The "Yi" in the "Book of Changes", as the name suggests, means "simple, easy, difficult". "Simple" refers to the way and method of change; "change" refers to the way of heaven, earth, humanity and other materials. The process of change; "not easy" refers to the unchanging rules or laws of all substances such as heaven, earth, and humanity in the process of change.
Materialist dialectics points out that everything in the world is constantly developing and changing, and each change has its own law of development. Everything has the absolute nature of development and change, but within a certain period There is a stable relativity within time, which is the dialectical unity of movement and stillness.
From a philosophical perspective, the "Book of Changes" contains at least the following aspects of philosophy.
1. The philosophical thought of "harmony between man and nature". It is the most important concept in the philosophical system of "Book of Changes". The "Book of Changes" sets the two paths of heaven and earth as natural laws, which are unchangeable and constant; humans are born of heaven and earth and have the nature of "benevolence and righteousness". People must conform to the ways of heaven and earth, that is, they must follow the laws of nature. According to the laws, one's behavior must conform to the way of heaven and achieve a whole - that is, the state of "harmony between man and nature", so as to be blameless. This is consistent with respect for objective laws in materialist dialectics, which is what we usually call the harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
2. The changes of "yin" and "yang" reflect the dialectical law of "unity of opposites". The concept of "Yin and Yang" is used in the entire text of the "Book of Changes" to explain the two opposing and mutually ebbing material forces in nature. It is believed that the opposition and growth and decline of "Yin and Yang" are inherent in the things themselves, and further believes that the opposition and mutual growth of "Yin and Yang" Growth and decline are the basic laws of the universe. Ancient Chinese philosophers further realized that all phenomena in nature are in a relationship of mutual opposition and interaction. Everything in nature includes two opposing aspects of "Yin" and "Yang", and the opposites Both sides are unified with each other. "Book of Changes" believes that the unified movement of opposites of "Yin and Yang" is the fundamental reason for the occurrence, development, change and demise of all things in nature. The law of movement of the contradictory unity of "yin and yang" is the inherent law of movement and change of all things in nature. The world itself is the result of the movement of the opposition and unity of "yin and yang". Therefore: Whether it is social life or natural phenomena, there are opposites, and this opposite is "yin and yang".
3. The law of repetition and endless growth embodies the law of negation of dialectical negation. "Xici" says that "life is called Yi", which is the fundamental spirit of "Yi". The generation process of "Yi" shows the basic way of existence and biochemical process of the universe; "Book of Changes" says: Tai Chi produces two instruments, two instruments produce four images, four images produce Bagua, and Bagua represents the "heaven and earth". Eight different symbols of "Tao", the eight trigrams are extrapolated into sixty-four hexagrams, and the last two hexagrams of the sixty-four hexagrams are "Ji Ji" and "Wei Ji". The meaning of the hexagram "Wei Ji" is that things in the world must go back to their extremes and cycle back and forth. The end of one process is the beginning of another stage, endless and endless. The law of negation of dialectics reveals that the development of things is a process of wave-like advancement or spiral upward. The basic direction and trend of the development of things are always forward and upward, and the road of development is always tortuous, not flat. The development of things is like this in endless cycles.
4. ?The dialectical law of "change leads to lasting". "Xi Ci" says: "Easy, when it is poor, it changes, when it changes, it becomes general, and when it becomes general, it lasts." The "Book of Changes" tells future generations that the principles of yin and yang it tells are constantly changing, constantly changing, and always surrounding the world and the people. There is no routine between the three talents (Bagua and Six Yao), the up and down movement, the yin and yang transform into each other, there is no fixed law, only change is its direction. Therefore, the "Book of Changes" believes that everything in the world is changing, because change occurs in the extreme, and it follows the law of change in the way of heaven. If it changes under the guidance of the law, it will be smooth, and if it is smooth, it will remain permanent. Then people should imitate the way of heaven, not go against nature and the norm, and adapt to the times and changes, so that they can maintain it for a long time.
5. The principle of "time" and "in" of human beings in natural changes. From the explanations in "Xici Zhuan" and "Xu Gua Zhuan", it is not difficult to find that in the entire "Book of Changes" explaining the changes in the way of heaven, earth, and humanity, everything must follow the "time" and "time" The principle of "in the middle" especially emphasizes that this is the moral principle that people must follow the "time" and "in the middle" in the process of imitating the "Tao". "Zhong" refers to the golden mean, running in the middle of the natural way of heaven and earth, neither too much nor too little. "Shi" means to keep pace with the times, observe the times and move, know the times and act, and observe the times and change. As the saying goes: "Knowing the times is a hero." ?
Therefore, "The Book of Changes" is full of rich philosophy and is a very effective method of thinking, decision-making and judgment. We can study the prediction methods and working principles of the Book of Changes, To improve our thinking methods and improve our judgment ability.
People can easily fall into a misunderstanding in the process of studying the "Book of Changes", that is, they think that studying the "Book of Changes" well can predict the future, or even predict the future. In fact, the "Book of Changes" tells us that there are often many unpredictable factors in the future. So what exactly can the I Ching predict? What the I Ching can predict is that "the two rituals determine the four images, the four images determine the eight trigrams, and the eight trigrams determine the sixteen hexagrams."
This is a judgment on things that are regular and inevitable, rather than a prediction of things that are accidental and uncertain. For example, there is a dynamically balanced biological chain in a certain ecosystem. Changes in each organism in this biological chain will inevitably lead to changes in the survival and development of other related organisms. It may become better or worse. We can only predict possible trends through extensive statistical analysis of past events. With the development of science and technology, the development and application of big data and cloud computing technology have greatly improved the accuracy of this prediction. Therefore, we say that the "Book of Changes" provides everyone with a method of thinking, decision-making and judgment, rather than a specific prediction result. We cannot blindly trust the results of a certain prediction made by someone. To be more precise, the "Book of Changes" provides us with a scientific way of thinking. Just like other philosophical systems, we must treat it scientifically, understand it, master it, integrate it, and apply what we have learned.
At present, with the rise of traditional Chinese studies, more and more people are studying the "Book of Changes" in society. They can be roughly divided into two types of people. One type is those who recite the "Book of Changes". You can talk about a lot of truths eloquently, such as: "A gentleman is constantly striving for self-improvement", "When you are in a superior position, you are not arrogant, and when you are in a lower position, you are not worried." In real life, I believe these people often feel the huge impact of famous quotes - —Make yourself more knowledgeable and energetic. The other type is keen on predicting the unknown, also called fortune tellers or warlocks. These people don't know how to memorize the "Book of Changes". The "Book of Changes" is just a reference book that can be opened in a bag to check information at any time. These sorcerers, if they are well mixed, they are military and national advisers, like Zhuge Liang and Li Chunfeng; if they are mixed well, they are senior advisors and jesters, like Dongfang Shuo; if they are not mixed well, they are charlatans and charlatans, like charlatans. Shao Yan is the same. Liu Bowen was a master of Yi studies, but he was also proficient in the theories of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, absorbing their essence and integrating them, and was eventually revered as a literary sect. Zeng Shiqiang, a modern management master, also has an in-depth study of the "Book of Changes". He regards the "Book of Changes" as a kind of wisdom and applies the philosophy of the "Book of Changes" to modern management. He is known as the "Father of Chinese Management" ".
The "Book of Changes" is a kind of wisdom, a philosophical system, and a method of thinking. We must grasp it scientifically and use it correctly. We must not neglect, misinterpret or abuse it.