Research On Jing Fang's Yi-ology

Jing Fang, a preeminent and influential Yi-ologist of image-number philosophical school of Han dynasty, whose come forth adapts his times and produced a lot of fruits. During the middle of West Han dynasty, the philosopher Dong Zhongshu combined Ying-yang and value of Confucianism successfully, and launched an influential revolution to the whole philosophy fields. Under his influence, Jing Fang devotes himself to interpreting the way of heaven with the acting of yin yang er qi as its basic content by means of the unique lingual system of Yi-ology of image-number philosophical school, and finally establishes the correct way of polity and the way of human. Jing Fang claims that the yin yang of the way of heaven was involved under the sixty-four Hexagrams of Zhou Yi, the purpose of image-number philosophical school reveals what the sixty-four Hexagrams represent the Yin-yang of the way of haven indirectly through the image-number. To reach that, first, he breaks the usual order of Hexagrams of ZhouYi, creates the completely new eight-fundamental- Hexagrams, uses eight-fundamental-Hexagrams to govern the other fifty-six Hexagrams, and establishes the connection of relative regulation among the sixty-four Hexagrams. This connection displays not only the way of changing of Yin yang er qi of the world, but also provides a necessary theoretical foundation for the establishment of the system of the image-number philosophical school of the eight-fundamental Hexagrams. Jing Fang invents the doctrine of Shiying and the doctrine of Feifu. The doctrine of Shiying is a theoretical creation made by Jing Fang, who inherits the yi-ology tradition of Pre-Qing dynasty under the background of the eight-fundamental Hexagrams, it aims at confirm the principal and subordinate relationships among the six lines(yao) of a Hexagram, and it is of benefit to reveal the whole connotation of six lines(yao) of a Hexagram. The doctrine of Feifu applys itself to interprets the relationship among Hexagrams and lines(yao), and the relationship what Hexagrams represents between Yin Yang Er Qi, which riches the connotation of the image of Hexagrams and lines, and also inaugurates a new road for the after yi-ologist to use it as a reference. The system of tian gan di zhi plays an important role in the ancient Chinese thinking of the image-number, it usually use it to establish the union of spatial-temporal and three-dimensional universal diagram. The thinking of najia of Jing Fang introduces the tian gan di zhi system into the system of eight-fundamental Hexagrams. Gan zhi not only widely used in the interpretation of Hexagrams and images, but also provides an important theoretical premise for his doctrine of five elements (wu xing). One of important characteristics of philosophy of Han dynasty is emphasizing five elements, so does the yi-ology. Jing Fang believes that the constant connotation of the way of heaven represents the action of yin-yang first, five elements is the completely continuation and representation, yin yang and five elements together constitutes the basic framework of the action of the way of Heaven. He combines the way of yin yang and the theory of five elements in the area of yi-ology, and uses what the lines of sixty-four Hexagrams of yin yang represents matches the five elements through the agency of najia doctrine, and interprets what the yin yang of six lines represents by means of five elements. Finally, Jing Fang creates the more scientific and normative guaqi theory through the inheritance and development the guaqi theory of Meng Xi and Jian Yanshou. The main creation of his guaqi theory is combines sixty-four Hexagrams according to some method with the days and time of a year, uses the image of Hexagrams and lines of sixty-four Hexagrams to represent the changing of solar terms of a year and yin yang er qi, and provides a guidance for the human activities at last. In a word, as the most important representative of image-number philosophical school of West-Han dynasty, Jing Fang's eight-fundamental Hexagrams yi-ology illuminates many methods of interpreting Zhou Yi by image-number and also produces a widely influence.