Is Yeok(易) shaped like a lizard? A combination of the sun and the moon?… What kind of book is the protagonist?[내 팔자가 궁금해]

2024-05-09 17:12:58

There is a craze for Zhou Yi in the world. If you go to a cultural center at the city or county level, whether in Seoul or the provinces, there is no place that does not have a leading lecture. It is also one of the most popular humanities courses offered by various cultural centers. There are dozens of commentary books on the Book of Changes, and some are on the bestseller list.

It is said that an era will soon come in which artificial intelligence (AI) will dominate the mental and intellectual worlds. Why is a leading figure older than Gojoseon’s grandfather Dangun in the spotlight? This is because humans do not fundamentally change no matter how much time has passed or in the future, and the Book of Changes is a book that contains the essence of wisdom accumulated over thousands of years about human nature. In particular, in the Chinese character culture of Korea, China, and Japan, the leading role can be said to be a meme, a kind of social gene, in the style of Richard Dawkins, author of ‘The Selfish Gene’.

There are people who do not know the Book of Changes at all, but among those who know the Book of Changes, there are few who do not consider this book to be the oldest and at the same time the highest philosophy book in the East. To that extent, the influence of the protagonist on the East, especially on intellectuals in Korea, China, and Japan, and even on the people, is wide and deep.

However, few people actually know what kind of book the main character is. I vaguely think of it as a fortune-telling book or the origin of Eastern philosophy. Those who know a little more know the story ‘Weipyeonsamjeol (韋編三絶)’ from the historical record ‘Confucius‘, which states that Confucius enjoyed reading the Book of Changes and the leather straps that held the book fell off three times.

Rather than being a commentary on the contents of the Book of Changes, this article is intended to help you understand the Book of Changes itself. The interpretation of the Book of Changes is so diverse and profound that a simple column is not enough, and my shallow knowledge is even more inadequate.

Numerous types of commentaries on the Book of Changes have appeared in China, Korea, and Japan since the Warring States Period in China through the Han Dynasty. However, in fact, there are almost no commentaries on the main books and authors. Among them, the most recent book, ‘The Birth of a Protagonist’ (Bong-ho Lee, Para Academy, 2021), contains previous academic achievements, but is written in a style and content that is relatively easily accessible to the general public.

Based on this, I would like to talk about the book itself, the protagonist, over three or four sessions.

◆Zhou (周) is the Zhou Dynasty (周)? Or Dulu Zhou?

When was the book written? Does the Book of Change really mean the Book of Zhou (易) of the Zhou Dynasty? If not, does that mean there are other roles besides the main role?

In general perception, the main role is that of the Zhou Dynasty. In Gyesajeon (繫辭傳), which is a general section among the Jeonjeon (易傳) sections written to help understand the scriptures of the Book of Changes, “Mr. There is a sentence that says, “It happened when.” Based on this, Sima Qian records, “In the early days of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, King Wen overlapped 8 hexagrams to create 64 hexagrams.” Zhu Xi also interprets Zhou as the Zhou Dynasty.

However, before the Zhou Dynasty, the Xia Dynasty also had a station, and the Yin Dynasty also had a station. These are called Yeonsan Station and Gwijang Station, respectively. If the main station is Zhou Nara Station, it would be natural to call Yeonsan Station Hahaeok and Gwijang Station Eun Station, but that is not the case.

Zheng Xuan (鄭玄), a scholar of the Han Dynasty, viewed Zhou as ‘the Zhou of all regions’. He interpreted it as, ‘It is fully equipped and there is nothing that is lacking (Zhou 普).’ Yeonsan Station symbolizes the uninterrupted chain of mountains, and Gwijang Station is interpreted as all things being hidden within them. This means that it is not a division of three dynasties, but three different types of stations. Modern scholars are also unable to come up with a consensus on the period of establishment of the Book of Changes.

◆Is Yeok(易) shaped like a lizard? Or day (日) + month (月)?

According to ‘Seolmunhaeja (說文解字)’, humanity’s first written dictionary written by Han Dynasty scholar Heo Shin, Yeok (易) was interpreted as symbolizing a lizard. Lizards freely change their skin color depending on their environment, symbolizing the change of all things in the universe. This is consistent with the fact that the English translation of the station is ‘Book of Changes.’

There is also a view that it is a letter that combines day (日) and month (月), following the shape of the letter 易. As expected, the sun and moon are reversed in the interpretation of the meaning of the poll. It is said to symbolize yin and yang. As yin and yang become more than just natural phenomena such as shade and sunlight and have a philosophical meaning, the reverse is the sun and moon, that is, yin and yang are combined to have a more profound meaning of change.

There is also an interpretation that it is modeled after the shape of a bird. This is because it is almost similar to the oracle bone inscription of the bird (bird) character.

Reporter Kim Gwang-hyeon [email protected]

2024-05-09 17:12:58