Through an in-depth analysis of the notes that Leibniz made while reading Pascal’s manuscript treatise on conic sections, we aim to show the real extension of what he called “hexagrammum mysticum”, and to highlight the main results he achieved in this field, as well as proposing plausible proofs of them according to the methods he seems to have developed.

The hexagram was first minted during the darkest days of the final Roman-Persian War when Roman fortunes were at their lowest. As a result, commentators have read the coin’s novel inscription, Deus Adiuta Romanis as evidence for the ’stressful and desperate’ state of the empire. This paper presents the case that reading the coin alongside evidence for popular military practices instead paints a picture of the Roman state apparatus deftly manipulating mass propaganda. For the Romans in the 610s, these new (...) coins signalled not defeatism but defiance and the promise of victory. (shrink)

이 논문은 상박초간 『주역』 감괘(欽卦)를 중심으로 중국고대 점복문화를 살펴보고 이를 바탕으로 점서였던 『주역』의 경문을 유가가 어떻게 유가 윤리로 만들어갔는가를 밝히고자 하는 것이다. 상박초간 『주역』 감괘는 현행본의 함괘(咸卦)에 해당하며 ‘감(感)’의 뜻으로, 괘 전체의 주제는 남녀 간의 육체적 사랑과 결혼이다. 청화간(淸華簡) 『서법(筮法)』 등 고대의 점술에 남녀 간의 결혼을 점친 예는 상당히 많은데 이런 자료들도 감괘가 단순히 사랑과 결혼에 대한 점술이었다는 것을 증명한다. 상박초간 『주역』과 마왕퇴백서 『주역』의 감괘 효사 및 현행본 함괘 효사를 비교분석해보면 상박초간본 → 마왕퇴본 → 현행본으로 변해가는 모습을 찾아볼 수 있다. (...) 이는 『주역』 텍스트가 많은 변화를 거쳐 현재의 모습으로 이루어졌음을 보여주는 증거다. 한편 『순자』 「대략(大略)」편, 현행본 『주역』 「단전(彖傳)」은 함괘의 주제를 남녀 간의 사랑과 결혼에서 추상화하여 부부의 도, 나아가 음양 ‘이기(二氣)’의 철학으로 확대한다. 이러한 확대는 결국 자연철학 방면으로는 세계, 우주를 구성하는 ‘이기’의 감응에 의한 만물생성론을, 인간사회 방면으로는 성인의 감화를 통한 천하화평을 주장하는 데에까지 나아간다. 「서괘전」도 함괘를 ‘부부의 도리’로 보고 이에 기초하여 부자, 군신, 상하, 예의로까지 확대시킨다. 「서괘전」이 함괘를 서술할 때 ‘남녀’가 아닌 ‘하늘과 땅’으로 시작하고 있는 것은 「단전」의 논의를 바탕에 두고 있기 때문이다. 이처럼 우주적 질서에서 시작하여 인간의 예의로 귀결을 맺는 것은 철저한 유가적 사유로, 따라서 「서괘전」이 만들어진 시점에서 『주역』의 유교경전화는 이미 완성되어 있었다고 생각된다. (shrink)

易占은 괘를 뽑아 괘상과 괘효사를 참고하여 길흉을 판단하는 법과 괘를 뽑아 괘상에 율력요소를 붙이고 主事爻를 정한 뒤 이를 기준으로 오행의 生克制化를 통해 길흉을 가리는 방법 등 두 가지로 대략 나눌 수 있다. 이 가운데 두 번째 방법은 한대 경방에 의해 창안된 것으로 현재 시중에서 유행하는 육효서법이다. 그런데 제도권 학계에서는 역점에 관하여 크게 관심을 두지 않은 관계로 육효서법의 학문적 토대가 미흡한 실정이다. 이처럼 학리가 빠진 채 점술로만 운용되는 육효에 학리를 부여한다면 인간의 행복한 삶에 도움이 될 것으로 본다. 이에 따라 본고는 육효의 (...) 역사적 연원과, 구성체계를 작괘·장괘·단괘의 3단계로 나누어 각 단계별 철학적 근거와 구체적 상황을 관계지어 살펴봤다. 이를 정리하면 육효는 최소한 3000여 년 전에 지어진 팔괘와 서주 초에 나타난 『역경』에 근원을 두고 『역전』을 거쳐 한대의 경방에 이르러 새롭게 창안된 점법이다. 이러한 역사성을 갖고 있는 육효는 사람이 닥친 문제를 하늘에 고하여 하늘로부터 그 해답을 얻는 작괘의 단계부터 시작된다. 이렇게 사람이 절박한 문제에 대해 하늘이 답을 알려준다는 믿음의 근거는 전통적으로 天人이 感應하기 때문으로 이해되고 있다. 천인감응에 의해 인간의 절박한 문제에 대해 하늘이 주는 해답의 방식은 괘를 통해 이루어지기 때문에 점괘는 하늘이 준 계시라고 볼 수 있다. 작괘가 끝나면 하늘의 계시를 읽어내기 위한 준비 작업인 장괘가 필요하다. 장괘는 공간상의 괘효와 시간성의 율력요소를 결합 배치하는 과정이다. 그런데 이 장괘는 공간성의 괘효상에 시간성의 율력요소를 결합하여 천도의 변화를 해설하고 인간사의 길흉을 점단하기 위한 한대 상수역 내지는 괘기역에 근거하고 있다. 따라서 장괘는 8궁괘 배열을 거쳐 세응, 비복, 동변, 반음과 복음 등 공간성의 요소들을 찾고, 이어 월건, 일진, 순공, 납갑, 납지, 육친, 용신 등의 변화를 파악할 수 있는 시간성의 요소들을 배열하게 된다. 이렇게 장괘를 마치면 본격적으로 점사의 주목적이 되는 용신을 중심으로 오행의 생부극제를 따져 길흉을 가리게 된다. 그런데 단괘에서 중요한 점은 오행이 중화를 이루어야만 길하고 복된 점괘이며, 과하거나 부족한 쪽으로 치우치게 되면 흉한 결과가 나온다는 것이다. 이는 음양의 조화와 균형을 통한 상호 작용으로 만물을 생성화육하는 이치와 같은 것이다. 이 육효가 현대 인류에게 있어서 갖는 의미는 크게 두 가지로 나눠 생각할 수 있을 것이다. 하나는 육효의 미래 예단적 측면과 다른 하나는 중화의 철학적 측면이다. 그런데 육효는 철학과 천도의 변화를 역법으로 설명하는 과학적 괘기역학을 토대로 미래를 예단하는 응용과학이라고 할 수 있다. 그렇다면 육효를 더욱 연구 발전시켜 개인과 국가 사회가 닥친 문제를 해결하는 데 있어서 효과적인 단서를 얻을 수 있을 것이다. 다른 하나는 육효가 추구하는 중화의 도를 인류가 본받아야 한다는 점이다. 육효의 중화의 이치는 곧 역의 음양 조화와 균형의 이치로서 천도의 운행 이치라는 점은 익히 아는 바다. 그런데 현대는 개인에 있어서는 지나친 물질욕, 쾌락욕, 명예욕, 이기주의 등 모든 면에서 중도를 잃고 극단으로 치닫는 경우가 대부분이다. 이는 곧 중화를 잃은 것으로써 흉한 결과가 닥치게 됨을 알아야 한다. 또 국가나 사회에 있어서는 부익부 빈익빈의 현상이 가속화 되고 물질주의, 쾌락주의, 이기주의 등에 편중되고 있는 현실은 중화의 도에 어긋나는 것으로서 인류의 행복한 삶에 불행한 결과를 초래하는 요인이 된다는 것을 예견하고 궤도를 수정할 수 있는 지침이 될 것이다. (shrink)

When Bouvet discovered the relationship between the binary arithmetic of Leibniz and the hexagrams of the I ching—in reality only a purely formal correspondence—he sent to Leibniz a woodcut diagram of the Fu-Hsi arrangement, which provides the key to the analogy. This diagram, in a re-drawn version, was first published by Gorai Kinzō in a study of Leibniz's interpretation of the I ching and Confucianism which has been influential in providing, indirectly, the principal source for the accounts of Wilhelm (...) and Needham. Yet this pioneering study of Leibniz's interpretation of the hexagrams is virtually unknown. Even the account of Needham, who saved it from complete obscurity, contains one or two inaccuracies about it and these are repeated by Zacher in his otherwise excellent monograph on Leibniz's binary arithmetic. (shrink)

이 논문은 주희(朱熹, 1130-1200)의 심성론(心性論)에서 복괘(復卦)가 미발(未發)의 괘상(卦象)이라는 설명에 대한 현대 한국의 여러 학자들의 반론에 대한 반성적 연구다. 주희는 미발설(未發說)을 복괘(復卦)로 설명한다. 여러 연구자들은 복괘(復卦)의 ‘사려미맹(思慮未萌) 지각불매(知覺不昧)’는 과연 미발설을 설명하기에 충분한지에 대해 의문을 제기하며, ‘사려미맹(思慮未萌)’은 미발설을 설명하기에 적당하지만, ‘지각불매(知覺不昧)’는 그렇지 않다고 본다. 본 연구는 주희의 복괘 해석에서 ‘사려미맹 지각불매’가 미발설을 충분히 설명함을 보이고자 한다. 주희의 미발설은 중화구설(中和舊說)의 시기와 중화신설(中和新說)의 시기로 그 관점이 나뉜다. 중화구설 시기는 성체심용설(性體心用說)을 바탕으로 미발설을 전개하고, 중화신설 시기는 심통성정설(心統性情說)을 바탕으로 미발설을 전개한다. 두 시기 사이에 마음의 지위는 이발에서 (...) 미발이발을 관통하는 것으로 바뀌며, 그 역할도 ‘성(性)이 발(發)한 것’에서 ‘성정(性情)을 주재(主宰)하는 것’으로 달라진다. 이러한 변화는 미발에 대한 설명인 ‘사려미맹(思慮未萌) 지각불매(知覺不昧)’의 해석에 영향을 미친다. 주희는 ‘사려(思慮)’를 성정의 관계에서 정처럼 말하지만, ‘지각불매’는 마음과 연관지어 설명하며, ‘지각불매’를 마음의 상태로 말한다. 그러므로 지극히 고요할 때[至靜之時]에도 ‘지각불매’하다고 말한다. 지극히 고요할 때는 미발의 때이고, 이러한 미발의 때에도 지각은 어둡지 않다는 것이다. 주희는 ‘지각’이 미발이발을 관통한다고 본다. 이러한 주장은 주희의 복괘에 대한 관점을 이해하면 설득력을 가진다. 정이(程頤, 1033-1107)는 복괘에서 양(陽)이 생겨나는 것으로 보는 반면에, 주희는 곤괘(坤卦)에서 양(陽)이 생겨나는 것으로 보지, 복괘에서 양(陽)이 생겨나는 것으로 보지 않는다. 또 주희는 양(陽)을 사려나 감정이 아니라, ‘성정을 통괄하는 마음’으로 본다. 주희는 ‘복괘에서 천지지심의 단서를 본다’고 하였고, 복괘를 ‘양이 다시 회복했지만 만물이 아직 생겨나지 않은’ 것으로 파악한다. 만물이 생겨나기 이전이나 천지가 만물을 낳는 마음의 단서를 복괘에서 볼 수 있다는 것이다. 만약 주희의 이런 설명을 받아들인다면, 복괘는 미발설을 설명하기에 충분하고, 주희의 복괘 해석에서 ‘사려미맹 지각불매’는 미발설을 설명한다고 보아야 할 것이다. (shrink)

The sequential patterns of the sixty-four hexagrams in the Yijing, variously known as I Ching (the Book of Changes) are structured to embrace the universe of possibilities, scenarios and probabilities. Each hexagram equates to each moment in space-time. With the arrow of time, a string of hexagrams represent a string of moments. A probability curve can be formed from the string of hexagrams. Physicists call this mathematical entity a wave function which is constantly changing and proliferating. A (...) wave function is mathematical representation of all possibilities that can happen to an observed entity when it interacts with an observer. The form of the wave function can be calculated by the Schrodinger wave equation for any part of the range of moments. The string of hexagrams deal with probabilities. Physicists deal mainly with two wave forms and functions – dynamic wave that follows the Schrodinger wave equation and the second phenomenon is the “collapse of the wave function” which is abrupt and discontinuous. Which part of the wave collapses is a matter of probability and chance. The wave transition from the first to the second is call the quantum jump. This exhibited phenomenon is very similar to how the hexagram in the Yijing. When unobserved, the sequential formation of the hexagrams, moment by moment, form a probability wave but when it is observed, it abruptly collapses. It is the abrupt collapse of all the development aspects of the wave function except the one that actualizes and that particular hexagram is therefore the mathematical representation of the observed entity. What spurs all the changes is the energy that flows through the system and all the interacting waves are interconnected and interdependent and they form the energy fields. Emphasis is on the stringed hexagrams, each possesses a sophisticated mathematical structure, suggesting at the same time that it would hold great significance as an integral part of the whole of the wave or energy field. The subject of this paper is on the quantum- informational theoretical framework of Yijing. (shrink)

This chapter examines the pioneering work of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) on various number systems, in particular binary, which he independently invented in the mid-to-late 1670s, and hexadecimal, which he invented in 1679. The chapter begins with the oft-debated question of who may have influenced Leibniz’s invention of binary, though as none of the proposed candidates is plausible I suggest a different hypothesis, that Leibniz initially developed binary notation as a tool to assist his investigations in mathematical problems that were (...) exercising him at the time, namely those concerning the divisibility of composite numbers, primality, and perfect numbers. The chapter then explores Leibniz’s development of binary, his little-known work on binary fractions and expansions, his use of binary as a symbol for creation in his philosophical-theology, and his response to the suggestion that there was a correlation between binary numeration and the hexagrams of the ancient Chinese divinatory text, the Yijing. The chapter then focuses on Leibniz’s work on other number systems, in particular his invention and exploration of hexadecimal as well as his work on duodecimal. The chapter concludes by revealing a hitherto unknown practical application of binary that Leibniz devised in the last year of his life. (shrink)

Research shows that goal-relevant objects are rated positively, which results from their functionality towards the aim. In previous studies these objects were always external to the agent. However, relevant knowledge of self is also potentially accessible during goal pursuit, as self-esteem is an indicator of aim’s feasibility. In two experimental studies we tested whether goal activation affects temporal changes in automatic evaluations of personality traits related to the dimensions of agency and communion. We administered affect misattribution procedure where participants rated (...) neutral Chinese hexagrams proceeded by words describing traits. The list of words comprised agentic and communal traits. The rating took place twice - before and after introducing a manual task. In the first study, goal activation led to slightly more positive implicit evaluations of agentic and more negative evaluation of communal traits, which is consistent with empirical data on self-perception depending on agentic knowledge rather than communal one. In the second study we showed that goal activation led to changes only for promotion-, but not prevention-oriented individuals, which is explained by motivation strength. The results indicate that valuation of traits changes temporarily along with goal pursuit. (shrink)

The Xici 繋辭 (Attached Verbalizations) is commonly considered as a pivotal text that transformed the 周易 ( Zhou Changes or the Book of Changes) from a manual of divination into a philosophical treatise. Yet in current scholarship, there is no consensus as to how to make sense of its authors’ argument that the Zhouyi provides a mantic method—particularly selecting hexagrams based on a counting of the yarrow stalks—to understand the working of the natural system and comprehend the intricacies of (...) a developing event. In this essay, I will offer a reading of the Xici that shows how divination can be philosophically profound, and conversely, how philosophy can be made concrete through a practice of divination. In view of the uncertainty in our times—globally, regionally, socially, and individually—it is in our best interest to learn to see the world from the perspective of the Xici. (shrink)

This dissertation is a study of the intersection of two monumental products and shapers of the Chinese tradition: the I-ching (Book of Change), which has influenced nearly all schools of Chinese thought for two millennia; and Chu Hsi (1130-1200), whose systematization of the Confucian tradition (known in the West as Neo-Confucianism) has dominated Chinese intellectual history until the present century. Focusing on Chu Hsi's theory of mind and his view of the ordinary person's need for concrete methods of self-cultivation, the (...) dissertation demonstrates how Chu Hsi's understanding of the I – its history, its contents, and it use in the practice of divination -- was fully integrated with his moral-metaphysics and his methodology of attaining Sagehood (the Neo-Confucian religious goal). In broader perspective, this is a study of the nature and limits of Confucian rationalism, the pragmatic character of Chinese philosophy, and the incorporation of a religious ritual (divination) into a philosophical system. Chapter I is an Introduction in two sections. The first is a survey of ancient Greek and modern theories of divination, establishing a comparative framework in which to analyze Chu Hsi's theory of divination. The second is a brief sketch of the two major schools of I-ching interpretation prior to Chu Hsi. Chapter II outlines the intellectual-historical context of Chu Hsi's approach to the I, concentrating on the complementary poles of his central problematic: cultural (the problem of the "transmission of the Way") and individual (the problem of mind). The "mind of the Sage" is discussed as a symbol of the unification of these poles. Chapter III is an examination of Chu's theory of I-ching interpretation, and the role of the mythic Sage Fu Hsi, who created the hexagrams and began the transmission of the Way, in Chu Hsi's system. Chapter IV concerns the practice of divination as a method of self-cultivation. It is proposed that Chu regarded I-ching divination – within certain limits -- as a method of detecting incipient changes in external events and in one's mind, thereby cultivating "moral responsiveness," or the ability to respond in a timely, intuitive, and correct way to change. Chapter V explores certain levels of symbolic meaning in the "philosophy of change" presupposed by hexagram divination. It is suggested that the human ability to transform oneself into a fully realized moral being, in responsive harmony with the natural world, is a Confucian way of grounding the self in the creative principle that constitutes the ontological foundation of the phenomenal world. (shrink)

The article focuses mainly on linguistic aspects, paying special attention to meanings of the word ZHEN 貞. The research is based on the text version and commentary by Wang Bi 王弼 from Wei Dynasty, classical Ten Wings commentaries from the 1st mil. BC, works by scholars from Han, Tang, Song and Qing Dynasties, as well as translations by Western sinologists. In the first part of the article, the semantic approach is applied, in order to trace origins and existing definitions of (...) the term ZHEN. In the second part, a creative deconstruction approach will be used to analyze the entire text, revealing atypical meanings within various schemes: 1) in the layer of hexagram succession chain and judgments, 2) in relationships of lines, 3) in problematic and inauspicious situations where the word is mentioned. (shrink)

This volume, an assemblage of essays previously published in the Journal of Chinese Philosophy, conveniently and strategically brings together some of the trenchant interpretations and analyses of the salient, structural aspects of the philosophy of the Yijing. They reveal how the ancient Classic offers a graphically vivid and conceptually dynamic dramaturgy of the ways in which the natural world works in conjunction with the human one. Its cosmological architectonics and philosophical worldview continue to have enormous purchase on our current imagination, (...) even though readerly imperatives and responses have rendered this classic into a text of multiple significances, catering to pluralistic readerships and clienteles. Nonetheless, the essays in this volume lay bare some of the original authorly visions and insights of the Yijing, clearly showing that their apparent truthfulness to our cosmic and human conditions inspire philosophical and even theological questions. The Yijing's authorial designs of the eight trigrams and hexagrams, which encapsulate the primordial state of homo-cosmic phenomena and situations, together with the yin-yang forces and the dao, are taken for granted as integers in a grand universal equation, factored out to represent a ceaselessly changing cosmos in which heaven, earth and humanity commingle, such that the whole and unity can be found in the individual and the opposite, and vice versa. (shrink)

This article proposes to challenge the generally accepted argument that early Chinese cosmology transcended questions of gender by presenting a new analysis of the Xian 咸 and other relevant hexagrams in the Classic of Changes, as well as their classical commentaries. This new study shows that, the concept of the resonant gendered relation of husband and wife played a significant role in constructing social relations and cosmological modes implied in this significant classic. The harmonious husband–wife relation was placed at (...) the center of the social, political, and cosmic order. This may be one reason that from about the same period, Confucian moral and political philosophy always emphasized the importance of ordering one’s family before governing the state. In this sense, the Chinese cosmology, as seen in the Classic of Changes, does not transcend gender; on the contrary, it is gendered. (shrink)

The abstract notion of “the feminine”, —in French, le f minin, and in German, das Weibliche —as substantivum neutrum, remains together with its opposite, the masculine, connotative of an inherent disparity. It is meant neither as the biological affiliation of sex, nor as gender, the social response, or echo, of this biological affiliation. Rather, it is the spiritual attitude which is the norm for psychic manifestations in general, and is its subtle psychosomatic background. It is not necessarily connected with the (...) rude biological differentiation of sex, but rather appears as a quality in one or the other form; either as the individual, the social group or forms of activities, etc., without respect to the biological manifestations of the participants. What this paper attempts to demonstrate, is the way in which the above described notion of the feminine, functions in classical Asian cultures and philosophies. In the famous Yijing, for instance, this is seen as the hexagram correlated to the male Qian; in the philosophy of Yin and Yang, as Yin the Earth, in correlation with Yang, the Heaven; which are united in the famous Taiji diagram, a sophisticated development of Chinese Neo-Confucianism. The paper focuses on the Dao de jing, in which Lao Zi gives, as a counterbalance to the existing praxis, priority to the female principle. He remains, however, faithful to the Asian tradition, maintaining that the masculine and the feminine should remain equal, correlative, neither one nor the other vying for dominance. The correlative embrace, “When you know the male yet hold on to. the female” subsists in the mythical past where both principles are joined in androgynous unity. (shrink)

The classic guide to tapping the practical benefits of an age-old book of wisdom--revised to captivate today's spiritual seekersBased on the revered Chinese philosophy with a 5,000-year-old tradition, the I Ching, or Book of Changes, is rich in revelations. An eminent expert on the powers of the subconscious, Dr. Joseph Murphy opens the guiding force of this ancient text to anyone with an appreciation of the possibilities. With the help of three coins--ordinary pennies will do-- readers will learn to apply (...) their intuitive abilities to receive the I Ching's answers. With a practical outlook, this hands-on guide presents simple techniques for enlisting the I Ching's aid in everyday problem-solving and decision-making. Murphy explains the I Ching hexagram system, revealing its roots in human psychology and the principle of constant change. Demystifying obscure terms and symbols, the author leads the way to consulting the I Ching for clarity and guidance in times of confusion and crisis. By combining basic mathematical formulas with spiritual awareness, readers will realize the miracle-working potential of their own mind and connect with the I Ching's truths. As a result, they'll gain vital insights into questions about career, family, romance, financial security, and life goals. And they'll discover the wonder of genuine peace of mind. SECRETS OF THE I CHING, does not claim to predict the future. But it does provide the tools to mark any future with the promise of greater personal and spiritual fulfillment. (shrink)

The existence of the Dao 道(the Way), according to the Yizhuan 易传 (the Commentary), is something intangible. The connotation of the Dao is the law of change caused by the interaction between yin and yang. The main functions of the Dao are "to change" and "to generate". The intangible refers to the law of change caused by the interaction between yin and yang, and the law is expressed by the divinatory symbolic system (卦爻符号, the trigrams or hexagrams). It is (...) through the unique permutation of yin and yang lines of a trigram or hexagram that the law of change is explained as a universal model uniting celestial, terrestrial and human laws. The symbolic system is used to express the universal nature of continual generation of life. (shrink)

In recent years, three ancient manuscripts relating to the _Yi jin_g (_I Ching_), or _Classic of Changes_, have been discovered. The earliest--the Shanghai Museum Zhou Yi--dates to about 300 B.C.E. and shows evidence of the text's original circulation. The _Guicang_, or _Returning to Be Stored_, reflects another ancient Chinese divination tradition based on hexagrams similar to those of the _Yi jing_. In 1993, two manuscripts were found in a third-century B.C.E. tomb at Wangjiatai that contain almost exact parallels to (...) the _Guicang_'s early quotations, supplying new information on the performance of early Chinese divination. Finally, the Fuyang_ Zhou Y_i was excavated from the tomb of Xia Hou Zao, lord of Ruyin, who died in 165 B.C.E. Each line of this classic is followed by one or more generic prognostications similar to phrases found in the_ Yi jing_, indicating exciting new ways the text was produced and used in the interpretation of divinations. _Unearthing the Changes_ details the discovery and significance of the Shanghai Museum _Zhou Yi_, the Wangjiatai _Guicang_, and the Fuyang _Zhou Yi_, including full translations of the texts and additional evidence constructing a new narrative of the _Yi jing_'s writing and transmission in the first millennium B.C.E. An introduction situates the role of archaeology in the modern attempt to understand the Classic of Changes. By showing how the text emerged out of a popular tradition of divination, these newly unearthed manuscripts reveal an important religious dimension to its evolution. (shrink)

In the quest and search for a physical theory of everything from the macroscopic large body matter to the microscopic elementary particles, with strange and weird concepts springing from quantum physics discovery, irreconcilable positions and inconvenient facts complicated physics – from Newtonian physics to quantum science, the question is- how do we close the gap? Indeed, there is a scientific and mathematical fireworks when the issue of quantum uncertainties and entanglements cannot be explained with classical physics. The Copenhagen interpretation is (...) an expression of few wise men on quantum physics that was largely formulated from 1925 to 1927 namely by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. From this point on, there is a divergence of quantum science into the realms of indeterminacy, complementarity and entanglement which are principles expounded in Yijing, an ancient Chinese knowledge constructed on symbols, with a vintage of at least 3 millennia, with broken and unbroken lines to form stacked 6-line structure called the hexagram. It is premised on probability development of the hexagram in a space-time continuum. The discovery of the quantization of action meant that quantum physics could not convincingly explain the principles of classical physics. This paper will draw the great departure from classical physics into the realm of probabilistic realities. The probabilistic nature and reality interpretation had a significant influence on Bohr’s line of thought. Apparently, Bohr realized that speaking of disturbance seemed to indicate that atomic objects were classical particles with definite inherent kinematic and dynamic properties (Hanson, 1959). Disturbances, energy excitation and entanglements are processual evolutionary phases in Yijing. This paper will explore the similarities in quantum physics and the methodological ways where Yijing is pivoted to interpret observable realities involving interactions which are uncontrollable and probabilistic and forms an inseparable unity due to the entanglement, superposition Transgressing disciplinary boundaries in the discussion of Yijing, originally from the Western Zhou period (1000-750 BC), over a period of warring states and the early imperial period (500-200 BC) which was compiled, transcribed and transformed into a cosmological texts with philosophical commentaries known as the “Ten Wings” and closely associated with Confucius (551- 479 BC) with the Copenhagen Interpretation (1925-1927) by the few wise men including Niel Bohr and Werner Heisensberg would seem like a subversive undertaking. Subversive as the interpretations from Yijing is based on wisdom derived from thousands of years from ancient China to recently discovered quantum concepts. The subversive undertaking does seem to violate the sanctuaries of accepted ways in looking at Yijing principles, classical physics and quantum science because of the fortified boundaries that have been erected between Yijing and the sciences. Subversive as this paper may be, it is an attempt to re-cast an ancient framework where indeterminism, complementarity, non-linearity entanglement, superposition and probability interpretation is seen in today quantum’s realities. (shrink)

The Yijing/Binary System Episode involved Leibniz' discovery of a de facto representation of the binary number system in the sixty-four-hexagram Fu Xi "Yijing." Scholars have left the match unexplained, since they have found no evidence of a forgotten binary number system in ancient China. The interesting similarities and differences are discussed between the thought of Leibniz and that of Shao Yong, both of whom, it is argued, understood and recognized the importance of the double geometric progression in the diagram.

This article explores the connection between the Heng Xian and the Changes of Zhou tradition, especially the “Tuan” and “Attached Verbalizations” commentaries. Two important Heng Xian terms—heng 恆 and fu 復—are also Changes of Zhou hexagrams and possible connections are explored. Second, the Heng Xian account of the creation of names is compared with the “Attached Verbalizations” account of the creation of the Changes of Zhou system. Third, the roles played by knowing and desire in both Heng Xian and (...) the Changes of Zhou tradition are explored, with particular focus on potential points of similarity. Finally, insights gained through these comparisons are used to interpret the Heng Xian advice on initiating action. (shrink)

This short essay introduces a set of articles I compiled for a special issue of the Journal of Chinese Philosophy in 2011. Most of the essays are revised versions of papers originally presented at the "Kant in Asia" international conference on "The Unity of Human Personhood", held in Hong Kong in May of 2009, and subsequently published in the collection entitled Cultivating Personhood: Kant and Asian Philosophy (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2010). After introducing the papers in the special issue, the (...) essay proposes an unconventional way of mapping the Yijing, according to four "levels of perspectives": 0 + 4 + 12 + (4x12) = 64. I predict that this new map can be used to demonstrate a one-to-one correspondence between the Yijing's 64 gua (hexagrams) and the basic principles of Kant's philosophy. (shrink)

The West's foremost translator of the I Ching, Richard Wilhelm thought deeply about how contemporary readers could benefit from this ancient work and its perennially valid insights into change and chance. For him and for his son, Hellmut Wilhelm, the Book of Changes represented not just a mysterious book of oracles or a notable source of the Taoist and Confucian philosophies. In their hands, it emerges, as it did for C. G. Jung, as a vital key to humanity's age-old collective (...) unconscious. Here the observations of the Wilhelms are combined in a volume that will reward specialists and aficionados with its treatment of historical context--and that will serve also as an introduction to the I Ching and the meaning of its famous hexagrams. (shrink)

Japanese agricultural scholarship reached its peak in the Tokugawa period (1603-1868). Most of its representative works were imbued with the Chinese metaphysical doctrine of yin-yang-wu-hsing. They used the ideas of yin-yang, wu-hsing, yun-ch'i, hexagrams, and feng-shui extensively to develop their views and to explain various practices. There were two different attitudes towards Chinese concepts among Tokugawa scholars. Some regarded Chinese ideas as universal principles, and faithfully introduced them to Japan, whereas some were faced with the problem of national identity (...) and attempted to accommodate Chinese metaphysical principles to Japanese agriculture. This article examines the adoption of the yin-yang-wu-hsing doctrine in Tokugawa agriculture through a careful and critical textual study of several major Tokugawa writings. (shrink)

Mental rotation of emotional and neutral stimuli The main aim of the study was to create and validate emotional version of mental rotation task. As all previously conducted experiments utilized neutral material only, such an attempt seemed necessary to confirm the generality of mental rotation effect and its properties. Emotional MRT was constructed using photos of negative facial expressions; a compatible neutral MRT was also created, for detailed comparisons. 2- and 3-dimensional figures and hexagrams served as affect-free stimuli. In (...) three experiments, emotional MRT version was proven to be valid, whereas only hexagram-based neutral MRT version yielded the expected results. A number of differences between the two versions emerged, concerning response times, accuracy and difficulty of trials. The neutral/emotional MRT procedure, although needing more research, seems to give stable results, making the study of content-bound imagery possible. (shrink)

This book explores the aesthetic consciousness of the Shang Dynasty and its influence on Chinese aesthetic development and contemporary aesthetic creation. The Shang Dynasty is the first era in China with authentic historical documentation. Its artifacts and inscriptions have great aesthetic value and serve as vivid and rich records of aesthetic concepts. By examining the production and use of pottery, jade, bronze, and oracle bone inscriptions, the book sheds light on the functions of these creations as media for conveying emotions (...) driven by human nature. By discussing how Shang script was invented and used, the author explores the significant role it played in the development of the aesthetic consciousness of the Chinese ancients. Based on surviving documents, including the hexagrams in the Book of Changes, the Pan Geng in the Book of Documents, and the Shang songs in the Book of Songs, he further examines the poetic characteristics of Shang literature, recognizing it as both historically and literarily significant. The title is essential reading for scholars, students, and general readers interested in Chinese aesthetics, ancient Chinese civilization, culture, and art. (shrink)

Soon after receiving Bouvet's interpretation of the hexagrams of the I ching as binary numbers, Leibniz communicated this application of his binary arithmetic to Hans Sloane in a letter published here for the first time. The letter also included a report on the observations of the variable star in the neck of the Swan by Gottfried Kirch. Sloane sent a copy of the scientific parts of the letter to Flamsteed.

The Yijing has been used as a book of divination for more than three thousand years in China and still is by some people today. In this book the wisdom of leadership within the framework of the Yijing is used to indicate how a leader should act in different situations, be they good or bad. Critical analysis of the 64 hexagrams, the first of its kind, comes across with lucid explanations of the hexagram statements. Reinterpreted in a logical and (...) scientific manner, this Chinese classic provides modern leaders with food for thought. (shrink)

This is the third in a series of articles that correlates Kant's architectonic with the Yijing's sixty-four hexagrams. Previous articles explained “architectonic” reasoning, introduced four levels of the “Compound Yijing,” consisting of 0 + 4 + 12 + gua, and suggested correlating the fourth level's four sets of twelve to the four “faculties” in Kant's model of the university. This third paper examines the philosophy faculty, assessing whether the twelve proposed gua meaningfully correlate with twelve basic philosophical concepts that (...) Kant introduces in his three Critiques. A key difference emerges: Kant's architectonic method aims to produce synthetic a priori knowledge, while the Yijing's architectonic method aims to produce analytic a posteriori belief. (shrink)

This paper begins the last instalment of a six-part project correlating the key aspects of Kant’s architectonic conception of philosophy with a special version of the Chinese Book of Changes that I call the “Compound Yijing”, which arranges the 64 hexagrams (gua) into both fourfold and threefold sets. I begin by briefly summarizing the foregoing articles: although Kant and the Yijing employ different types of architectonic reasoning, the two systems can both be described in terms of three “levels” of (...) elements. Starting at an unnumbered level devoid of any element (the tao or thing in itself), the system proceeds by elaborating a key fourfold distinction (or “quaternity”) on the first level, a twelvefold distinction on the second level, and twelve quaternities (grouped in four quadrants, each with a set of three quaternities) on the third level. Each set of three quaternities (i.e., each quadrant) on the third level corresponds to one of the four “faculties” of the university, as elaborated in Kant’s book, The Conflict of the Faculties. Previous papers have examined the correlations between three key quaternities that Kant defends in relation to each of three faculties (philosophy, theology, and law) and the 12 gua that correspond to that faculty in the Compound Yijing. The final step is to explore the fourth quaternity on the third level, the 12 gua corresponding to the medical faculty. The “idea of reason” in Kant’s metaphysics that guides this wing of the comparative analysis is freedom, and the ultimate purpose of this faculty of the university is to train doctors to care for people’s physical well-being, as free agents imbedded in nature. But this paper will focus only on the four gua that correspond to four basic concepts in Kant’s theory of medicine. The two quaternities in the “yin-yang” (medical) quadrant of the Compound Yijing that will be skipped here are as follows. First, Kant’s account of the idea of freedom itself, which gives rise to the area of traditional metaphysics known as rational cosmology, comes in the first Critique’s Dialectic, in the section on the Antinomy of Reason (CPR A405-567/B432- 595). There he examines four irresolvable issues: whether the world has a beginning in time; whether composite substances consist of simple parts; whether a causality of freedom operates in the natural world; and whether an absolutely necessary being exists. Later I will argue that these correspond to the quaternity consisting of gua 15, 22, 36, and 52. (shrink)

This fourth article in a six-part series correlating Kant’s philosophy with the Yijing begins by summarizing the foregoing articles: both Kant and the Yijing’s 64 hexagrams (gua) employ “architectonic” reasoning to form a four-level system with 0+4+12+(4x12) elements, the fourth level’s four sets of 12 correlating to Kant’s model of four university “faculties”. This article explores the second twelvefold set, the law faculty. The “idea of reason” guiding this wing of the comparative analysis is immortality. Three of Kant’s “quaternities” (...) correspond to three sets of four gua in the Yijing: the fourfold nature of the soul in rational psychology (as substantial, simple, unified, spatially related) corresponds to gua 47, 6, 58, 10, respectively; the three “Definitive Articles” and fourth, “Secret Article”, in Perpetual Peace correspond to gua 16, 35,51, 21; and the four objective relations of law to duty in Metaphysics of Morals correspond to gua 45, 12, 17, 25. (shrink)

This is a revised version of a paper that was originally presented at the first Kant in Asia international conference (on the theme "The Unity of Human Personhood") in May of 2009. It was published as Chapter 64 in Cultivating Personhood: Kant and Asian Philosophy, ed. Stephen R. Palmquist (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2010), pp.811-821. I argue that Kant and the Yijing both employ a form of architectonic reasoning, though their respective understandings of the logical structure of human reasoning are (...) incommensurable. A more thoroughly revised version of the paper was later published in the Journal of Chinese Philosophy and was followed by a series of several other articles arguing that there is a way of arranging the Yijing's 64 hexagrams such that their form is compatible with the form of Kant's table of categories. (shrink)

Confucian scholars often reference the Yijing 《易經》 (the Classic of Changes), the Liji 《禮記》 (Records of Rituals), and other classics in their advocacy for female chastity. Perplexingly, vocabulary that suggests extremism, which often results in self-imposed – or public sanctioned – suicide, starvation, or physical disfigurement of women during the pre-modern China and the early republic, either does not appear or rarely appears in the Yijing or other early Confucian canons. In these early texts, both zhen 貞 and jie 節 (...) have multiple meanings. Neither term is confined to a specific gender. This fact suggests that the original meanings of zhen and jie in the Yijing, composed around 1046 BCE–771 BCE, had likely been altered and radicalized in later times. I use word frequency analysis, examination of hexagrams, and the method of intertextuality to expose and deconstruct interpretive contradictions and attempt to restore these concepts to their original meaning without distortion. (shrink)

What is it to enter a way of thought? No way of thought can be summarized. Translation is unreliable. Following a historical development is exhausting and remains external to the vitality of the thought. For Jullien, a way of thought can be entered effectively only by beginning to work with it, which for him means passing through it in order to learn how to question something beyond doubt. What we cannot imagine doubting may suddenly alter under the oblique effect of (...) another way of thought that cannot share, or even imagine, our certainty. Jullien reads a single Chinese sentence, the beginning of the Yijing, or Book of Changes, “China’s oldest book.” He reads the sentence from close up and far away, literally and set into play with other inaugurations from Genesis and Hesiod. Yijing begins not with a word but a line. One unbroken line repeated six times. {—}. This sign has a name: {qian}, which Jullien translates “initiatory capacity.” The first line of the text is a commentary on the hexagram. It consists of four monosyllables, all equal, without tense, without subject or complement, making a complete series without hierarchy. {Yong heng li zhen} “Beginning expansion profit rectitude.” The sentence (it is a sentence) “opens widely but does not bump up against anything,” lacking passions we may think significance requires. Its subtle, almost irresistible power is to unfold the obvious and hold sway without seeming to constitute a point of view. Alluding to that other canonical commencement, Genesis, Jullien observes that the Chinese sentence includes humanity without singling us out. We are duly swept up in the “ten thousand things.” Where the biblical sentence sets a history in motion, the Chinese sentence discloses a regulating mechanism. Its beginning is not the rupture of a first day. Instead, it names an unfolding that occurs everywhere at every moment and never runs dry. China does not fit into the opposition of Greece and the Bible (“Athens or Jerusalem”). “Might these alternatives have been too hastily sealed?” A question that probably would not be felt as vital without the detour through China. (shrink)

An arithmetic theory of oppositions is devised by comparing expressions, Boolean bitstrings, and integers. This leads to a set of correspondences between three domains of investigation, namely: logic, geometry, and arithmetic. The structural properties of each area are investigated in turn, before justifying the procedure as a whole. Io finish, I show how this helps to improve the logical calculus of oppositions, through the consideration of corresponding operations between integers.