Hexagram 5, line 1
需于郊.利用恆.無咎. Jiao 郊: general reference to the area outside the city, the open country. The Shanghai Museum MSS has hao 蒿, which in several texts is used as a loan for jiao (古文字通假字典, p. 158). Heng 恆:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hexagram 5, line 2
需于沙. 小有言. 終吉. Sha 沙: the sandy river shore. Lu Deming’s 陸德明 Jingdian Shiwen 經典釋文 says that Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 used zhi 沚, ‘islet’. The Shanghai Museum MSS has . The 古文字通假字典 says that is a known variant of...
View ArticleHexagram 5, line 3
需于泥致寇至. Ni 泥: mud. The Shanghai Museum MS has ni 坭 which is a known variant of 泥. The character also means ‘to be obstructed, to be held up’, like being stuck in the mud. Zhi 致: cause something to...
View ArticleHexagram 5, line 4
需于血.出自穴. Xue 血: loan for xue 洫, the irrigation ditches between fields; a small water channel. (古代漢語通假字大字典, p. 769) 鄒漢勳 Zou Hanxun (1805 – 1854) also follows this hypothesis, arguing that the fourth...
View ArticleHexagram 5, line 5 & 6
line 5 需于酒食.貞吉. Waiting with wine and food. The divination is auspicious. line 6 入于穴. 有不速之客三人來敬之. 終吉. Ru 入: in old texts often used with the meaning of ‘to accept’ (taxes, tribute or a gift; 古文字通假字典,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
我现在学习中文
I am brushing up my Chinese language skills. Updates to the website will be less frequent.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hexagram 6, Judgement
有孚.窒惕.中吉.終凶.利見大人.不利涉大川. About you fu 有孚 see here. 窒惕: Many assume that zhiti 窒惕 forms a fixed phrase, and I follow that same route although this is by no means an established fact – we do not find this...
View ArticleHexagram 6, line 2
不克訟.歸而逋其邑人. 三百戶.無眚. Buke 不克: unable to win (the fight or battle – 不能戰勝) Song 訟: dispute, lawsuit, accusation Gui 歸: return, go back. Also loan for kui 愧, ‘ashamed’ Bu 逋: flee, run away Yiren 邑人: the...
View ArticleHexagram 6, line 3
食舊德, 貞厲 終吉, 或從王事, 无成. Shi 食: to ‘eat it’ – to speak about it but not putting it into practice (謂言已出而反吞之，不實行). Jiude 舊德: the virtues and good deeds of the former kings and ancestors. 食舊德 therefore means...
View ArticleHexagram 6, line 4
不克訟. 復即命渝.安貞: 吉. 不克訟: see line 2. Fu 復: return Jiming 即命: follow the royal decrees (遵從王命) Yu 渝: In its ordinary meaning it means ‘change’, but I could not make this fit the pattern of the sentence and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The oldest source for the coin method
During the last meeting of the Dutch Yijing group there was confusion about the assignment of the numbers 2 (yin) and 3 (yang) to the sides of Chinese coins. Old Chinese coins have four Chinese...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hexagram 6, line 5 & 6
line 5 訟元吉. Disputing. Greatly auspicious. line 6 或錫之鞶帶.終朝三褫之. Huo 或: ‘there is’, see H1-4 Xi 錫: ‘to grant, to bestow’ (賜予) Pan 鞶: a large waistband, belt, or girdle made of leather, used by the...
View ArticleHexagram 7, Judgement
貞丈人吉. 無咎. Zhangren 丈人: in early times a respectful form of address for elder people (古時對老人的尊稱). There is difference between the pattern X貞吉 (like in the Judgement of hexagram 2) and 貞X吉 (as in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hexagram 7, line 1
師出以律.否臧凶. Shi 師: army, armed forces. Chu 出: to go out, set forth Lü 律: statutes, regulations; pitch-pipes. In the field of Yi translators it isn’t decided whether lü should mean ‘law, regulations,...
View ArticleHexagram 7, line 2
在師中.吉.無咎.王三錫命. Ximing 錫命: Appointments granted by the king. Here the king three times grants an appointment. In the Zhouli 周禮 there are nine appointments mentioned, the jiuming 九命, each giving greater...
View ArticleHexagram 7, line 3
師或輿尸.凶. Huo 或, ‘there is’. See also hexagram 1, line 4. The regular meanings of huo are ‘perhaps’ and ‘someone’. But in old texts it is often used with the meaning of you 又/有, ‘there is, to have’. That...
View ArticleHexagram 7, line 4
師左次.無咎. Zuo 左: in its ordinary meaning ‘the left side’, but already on oracle bones used as a loan for zuo 佐, ‘to assist, to help’. and you 佑, ‘to assist, to protect’. The 漢語大詞典 says, ‘用兵則居次方位’: ‘in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hexagram 7, line 5
田有禽.利執言.無咎.長子帥師.弟子輿尸.貞凶. Tian 田: ‘to hunt’. You qin 有禽: ‘there is a catch’. These first three characters probably deal with the royal hunt, a theme which is often mentioned in the oracle bone...
View ArticleHexagram 7, line 6
大君有命開國承家.小人勿用. Dajun 大君: ‘great ruler’, respectful title for the king: 大君若不棄書之力… (…) 惟大君命焉. O great ruler, if you have not forgotten the zealous duty of Shu… (…) It is for you, O great ruler, to issue...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hexagram 2, surplus text
利永貞. Yong zhen 永貞: long-term (長久) divination: 戊寅卜貞我永. Crack-making on day 15, divines for my long-term prognosis. (Heji 合集 248) Several oracle bone inscriptions end with a character or phrase denoting...
View Article