneath Gen, which represents a gate, hence "gate." Xun is hidden beneath Zhen, which represents a dragon, hence "Dragon Gate." The entire Yi Lin statement does not mention the image of the primary hexagram. Another example is "Da Zhuang changing to Li," which says, "Building a house on water, dangerous as a single tooth;丑 and 寅 do not move, 辰 and 巳 bring misfortune." This also entirely relies on the image of the middle line.

以上易說，除中爻為東漢人熟用不疑外，餘對象、覆象、半象，東漢人似半信半疑，偶用之，絕不能貫徹全經，則以西漢師說中絕，知有此例耳，未得師傳，不敢決也。此外東漢人所知者，《易林》無不用之。

The above mentioned interpretations of the Book of Changes, except for the middle trigram which was skillfully and confidently used by people of the Eastern Han dynasty, the other elements such as the object trigram, inverted image, and half-image were only half-believed and occasionally used by the Eastern Han scholars, and could not be consistently applied throughout the entire text. This was because the tradition of the Western Han scholars had already been interrupted, and they only knew of these kinds of interpretations without having received the transmission from their teachers. Therefore, they dared not use them decisively. Apart from this, all the interpretations of the Book of Changes known to the Eastern Han scholars were fully utilized in the "Yi Lin."

納甲之說，始見於《乾鑿度》，更見於《京房易傳》，最古之易說也。茲《易林》《家人》之《大壯》云：「六甲無子，以喪其戌，五丁不親，癸走出門。」又若「甲戊已庚，隨時轉行」，林中尤數見，詳解皆在《易林注》。又凡遇乾坤則曰東者，亦指納甲也。實干甲震庚離已，《易》原有也。

The theory of Najia is first mentioned in the "Yi Wei · Gan Zao Du," and also appears in "Jing's Tradition of the Changes." It is an extremely ancient interpretation of the Yi. In the "Forest of Changes," for example, in the hexagram "Family" changing to "Great Strength," it says: "The six Jia have no sons, losing their Xu; the five Ding are not close, and Gui leaves the door." Statements like "Jia, Wu, Ji, Geng, move according to the time" are especially common in the "Forest of Changes," and detailed explanations are provided in my "Commentary on Jiao's Forest of Changes." Additionally, whenever乾 or坤 is mentioned with the direction "East," it refers to Najia—乾 takes Jia, and Jia belongs to the East. In fact, the system of assigning stems to trigrams, such as乾 taking Jia, Zhen taking Geng, and Li taking Ji, originally existed in the main text of the "Zhou Yi."

荀爽注「大明終始」云：「乾起坎而終於離，坤起離而終於坎，離坎者，乾坤之家，陰陽之府。」後儒謂此語發前人所未發，有功於《易》。按此用闢卦也。闢卦最古，《易》爻詞用之，《坤》上六「龍戰于野」是也；文言亦用之，「陰凝於陽」是也；《左傳》亦用之，晉人筮得《復》，曰「南國蹙，射其元王中厥目」，此卽以《復》居正北，荀所謂「乾起坎」也。《易經》用闢卦，人或知之；《左氏》之用闢卦，人則不知。茲《易林》《恆》之《謙》云：「咸陽辰巳，長安戌亥。」以乾居辰巳，以坤居戌亥，此焦氏已言闢卦之證也。

Xun Shuang's commentary on the "Commentary on the Judgment" of the "Qian" hexagram says: "The Qian hexagram begins at Kan and ends at Li, while the Kun hexagram begins at Li and ends at Kan; Li and Kan are the homes of Qian and Kun, and the treasuries of yin and yang." Later scholars said this statement was something previous scholars had not mentioned, and thus it was of great benefit to the "Zhou Yi." According to this, the use here is of the "Bi Gu" (the twelve message hexagrams). The "Bi Gu" is extremely ancient: the "Yao Ci" (Line Statements) of the "Zhou Yi" use it; the line "Dragon fights in the wild" in the sixth line of the "Kun" hexagram refers to this (the tenth month of the "Kun" hexagram is Hai, and yin reaches its extreme, so yang comes to fight it); the "Wenyan" (Commentary on the Words) also uses it, "Yin condenses over yang" refers to this; the "Zuo Zhuan" (Commentary of Zuo) also uses it, when the Jin people divined the "Fu" hexagram, the historian said, "The southern state is squeezed, shoot its head, the king hits his eye," because the "Fu" hexagram is the eleventh month's hexagram and is located in the direction of Due North, which is exactly what Xun Shuang said, "Qian begins at Kan." The "Zhou Yi" uses the "Bi Gu," which people may still be aware of; the "Zuo Zhuan" uses the "Bi Gu," which people are not aware of. Now, the "Yi Lin" ("Forest of the Changes") in the line "The 'Heng' hexagram changes to the 'Qian' hexagram" says: "Xianyang is in the hours of Chen and Si, Chang'an is in the hours of Xu and Hai." This places Qian in the hours of Chen and Si, and Kun in the hours of Xu and Hai, which is clear evidence that Jiao Yanshou had already used the "Bi Gu."

《說卦》震為長子，於坎、艮卽不言為中子、為少子，《易林》本之，凡但言子者，皆指震象，無指艮、坎者，此必有師說也。又按《蒙》九二云「子克家」，以互震為子也；《中孚》九二云「其子和之」，以覆震為子也；《鼎》初六云「得妾以其子」，因《鼎》下巽，巽伏震，震為子；又《蠱》初六云「有子」，亦以巽伏震為子。而《易》於艮、坎，則無但言子者，《易林》蓋仍用《易》也。而虞仲翔於《蠱》初上艮為子，於《鼎》必以四變成震為說，且必以震為長子，以刖於艮坎，豈知《易》祗言子者必指震，若《隨》《漸》之「小子」方指艮，不祗言子也。此亦西漢師說至東漢中絕之證也。

The Shuo Guà says "Zhen represents the eldest son." However, it does not say that Kan or Gen represent the middle son or the youngest son. The Yì Lín follows this example: whenever only the character "zi" (son) is mentioned, it refers to the image of Zhen, and never to Gen or Kan. There must be a tradition passed down by teachers. Looking at the Zhou Changes, in the Meng hexagram, the line Nine in the Second says "the son can manage the family," using the Zhen trigram formed by the lines two to four as the son. In the Zhongfú hexagram, the line Nine in the Second says "his son will harmonize with him," using the Gen trigram formed by the lines three to five (Gen is the inverted Zhen) as the son. In the Ding hexagram, the line Initial Six says "obtaining a concubine and her son," because the lower trigram of Ding is Xun, which contains a hidden Zhen, and Zhen represents the son. In the Gu hexagram, the line Initial Six says "having a son," also using the hidden Zhen in Xun as the son. The Zhou Changes never mentions "son" alone in the hexagrams of Kan or Gen, showing that the Yì Lín still follows the Zhou Changes. However, Yu Fan in the Gu hexagram uses the upper trigram Gen as the son, and in the Ding hexagram, he insists that the fourth line must change to form Zhen, and limits Zhen to the eldest son, thereby separating Gen and Kan from Zhen. But he does not realize that in the Zhou Changes, whenever "son" is mentioned alone, it always refers to Zhen. The "small son" mentioned in the Suì and Zhan hexagrams refers to Gen, but that is not a single mention of "son." This is also evidence of the tradition from the Western Han period breaking off in the Eastern Han period.

乾順行，坤逆行。《乾鑿度》云：「乾貞子，左行陽時六；坤貞午，右行陰時六。」此實易道陰陽往來交姤之樞紐，後儒知此者鮮，故解坤「西南得朋，東北喪朋」，不能得解。茲《易林》頤之艮云：「據斗運樞，順天無憂。」是以乾為順也。益之泰云：「政逆民憂。」泰坤為政、為逆、為民。雙歸妹之晉亦云，是皆以坤為逆也。

Heavenly Stem Qian moves in a forward direction, while Earthly Branch Kun moves in a reverse direction. The "Qian Zao Du" says: "Qian starts from the Zi position and moves left in a forward direction, governing six yang months; Kun starts from the Wu position and moves right in a reverse direction, governing six yin months." This is indeed the key point in the Way of the Book of Changes where yin and yang interact and merge. Few later Confucian scholars understood this, so their interpretations of the Hexagram Statement of Kun, "In the southwest one gains friends, in the northeast one loses friends," have always been unclear. Now let us take evidence from the "Jiao's Forest of Changes": In the "Yi to Gen" section, it says, "Based on the movement of the Big Dipper's pivot, moving in accordance with Heaven brings no worries." The term "顺" (smooth) is paired with "天" (Heaven), and Heaven refers to Qian, showing that the "Forest of Changes" associates Qian with "顺." In the "Yi to Tai" section, it says, "Oppressive governance causes people's worries." The lower hexagram is Tai and the upper is Kun; Kun represents governance, reversal, and the people, and the term "逆" (reversal) clearly comes from the image of Kun. The "Guimei" to "Jin" section also has similar expressions ("双" is likely a mistake for "又"). These are all evidence that the "Forest of Changes" associates Kun with "逆."

《易林》開章明義，於乾林云：「道陟石阪，胡言連蹇，譯瘖且聾，莫使道通。」言孤陽不通也，陽遇陰也。乾之坤云：「招殃來螫，害我邦國。」又屯之坤云：「采薪得麟，大命隕顛。」言純陰不生也，陰遇陰也。乃乾之泰則吉，之否亦吉，則以陰陽相遇也。《易林》開端標義如此，《周易》樞機盡於此矣。

Jiao's Forest of Changes opens with a clear statement of its purpose. The first hexagram in the Qian trigram (Qian to Qian) says, "The path climbs the stone slope, speech is stammering, the interpreter is both mute and deaf, and the message cannot be conveyed." This refers to the inability of isolated yang to be communicated, because the primary hexagram is entirely yang, and yang meets yang (the original text says "yang meets yin," but according to the parallel phrase "yin meets yin" in the following text, this should be a mistake and should be "yang meets yang"). The hexagram "Qian to Kun" says, "Evil brings venomous stings, harming my state and country," and the hexagram "Zun to Kun" says, "Gathering firewood, a qilin is found, the great destiny falls and is overturned." The secondary hexagram in both cases is entirely yin Kun, indicating that pure yin cannot produce offspring because yin meets yin. As for "Qian to Tai" being auspicious and "Qian to Po" also being auspicious, this is because the hexagrams Tai and Po both represent the meeting of yin and yang. This is the example of meaning presented at the beginning of the Forest of Changes, and all the essential principles of the Zhou Changes are included here.

乃此義至東漢卽不明，致解升、節等卦多誤。後宋蔡淵《易象意言》云：「凡剛進而上，遇柔則利，如大壯之四、大畜之三是也；遇剛則不利，如大壯、大畜之初是也。」吳摯父先生說大畜云：「凡陽之行，遇陰則通，遇陽則阻，故初二皆不進，而三則利往。」說節云：「易以陽在前為塞，陰在前為通。初之不出，以九二在前，故曰知通塞；二則可出而不出，故有失時之凶。」於《易林》大旨，合若符契。後之學者唯不知此，故易說常晦；若能悟此，則全部義經，可迎刃而解矣。

However, this meaning became unclear by the Eastern Han dynasty, leading to many errors in interpreting hexagrams such as "Ascending" and "Restraint." Later, the Song dynasty scholar Cai Yuan wrote in "Yi Xiang Yi Yan": "Whenever a yang line advances upward and encounters a yin line ahead, it is advantageous; for example, in the hexagram 'Great Strength' with line nine in the fourth position and in 'Great Accumulation' with line nine in the third position. If a yang line meets another yang line ahead, it is not advantageous, as seen in the initial line of 'Great Strength' and 'Great Accumulation.'" Mr. Wu Zifu explained the hexagram 'Great Accumulation' by saying: "Whenever a yang line moves forward, it meets advantage if it encounters a yin line, but meets obstruction if it encounters another yang line. Therefore, lines nine at the beginning and nine in the second position cannot advance, while line nine in the third position is advantageous for moving forward." He explained the hexagram 'Restraint' by saying: "The Book of Changes considers yang in front as obstruction and yin in front as smooth passage. The initial line 'not going out of the gate' is because line nine in the second position is blocking the way, hence the Image Commentary says 'knowing whether there is smooth passage or obstruction.' Line nine in the second position could go out but does not, hence the calamity of 'losing the right time.'" These interpretations fully align with the main idea of Jiao's Forest of Changes, like two pieces of a seal fitting perfectly. Later scholars failed to understand this point, so interpretations of the Book of Changes often became obscure and difficult to comprehend. If one can grasp this principle, then the entire Book of Changes can be understood easily.

兌為羊，乃大壯上六亦曰羊，則以大壯形仍兌也。艮為床，乃剝初二亦皆曰床，則以剝形仍艮也。來矣鮮名曰大象。大象者，卽以頤為大離、大過為大坎是也。此其義，至東漢亦失傳，於大壯、艮之羊、床皆不能解。後治漢易如惠棟父子等，凡遇大象，卽曰漢人未言，不敢用。豈知惠氏所謂漢儒，祗馬、鄭、荀、虞等耳。若焦贛，則時時用大象也。夬之大過云：「久陰霖雨。」坎為霖為雨，是以大過為大坎也。蹇之頤云：「張羅百目。」離為綱羅為目，是以頤為大離也。又損之頤云：「十九同投，為雉所離。」離伏坎，坎為彈丸，離為雉。用大象之多，不可勝數也。

The *Sayua* (Sayu) states that *Dui* (Lake) is represented by a sheep, and the *Dazhuang* (Great Strength) hexagram's *Shangliu* (Six at the Top) line statement also mentions "sheep." This is because the *Dazhuang* hexagram has four yang lines at the bottom and two yin lines at the top, making its overall shape resemble an enlarged *Dui*. Similarly, the *Sayua* states that *Gen* (Mountain) is represented by a bed, and the *Bao* (Decay) hexagram's *Chuliu* (Six at the Beginning) and *Liu'er* (Six in the Second) both mention "bed." This is because the overall shape of the *Bao* hexagram still resembles an enlarged *Gen*. In the Ming dynasty, Lai Zhide (Lixian) referred to this method of taking symbolic forms as "daxiang" (great image). "Daxiang" means treating the *Yi* (Nourishment) hexagram as a large *Li* (Fire), and the *Daguo* (Great Excess) hexagram as a large *Kan* (Water). This principle had already been lost by the Eastern Han dynasty, so the meanings of "sheep" in *Dazhuang* and "bed" in *Bao* (Gen structure) could not be understood. Later scholars of the Han *Yi* (Book of Changes), such as Hui Dong and his son, whenever encountering "daxiang," would say that Han scholars had not discussed it and thus dared not use it. They did not realize that the so-called "Han scholars" referred to by the Hui school were only a few such as Ma Rong, Zheng Xuan, Xun Shuang, and Yu Fan. Jiao Yanshou (Jiao Gong), however, frequently used "daxiang." In the *Yilin* (Forest of Changes), the line "Gua to Daguo" says "long yin rain," where *Kan* represents rain and *Ling* (rain), and although the *Daguo* hexagram itself does not contain *Kan*, it is treated as a large *Kan*. Similarly, the line "Jian to Yi" says "set a net with a hundred eyes," where *Li* represents a net and eyes, and the *Yi* hexagram is treated as a large *Li*. Another line, "Sun to Yi," says "nineteen together throw themselves, shot by a pheasant," where a large *Li* is below with a hidden *Kan*, *Kan* represents a bullet, and *Li* represents a pheasant, thus explaining the act of shooting a pheasant with a bullet. The use of "daxiang" in the *Yilin* is so frequent that it is countless.