On Explaining the Trigrams

昔者聖人，謂伏犧、文王也。參天兩地而倚數。天地之數備於十，乃三之以天，兩之以地，而倚托大演之數五十也。必三之以天，兩之以地者，天三覆，地二載。必極於數，庶得吉凶之審也。

In "Shuo Gua" ("Explaining the Trigrams"), the term "saintly person" in the passage "In former times, the sage composed the Book of Changes" refers to Fuxi and King Wen according to Zheng Xuan. "San Tian Li Er Yi Shu" ("three for heaven, two for earth, and relying on the numbers"): the numbers of heaven and earth are complete in ten, so "three" is used to multiply heaven and "two" to multiply earth, thereby deriving the fifty numbers of the Great Derivation. Therefore, it is necessary to multiply by three for heaven and by two for earth, because heaven uses three to encompass all things, and earth uses two to support all things; only by pushing the numbers to their extremes can one hope to obtain a clear distinction of good and bad fortune.

揮，揚也。雷風相薄。薄，入也。莫盛乎艮。盛，音成，裡也。其於人也為宣髮。宣髮，取四月靡草死，髮在人體猶靡草在地。為黃顙，為乾卦。乾當為乾，陽在外能幹正也。為科上槀，為黚喙，謂虎豹之屬，貪冒之類。兌為羊，其畜好剛滷。

"The 'hui' in '发挥于刚柔而生爻' means 'to promote' or 'to develop.' The 'bo' in '雷风相薄' means 'to invade.' '终万物始万物者莫盛乎艮': 'Sheng' is pronounced the same as 'cheng' (this phrase '里也' has an error in the original text, so it is transcribed as is). '巽, its manifestation in humans is 'xuan fa' (to spread out or to express): 'xuan fa' refers to the image of withered靡草 in the fourth month—hair grows on the human body, just as靡草 grows on the ground, and at the proper time it withers. '为黄颡，为乾卦': '乾' should be read as 'gan,' meaning that yang energy is external and can correct the right path. '为科上槀' and '为黚喙' refer to animals like tigers and leopards, which are greedy and devouring creatures. '兑为羊': this animal is fierce and stubborn in nature."

訟猶爭也。言飲食之會，恆多諍也（一作爭）。故受之以豫，言國既大而能謙，則於政事恬逸。雷出地奮，逸豫，行出而喜樂之意。豫必有隨，喜樂而出，人則隨從。孟子曰：吾君不遊，吾何以休；吾君不豫，吾何以助。此之謂也。

The "Xu Gua" says: "Song" means contention. It refers to the fact that disputes often arise in situations of dining and gathering (the character "zheng" in some editions is written as "zheng"). "Therefore, it is followed by Yu": This means that when a country is vast yet able to be humble and retreat, handling affairs becomes easy and comfortable. Thunder arises from the earth and moves vigorously, bringing ease and joy, which is exactly the meaning of traveling with joy. "Yu must be followed by Su": When people travel happily, others naturally follow. The "Mengzi" cites a summer proverb: "If our king does not go out for a tour, how can I rest? If our king does not go out for pleasure, how can I receive help?" This is precisely referring to this principle.

物穉不可不養也，言孩稚不養則不長也。可觀而後有所合。易乾鑿度曰：陽起於子，陰起於午。天數天分，以陽出離，以陰入坎，坎為中男，離為中女。太乙之行，出從中男，入從中女，因陰陽男女之偶為終始也。

"Things that are young cannot be left unattended," meaning that children are immature and need nurturing to grow. Regarding the phrase "only after observation can there be a union," Zheng Xuan cites the "Yi Zao Du" from the "Book of Changes" to explain: Yang energy begins at the Zi position, and Yin energy begins at the Wu position; the heavenly numbers are divided by heaven, with Yang emerging from Li and Yin entering from Kan. Kan represents the middle son, and Li represents the middle daughter. The movement of the God of the Supreme Ultimate (Taiyi) proceeds outward following the middle son and inward following the middle daughter—precisely through the pairing of Yin and Yang and male and female that the cycle of completion and renewal is formed.

故受之以大過，以養賢者宜過於厚。夫婦之道，不可以不久也，言夫婦當有終身之義。夫婦之道，謂咸恆也。致飾然後亨。亨，許兩反。

Therefore, following the hexagram of Great Excess: it is used to honor the virtuous person, and thus should be especially generous, hence called 'excess.' 'The way of husband and wife cannot be short-lived' means that between husband and wife there should be a moral principle of lifelong commitment; here, the term 'husband and wife' refers to the hexagrams of Xian and Heng. The 'hen' in 'after adornment then hen' is pronounced 'xu liang fan' in reverse-sound annotation, and is read the same as 'xiang.'

蠱則飾也。

The "Zagua Transmission" says, "Gǔ then chì also," but the Zheng edition reads "chì" as "shì": The hexagram "Gǔ" discusses the rectification of accumulated disorder, thus taking the meaning of thorough repair and restoration—broken objects need to be repaired and renovated, just as accumulated disorders in families and states also require thorough rectification.

康成注易九卷，多論互體，江左與王輔嗣學並立。荀崧謂其書根源。顏延之為祭酒，黜鄭置王。齊陸澄詒王儉書云：易自商瞿之後，雖有異家之學，同以象數為宗，數年後乃有王弼之說。

Zheng Kangcheng annotated nine volumes of the Book of Changes, focusing much on the concept of "mutual bodies." In the Jiangnan region, his school of thought stood alongside Wang Fusi's (Wang Bi's) in the official academies. Xun Song once pointed out the origins of his work. Later, Yan Yanzhong, when he became the national master of the state temple, abolished Zheng's annotations and replaced them with Wang's. In the Southern Qi dynasty, Lu Cheng wrote to Wang Jian saying: Since Shang Qu passed down the Book of Changes, although there have been various schools of thought, they all regarded imagery and numbers as their main principles, until much later when Wang Bi's approach appeared.

王濟云：弼所誤者多，何必能頓廢前儒。河北諸儒，專主鄭氏。隋興，學者慕弼之學，遂為中原之師，唐因之。今鄭注不傳，此景迂晁氏所慨嘆也。

Wang Ji said: Wang Bi made many mistakes in his interpretations, so why should we entirely discard the old doctrines of previous Confucian scholars just because of him? The scholars in the north of the Yellow River have always mainly followed the teachings of Zheng Xuan. When the Sui dynasty rose to power, scholars began to admire Wang Bi's philosophy, and thus Wang's teachings became the dominant school of thought in the Central Plains. The Tang dynasty continued this tradition. Now that Zheng's annotations have been lost, this is precisely what the scholar Jingyu, Chao Shuo, deeply lamented.

李鼎祚云：鄭多參天象，王全釋人事，易道豈偏滯於天人者哉。合彖象於經，葢自康成始。其說間見於鼎祚集解，及釋文、易詩三禮春秋義疏、後漢書文選注。應麟讀易之暇，輯為此編，庶幾先儒象數之學，猶有考焉。癸酉季夏哉生明，汲古堂。

Li Dingzuo said: Zheng Xuan often referred to celestial phenomena, while Wang Bi explained everything entirely from the human perspective; can the Way of the Book of Changes be confined to either the heavenly or human side? Combining the Commentary on the Judgment and the Image Commentary beneath the main text of the Book of Changes was probably first done by Zheng Kangcheng. His views are scattered in Li Dingzuo's Collected Explanations of the Zhou Changes, as well as in the Commentaries on the Classics, the Commentaries on the Book of Changes, the Book of Poetry, the Three Rituals, the Spring and Autumn Annals, the annotations to the Book of the Later Han, and the annotations to the Wen Xuan. Wang Yinglin, while reading the Book of Changes, compiled them into this collection, hoping that the scholarly studies on the images and numbers of the ancients could still be examined. Recorded at the Ji Gu Tang on the third day of the sixth lunar month in the Guiyou year.