The Sduty History Of Shifa Based On The Book Of Changes

The Book of Changes was originally created and used for divination.The study of Shifa(the methods of divination)based on this book has been a significant branch of the Yiology.The history of Yi-ology is mainly a history of the development of philosophy,specifically,the unity of opposites between symbol-mathematics and philosophyconnotation.Throughout the history divination plays a crucial role,which is a subtle coupling point between symbol-mathematics and philosophy-connotation.As the core element of divination,Shifa has a long history so that it has extensive contents and remarkable achievements.However,there were no monographs or articles on the whole history of the studies of Shifa,so it is necessary to conduct the research to fill the gap in the academic history.In this thesis,the history is systematically discussed.The main body is organized as follows.Introduction part emphatically expounds Three Yi,Jing(the text)and Zhuan(the commentaries)of the Book of Changes,as well as Shifa,which are the background and basic knowledge for this research.In addition,the motivation for the thesis,literature reviews,and research methods are also introduced in this part.Chapter One expounds the study history from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty.The Western Han Dynasty developed a special system of divination formed with symbol-mathematics.Meng Xi,Jiao Yanshou,and Jing Fang,with a relationship of master and apprentice,created the atmospheric Shifa.Afterwards,in spite that the study of Shifa lost its grant occasion,Kong Yingda had accomplished the feat of comprehensively summarizing Dayan Shifa,establishing a foundation for later researches.Chapter Two expounds the study history from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty.The study on Dayan Shifa had entered the academic track after the Song Dynasty.As a result,Chengguafa and Bianzhanfa became the two core subjects within the study of divination based on the Book of Changes.The Northern Song Dynasty created a golden period during the whole history,while later scholars followed its steps.Chapter Three expounds the study history during the past 110 years.Since the Late Qing dynasty,many great changes shocked the traditional Chinese society.Consequently,the study of divination embarked on a new stage.Studies based on traditional literature created more new theories.There were also many scholars attempting to study Dayan Shifa by mathematical means and they have made some achievements up to now.A great quantity of unearthed literature,especially numerical hexagrams,excavated during the past 40 years brought new subjects and new hopes to the study of Yi-ology.