TheShengsheng Philosophy of theBook of Changes and Its Interpretation:With Reference to theCommentaries on the Book of Changes and the Threefold Meaning ofYi✴

Ding Sixin and Fei Chunhao✴

Abstract:As far as its origin goes,the concept ofsheng (production) orshengsheng(production—reproduction) was inherently emphasized in ancient theories of cosmogenesis informed by the Heavenly Canopy theory.From the beginning,the three versions of the Changes reflected a binary mode of thinking.The Commentaries on the Book of Changes highlight theshengsheng philosophy which consists in roughly three points:(1) the binary opposition between Heaven (higher,yang,honorable) and Earth (lower,yin,humble)constitutes the genetic structure in which theshengsheng philosophy was conceived;(2) the concept ofshengsheng involves two principles,that is,“change” and “production and completion,” which are also where its value and purpose lie;and (3) theshengsheng philosophy is characterized by continuation,connection,and mutual interaction.The shengsheng philosophy can be interpreted through the threefold meaning ofyi in the Commentaries on the Book of Changes,that is,simplicity,change,and changelessness.As regards this proposition,“Qian Opens the Channel” and Zheng Xuan off ered cosmogenetic interpretations,while Kong Yingda proposed one based on the substance—function theory.According to Neo-Confucians,sheng orshengsheng is the very law (principle) of the cosmos,that is,“the mind of Heaven and Earth,” and even the substance of the cosmos itself.

Keywords:shengsheng,Book of Changes,Commentaries on the Book of Changes,Kong Yingda

Shengsheng生生 (production—reproduction) is one of the major topics of Chinese philosophy in general,and ofYixue易学 (studies of theZhouyiorBook of Changes) in particular.What doesshengshengmean? First,to clarify its concept,we need to begin with an explanation of the Chinese charactersheng生.Second,to reveal the basic meaning of theshengshengphilosophy,we should base our research on its original source,theCommentaries on the Book of Changes[易传].Third,there were two approaches to interpreting theshengshengphilosophy aft er the Qin (221—206 BCE) and Han (206 BCE—220 CE) dynasties:one was theYixuefrom the Han to the Tang (618—907) dynasty,which proposed a threefold meaning contained in the wordyi易 (change);the other was that of the Neo-Confucians in the Song (960—1279) and Ming (1368—1644) dynasties and was highlighted in the Cheng—Zhu school’s explication of the meaning ofshengsheng,in which they argued thatjiaoyi交易 (exchange) was the basic meaning of theBook of Changes.This paper will focus on the f irst approach.

Explanations of the CharacterSheng and the Basic Connotations of ‘Shengsheng as the Meaning ofYi’[Refer to page 67 for Chinese.Similarly hereinaft er]

Explanations of the CharacterSheng and Its Conceptual Background[67]

Analyzing and clarifying the meaning of the Chinese charactersheng生 is one of the prerequisites for understandingshengshengas a def ining concept ofYixue.In Xu Shen’s许慎 (ca.58—147)Explanation of Simple and Compound Graphs[说文解字],thesectiononsheng生 says that “生 means increasing and furthering,symbolizing grass or a tree growing out of soil.”1Xu Shen 许慎,Explanation of Simple and Compound Graphs with Commentary [说文解字注],ed.Duan Yucai 段玉裁(Shanghai:Shanghai Classics Publishing House,1981),274.Xu’s exegesis is correct.The upper part of the charactershengis a pictographic character in itself which is written as 屮.As the same work also notes,“屮 means fresh grass or a sapling starting to grow out of soil,and symbolizes a stalk (丨) with its branches,which in ancient writing can be interchangeable with the character 艸.”2Ibid.,21.The charactersheng生was written asin the bone and tortoise shell inscriptions of the Shang dynasty (ca.1600—ca.1046 BCE),and it is an ideographic character consisting of 屮 and 一,which resembles grass or a tree growing out of soil.I n inscriptions on ancient bronze objects,it was written aswith a decorative dot on the 丨 of,or aswith a short horizontal stroke crossing the 丨.in the small seal script is a form which developed from thein inscriptions on ancient bronze objects.3Li Xueqin 李学勤,ed.,Sources of Chinese Characters [字源](Tianjin:Tianjin Classics Publishing House,2012),552.Thus,we know that the original meaning ofshengwas growth or growing,from which rich meanings could be derived.

That the charactershengbecame an important concept of Chinese philosophy and thought can be attributed to three factors.The first factor is the ancient Chinese people highly cherishing and ref lecting on the phenomena of life.They were aware that the f irst precondition for the existence of the forms or phenomena of life was their possession of the characteristic ofsheng,forotherwise they would not have come into being.To the ancient Chinese,the myriad things were animate,each being a living thing.It was not until the middle and late phases of the Warring States period (475—221 BCE) that the ancient Chinese people made a relatively rigorous distinction between living beings and inanimate objects,and between organic and inorganic things.During the period from the Shang dynasty and to the Spring and Autumn period (770—476 BCE),as a character,shengcould be used to refer to everything,and this means that everything had been endowe d with the characteristic ofsheng.

The second factor is cosmogenetic consciousness.The cosmology prevalent in ancient China before the time of Emperor Wu of Han (r.140—87 BCE) was the Heavenly Canopy(gaitian盖天) theory,which held that heaven was orbicular as a hemispherical canopy and earth was rectangular as a chessboard,and which mixed up the production and completion of Heaven,Earth,and myriad things with the substance of a spiritual divinity.It was roughly in the Spring and Autumn period that the concept of Heaven producing and Earth completing things,or,in other words,the fusion of the vital energies (qi气) of Heaven and Earth,was proposed.In roughly the middle Warring States period,theCommentaries on the Book of Changesand Xunzi both explained the production and completion of Heaven,Earth,and myriad things with the theory ofyinandyangexpanding and transforming,seeingyinandyangas the origin of the produc tion and completion of all things.This objectivization of the origin simultaneously brought about the objectivization of the things that it produces and completes.The theory of natural generation as f irst proposed by Laozi not only denied the existence of a spiritual divinity,but also promoted the conceptual expansion of the idea ofshengsheng.

The third factor is the emergence of the concept ofxing性 (inherent nature) and the extension of its f ield of reference.As far as its etymology is concerned,the characterxingwas derived fromshengin order to provide the foundation for living bodies or the phenomena of life to find their origination in themselves.Humans and other entities have their own latent inherent nature as an undeveloped origin and substance,whileshengwas thus used to refer to phenomena that are already developed.The theory ofxingdeepened the concept ofsheng,and it represents a fundamental turning point in the ancient Chinese understanding ofsheng,where the original theory of Heavenly Endowment was concretized as theories of human nature and life or of mind and inherent nature.This was a result of the deepening and internalizing development of Chinese philosophy,and is of major signif icance.

‘Sheng sheng as the Meaning ofYi’ in ‘Appen ded Remarks I’[68]

The termshengshengwas f irst mentioned in “Appended Remarks I” [系辞上]:

The su ccessive movement ofyinandyangconstitutes the Way (dao道).What issues from the Way is good (shan善),and that which realizes it is inherent nature.The man of humanity (ren仁) sees it and calls it humanity and the man of wisdom sees it and calls it wisdom.And the common people act according to it daily without knowing it.In this way,the Way of thejunzi君子 (man of noble character) is fully realized.It is manifested in humanity but concealed in its functioning.It promotes all things without sharing the anxiety of the sage.How perfect is its eminent virtue (de德) and great achievement! Its achievement is great because it possesses everything,and its virtue is eminent because it renovates things every day.The meaning ofyiisshengsheng.The meaning ofQian乾 (Heaven) is the completion of forms,andKun坤 (Earth) to model aft er them.The meaning of divination is to take the the natural course of events to its limit in order to know the future,to manage affairs is to adapt and accommodate changes accordingly,and that which is unfathomable in the operation ofyinandyangis called the spiritual.4The English translation of this citation follows Chan Wing-tsit,266,with some alterations.

From the context where “the meaning ofyiisshengsheng” is situated in the above cited paragraph,it expresses the following four major points:

First,shengshengis a word with the same charactershengin repetition.Literally,it means production and reproduction or producing and reproducing,which means a successive and persistent process with no interruption at all.While annotating “the meaning ofyiisshengsheng,” Han Kangbo 韩康伯 (332—380) said,“This refers to the alternating change betweenyinandyangthat realizes the transformation and generation of things.” In his sub-commentary,Kong Yingda 孔颖达 (574—648) said,“Shengshenghere means unceasing.Becauseyinandyangare always changing and switching places,what is produced later follows what was produced before,and thusyimeans the myriad things in a constant process of production.”5Wang Bi 王弼 et al.eds.The Book of Changes with Commentary and Subcommentary [周易注疏],vol.10,inSong Dynasty Edition of the Book of Changes with Commentary and Subcommentary [宋本周易注疏](Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company,2018),397,399.

Second,the proposition that “the meaning ofyiisshengsheng”fixes the profound meaning ofyiasshengsheng.It not only speaks of the great function of f lowing operation(liuxing流行) meant by “the successive movement ofyinandyangconstitutes the Way,”but also emphasizes directly the great meaning ofyiand the purport of theBook of Changes.As found in the bone and tortoise shell inscriptions of the Shang dynasty,the characteryi易is written asor,an ideographic character.In our opinion,the earliest meaning of that character is alteration (gengyi更易) or change (bianyi变易).As far as its denotation goes,“change” is greater thanshengsheng,for the latter is only one form of the former.However,with regard to the purpose of inventing characters and conducting divination,shengshengis what theBook of Changesaimed at,that which represents the purpose and value of the studies of “change.”

Third,“the mea ning ofyiisshengsheng” was developed in the context of the notion that “the successive movement ofyinandyangconstitutes the Way.” This Way,that is,the Way of successive movement ofyinandyang,refers to the original substance ofshengsheng,and thisshengshengmeans the f lowing,change,transformation,production,and completion ofyinandyang,which constitutes the functioning of “the successive movement ofyinandyangconstitutes the Way.” The relationship between the two is that between substance (ti体) and function (yong用).Han Confucians explained the proposition that “the meaning ofyiisshengsheng” by the interaction betweenyinandyangas the two opposing principles in nature,while Song Confucians understood the principle(li理) ofshengshengas referring to the reason for the succ essive movement ofyinandyangwhich constitutes the Way,and summarized it by two principles,that is,mutual dependence (duidai对待) and f lowing operation.

Fourth,in the afore-cited paragraph fromtheBook of Changes,all the words aft er the opening sentence,in a sense,explicate and clarify what is meant byshengshengfrom the perspective of the function of f lowing operation,unfolding the meaning of theshengshengphilosophy put forth in theBook of Changes.Its key points are four:(1) the production and completion of the good of nature and of life,(2) the manifestation of moral consciousness,(3) daily renewal in virtue and achievement,and (4) the great function ofYixueas indicated by bothQianandKunthrough their forms and modeling,and by the divination through which the natural course of events is taken to its limit in order to know the future.In this sense,what is meant byshengshengin theBook of Changesinvolves such aspects as the natural world,morality and achievement,and the production ofYixuetheory.

To sum up,the proposition that “the meaning ofyiisshengsheng” covers three core connotations.One is that the meaning of change,whichYixuehas focused on,lies inshengsheng,which it has upheld as the purpose and guiding principle of change.Another is thatshengshengmeans the continuation ofshengand its process,daily renewal,and creation.A third is that there must be a reason for the production and reproduction ofshengsheng,and thus thedaoofshengshengis the origin of the myriad things in nature,of human moral consciousness,and of achievement and success.

TheShengsheng Philosophy in the Commentaries on the Book of Changes[69]

The philosophical thought ofshengshengin theCommentaries on the Book of Changesis very rich,and finds its most concentrated expression in the “Appended Remarks.” In a sense,the philosophy of theCommentaries on the Book of Changesis embodied in its conception ofshengsheng.

Binary Opposition and Change for Production and Completion[69]

First,the binary opposition between Heaven as higher,yangin nature,and honorable and Earth as lower,yinin nature,and humble is a basic concept of theBook of Changesin both its core text and commentaries and in earlyYixue,and constitutes the original substance ofshengsheng.This idea of binary opposition was derived from the ancient theory of the Heavenly Canopy,which held that Heaven was orbicular above and earth was rectangular below,and allyin—yangchanges,the coming and going of days and months,the rotation of the four seasons,and the f lourishing and withering of grasses and trees were common phenomena.From this,ancient Chinese people derived such concepts as higher and lower,honorable and humble,change and transformation,and the three powers (sancai三才),that is,Heaven,Earth,and Humankind.All these concepts can be found in theCommentaries on the Book of Changes.“Appended Remarks I” says,

In its breadth and greatness,yicorresponds to Heaven and Earth;in its ever-recurring changes,it corresponds to the four seasons;in the righteousness seen inyinandyang,it corresponds to the sun and moon;and in the goodness seen in its simplicity,it corresponds to supreme virtue.

Therefore,of all models and forms there are none greater than Heaven and Earth;of things that change and extend an inf luence there are none greater than the four seasons;of things suspended in the heavens with their forms displayed clear and bright,there are none greater than the sun and moon.6The English translations of the two citations follow James Legge,with some alterations.

Generally speaking,theBook of Changesis a simulation of the natural world,and Heaven and Earth,the four seasons,and the sun and moon are the sources of the both the hexagrams in the book as a whole and also the judgments attached to each line within them.Therefore,it provides us with a hermeneutics that takes the world or cosmos as its original substance.

Philosophical deduction on the basis of the idea of binary opposition can be illustrated through either the view ofQianandKunseen as two originators in the “Commentary on Judgments” [彖传],or that ofQianandKunas a swinging gate and arcane source in the “Appended Remarks.” The “Commentary on the Judgment” for theQianhexagram states,“Great isQian,the originator! All things obtain their beginning from it,and it unites and commands all things under Heaven” (trans.Chan,264).The “Commentary on the Judgment” for theKunhexagram states,“Complete isKun,the originator! All things obtain their production from it,and it receives obediently the influences of Heaven.”QianandKunas the two originators constitute the original substance of the concept of the cosmos in binary opposition.The “Appended Remarks I” asks,“May it b e said thatQianandKunare the arcane source of theBook of Changes?” and “May it be said thatQianandKunare the swinging gate of theBook of Changes?” which are indicative of theQianandKunhexagrams carrying the sum and substance of the entireBook of Changes,for they symbolizeyinandyang,Heaven and Earth,which directly ref lect its philosophical theory of binary opposition.

Second,change and production and completion are two important principles of theshengshengphilosophy of theBook of Changes,and they generalize the essence of the phenomenal world.Confucius is quoted as saying,“He who knows the Way of change and transformation may be said to know what is done by the spiritual power” (“Appended Remarks I”;trans.Legge).“When a series of changes has run all its course,another change ensues.When it obtains free course,it will continue long” (“Appended Remarks II”;trans.Legge).“Thus water and f ire contribute together to the one object;thunder and wind do not act contrary to each other;mountains and collections of water interchange their inf luences.It is in this way that they are able to change and transform,and to give completion to all things” (“Explaining the Trigrams” [说卦];trans.Legge).Therefore,textual studies of theBook of Changesmade great efforts to clarify the concept of change or change and transformation.Without change or change and transformation,there would have been no production and completion of the myriad things,and since there are production and completion,this means there is change or change and transformation.At the same time,to produce and complete is the purpose of change or change and transformation.Recognizing the concept of “change a nd transformation” in itself and thereby grasping the Way of change and transformation represent a highly r emarkable intellectual achievem ent made by ancient Chinese philosophers.

‘The Great Virtue of Heaven and Earth IsSheng’ and the Law of Mutual Interaction and Production[70]

On the basis of its theory of change or of change and transformation,theCommentaries on the Book of Changeshighlight the concept ofshengsheng,whichmeans both the production and completion of the myriad things and their purpose and value.“Appende d Remarks I” says,

Wide is theBook of Changesand great! ...There isQian,which,in its stillness,is concentrated;when exerting its motive power,it goes straight forward;and thus,it is that its production is on a grand scale.There isKun,which,in its stillness,is self-collected and capacious;when exerting its motive power,it develops its resources,and thus its production is on a wide scale.

“Appended Remarks II” says,“The great virtue of Heaven and Earth issheng.” The “Commentary on the Judgment” in theKunhexagram,as cited above,exclaims “Complete isKun,the originator! All things obtain their production from it,and it receives obediently the influences of Heaven.” Thus,shengshengis stressed repeatedly as the great principle and fundamental characteristic of the cosmos.Withoutsheng,there would be no historical existence of Heaven,Earth,and the myriad things,nor would there be their actual existence in the present.Therefore,all things and aff airs,ranging from such great ones as Heaven and Earth to such little ones as hair and down,and even those such as good fortune,misfortune,remorse,and trouble,are all subject to this principle ofsheng.

InYixue,the Way of Heaven (tiandao天道) and the Way of Humanity (rendao人道) are continuous and connected,and being continuous and being connected are two characteristics of theshengshengphilosophy of theBook of Changes.The “Providing the Sequence of the Hexagrams” [序卦]says,

Heaven and Earth existing,all things then got their existence.All things having existence,afterward there came male and female.From the existence of male and female,there came aft erward husband and wife.From husband and wife,there came father and son.From father and son,there came ruler and minister.From ruler and minister,there came high and low.When the distinction of high and low had existence,aft erward came the arrangements of propriety and righteousness.

Here,the cosmos,natural world,and human society present a continuous and connected view ofshengsheng.

Mutual interaction (xianggan相感) is an important principle to which Heaven and Earth,humankind and the myriad things,all are subject,and it is a major aspect of theshengshengphilosophy of theBook of Changes.The principle of mutual interaction,which is based on the continuity and connectivity of all things in the cosmos,consists of four aspects:action a nd response,exchanging interaction,interactive penetra tion,and interactive production.Action and response refers to a coming and going process which is successive,in which the action may be primary and the response secondary,or the action occurring first and the response following it.Exchang ing interaction means mutual interaction betweenyinandyangas the two opposing vital energies or principles in the cosmos.By interactive penetration is meant that one side acts on the other and then penetrates into it,although it should be pointed out that the side acted on may be people,objects,aff airs,the mind,or spirits and ghosts,which are diff erent in their categories.Interactive production refers to mutual action that produces things,which occurs not only among Heaven,Earth,and the myriad things in the natural world but also within humankind and between humankind and things.Shengshengand harmony are the two purposes of mutual interaction.

“Appended Remarks I” says,“In theBook of Changes,there is no thought and no action,and it is still and without movement,but,when acted on,it penet rates forthwith all phenomena and events under Heaven.If it were not the most spirit-like thing under Heaven,how could it be found doing this?” Here “[being]acted upon” (gan感,or interacting) is the key link and the precondition for “it penetrates forthwith to all phenomena and events under Heaven.” Of the sixty-four hexagrams intheBook of Changes,there is a hexagram calledXian咸 (reciprocity),which also has the meaning ofgan,and its imageis composed of the upper trigramGen艮 (hill) and the lower trigramDui兑(lake).The former trigram is hard in nature,symbolizi ng the youngest boy,with the feature of stillness,while the latter trigram is soft in nature,symbolizing the youngest daughter,with the feature of joyfulness.Furthermore,the images of these two trigrams mirror each other.Thus,according to the “Commentary on the Judgment” of the hexagram,its upper and lower trigrams show an image of mutual interaction,conveying the meaning of acting on one another.The commentary also gives an extended explanation of this as follows:“Heaven and Earth act on each other,and thus ensues the transformation and production of all things.The sage acts on the minds of men,and the result is harmony and peace all under Heaven.If we examine their interaction,we can see the true character of Heaven,Earth and the myriad things.” In a word,the interaction that the commentary explains with regard to thexianhexagram covers the meanings of both action and response and interactive production,and also natural interaction,and artif icial interaction.I n addition,mutual interaction is also a means,which corresponds toshengshengand harmony as its two purposes.

‘Yi as One Name Containing a Threefold Meaning’ and Its Inferential Explication of theShengsheng Philosophy[72]

According to theshengshengphilosophy developed in theCommentaries on the Book of Changes,all the myriad things are moving and changing,and the cosmos is eternally a space where the process of life and creation goes on and on endlessly through production and reproduction.But how can Heaven and Earth be producing and reproducing? How can the myriad things always undergo endless changes? These are questions that theshengshengphilosophy was developed to answer.Confucian scholars from the Han to the Tang laid much emphasis on the proposition that “yiis one name containing a threefold meaning”and,through interpreting this proposition,further developed theshengshengphilosophy originally conceived in theBook of Changes.

What Does ‘Yi as O ne Name Containing a Threefold Meaning’ Mean?[72]

Yi(change),as one of the two characters that make up the title of theYijing(Book of Changes),has been traditionally used as a short name for the work,which can encapsulate the profound meaning conveyed by the title.For this reason,later scholars paid much attention to its meaning in regard toshengsheng.The proposition that “yiis one name containing a threefold meaning” was first mentioned in “QianOpens the Channel” [乾凿度],a work included in the series ofApocrypha of the Book of Changes[易纬],which came out in the late Western Han dynasty (206 BCE—25 CE).In its f irst fascicle is recorded a saying attributed to Confucius:“Yimeans simplicity (yijian易简),change (bianyi),and changelessness (buyi不易).Unifying these three meanings,yiencompasses the essentials ofdaoand virtue.”7Zhao Zaihan 赵在翰,ed.,Seven Apocrypha [七纬](Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company,2012),30.The summary of “yias one name containing a threefold meaning” was actually first proposed by Zheng Xuan 郑玄 (127—200).In “On the Three Names ofYi” [论“易”之三名],Kong Yingda cites Zheng Xuan’s “Encomium onYi” [易赞]and “Treatise onYi” [易论]as saying that “yiis one name containing a threefold meaning:simplicity,change,and changelessness.”8Wang Bi et al.,The Book of Changes with Commentary and Subcommentary,vol.1,7—8.

First,let us analyze the f irst meaning ofyi.How to explain theyiinyijian? There have been controversies among scholars past and present.The present author holds that hereyimeansxiaoyi俲易,whic h is interchangeable withxiaoyi效易,a ta utological Chinese compound word with two synonymous characters.The ancient Chinese dictionaryGuangya[广雅]explains the characteryias meaning “to resemble” and “to be similar with.”9Wang Niansun 王念孙,“Explaining Characters and Words” [释言],in part I of vol.5 ofGuangya Annotated [广雅疏证],ed.Zhang Jingwei 张靖伟 (Shanghai:Shanghai Classics Publishing House,2018),729.According toYupian[玉篇],another ancient Chinese dictionary,“Yimeansxiang象.” Xu Shen,in hisExplanation of Simple and Compound Graphs,explainsxiao效 as meaningxiang象,and Duan Yucai 段玉裁 (1735—1815) commentated on this by saying “thisxiang象 should be understood asxiang像.” Xu also said that “xiang像 means resembling.”10Xu,Explanation of Simple and Compound Graphs with Commentary,274.Simply speaking,bothxiaoandyimean resembling or being similar.11See Ding Sixin 丁四新 and Gong Jianping 龚建平,A General History of Chinese Philosophy:Qin and Han Dynasties Volume [中国哲学通史：秦汉卷](Nanjing:Jiangsu People’s Publishing House,2021),304.According to “QianOpens the Channel,”xiaoyiin this sense is used to explain the non-existence and inactivity which characterize the original substance of the Way ofyi.While expounding the idea that “yiis on e name containing a threefold meaning,” Zheng Xuan replacedyizhe易者withyijianin attempt to correspond with theyiandjian简 which are used in “Appended Remarks I” to def ine the characteristics of theQianandKunhexagrams respectively.From Zheng Xuan’s commentary to theBook of Changes,we know that he explained theyiin “Qiancan be known by way ofyi” (“Appended Remarks I”) byjiaoyi佼易 (all the changes).12Wang Yinglin 王应麟,comp.,The Book of Changes with Commentary by Zheng Xuan [周易郑注],eds.Ding Jieding丁杰定 and Zhang Huiyan 张惠言,in book 1 ofComplete Library in the Four Branches of Literature with Continued Revision [续修四库全书](Shanghai:Shanghai Classics Publishing House,2002),105.The explanation given in “QianOpens the Channel” focuses on the characteristic of metaphysical non-being as the original substance of the Way ofyi;but after Zheng’s exegetical extension,the primary meaning ofyishift ed to be one affi rmative ofQianandKun,or Heaven and Earth,as a physical binary original substance.

Now,let us turn tobianyi,the second meaning.This meaning comes from the theory of the flowing operation ofqi-transformation (qihua liuxing气化流行).According to“QianOpens the Channel,” Heaven and Earth penetrating one another with theirqi,the Five Phases (wuxing五行) alternating in operation,the four seasons coming and going,sovereign and minister harmonious in governance,and husband and wife happy in the familial relationship are all the result of change.In his “On the Three Names ofYi,” Kong Yingda cites the “changing and moving without staying” and “according only with change”of the “Appended Remarks” in his explanation of this meaning.

The third meaningbuyiwas stated from the viewpoint ofwei位 (direction and location).As said in “Appended Remarks I”:“Heaven is honorable and Earth humble,thus their symbols,QianandKun,are determined.Things low and high appear displayed in a similar relation,and the noble and base have their places assigned accordingly.” This was cited by Kong Yingda as the basis for his argument.

The Meaning ofShengsheng in ‘Yi as On e Name Containing a Threefold Meaning’[74]

As regardsshengsheng,that its meaning is implied in the idea that “yiis one name containing a threefold meaning” can be clarified first by turning to theCommentaries on the Book of Changes.Since the “threefold meaning” epitomizes all thatyimeans,shengshengis implied in both the cosmogenetic and the ontological theories concerning theCommentaries on the Book of Changes.Nonetheless,if we examine the arguments of Confucian scholars from the Han to the Tang,their understandings ofshengshengcan be seen to focus on two aspects:One is explicating the meaning ofshengshengin terms of“being” (you有),while the other employs the relationship between being and non-being (wu无) or substance and function.

Let us take the former f irst.As recorded in Kong Ying da’s “On the Three Names ofYi,”Cui Jin 崔觐,Liu Zhenjian 刘贞简,and others expounded the threefold meaning on the basis of “QianOpens the Channel” and Zheng Xuan’s “Encomium onYi” and “Treatise onYi” as follows:“Yispeaks of the virtue ofshengsheng,which has the meaning of simplicity.Its meaning of changelessness refers to the fixed positions of Heaven and Earth,which cannot be exchanged.Its meaning of change speaks of the way ofshengsheng,which changes and thereby continues.”13Wang Bi et al.,The Book of Changes with Commentary and Subcommentary,vol.1,8.

To Cui and Liu,theBook of Changesdiscusses the virtue ofshengshengwhile the Way ofyiis concerned with the principle ofshengsheng;henceyihas the meaning of simplicity.The other two meanings,change and changelessness pertain to the relationship between substance and function.Change speaks of the Way ofshengshengalways changing and never coming to a halt,while changelessness concerns the basis for that change,and refers to the f ixed positions of Heaven and Earth.Kong agreed with Cui and Liu in this regard,while at the same time he noted that it was also the opinion held both by “QianOpens the Channel” and by Zheng Xuan in his “Encomium onYi” and “Treatise onYi.” Thus,this view represented the mainstream understanding ofyiin his time and before.

As regards the latter argument,in his “On the Three Names ofYi,” Kong Yingda did not stop at understanding the three meanings ofyiby considering only “being,” but rather went further to discuss the issue by turning to the relationship between being and nonbeing,between the Way and concrete things,and between substance and function:

The three meanings ofyihinge only on being,but being issues from non-being and principle contains non-being.Thus,“QianOpens the Channel” says,“Whatever has form comes into being from the formless,but where doQianandKunoriginate? Therefore,it is said that there is the ultimateyi,the ultimate beginning,the ultimate conception,and the ultimate element.The ultimateyimeans the time when there was noqi;the ultimate beginning,the beginning ofqi;the ultimate conception,the beginning of form;the ultimate element,the beginning of matter.Whenqi,form,and matter are integrated without separation,this state is calledhundun浑沌 (chaos).Hundunmeans the myriad things in a state of chaos with no separation from one another.We look at it,but do not see it;we listen to it,but do not hear it;we look for it,but f ind that it is nowhere to be found.That is why it is calledyi.” Thus,we know that the principle ofyiis complete and contains being and non-being.The image ofyirelies only on being,for when the sages made theBook of Changes,they intended it to be taught,and what is contained in teachings should be originally based on being.Therefore,the “Appended Remarks”says,“That which is antecedent to material form coming into existence,we call the Way,and that which is subsequent to material form coming into existence,we call a concrete thing.” Here,the “Way” means non-being and “concrete thing” means being.Therefore,from the viewpoint of non-being,it speaks of the Way and substance;from the viewpoint of being,it speaks of concrete things and function;from the viewpoint of change and transformation,it speaks of spirit;from the viewpoint of production and completion,it speaks ofyi;from the viewpoint of the real,it speaks of inherent nature;from the viewpoint of deviance,it speaks of feelings;from the viewpoint ofqi,it speaks ofyinandyang;from the viewpoint of matter,it speaks of the images of lines in a hexagram;from the viewpoint of teaching,it speaks of its essential meaning;from the viewpoint of humankind,it speaks of upright conduct.All these are right.14Wang Bi et al.,The Book of Changes with Commentary and Subcommentary,vol.1,9.

From the angle of theshengshengphilosophy,“QianOpens the Channel” was the f irst to propose the proposition that formlessness gives rise to form and form originates from formlessness,expressing the cosmology informed by the genetic theory according to the theory of the Celestial Sphere.15See Ding Sixin,“Tracing the Source of the Cosmogenesis Informed by the Theory of the Celestial Sphere and Its Structure:With a Discussion of ‘The Great One Generates Water’ and the ‘Heng Xian’ of Chu Bamboo Slips and the Origin of the Theory of the Celestial Sphere” [浑天说的宇宙生成论与结构论溯源——兼论楚竹书《太一生水》《恒先》与浑天说的理论起源],The Journal of Humanities [人文杂志],no.10 (2017):7—8.By contrast,Kong Yingda,by applying the approach informed by substance and function theory,offered a new interpretation,in which,to considerable extent,he wiped out the traces of the earlier interpretation based on cosmogenesis.In Kong’s opinion,non-being is capable of producing being and being stems from non-being.Thus,he replaced the relationship between form and formlessness with that between being and non-being through consciously introducing the idea that “That which is antecedent to material form coming into existence,we call the Way,and that which is subsequent to material form coming into existence,we call a concrete thing” from “Appended Remarks I,” thus removing the relationship between form and formlessness of “QianOpens the Channel” and pushing forward the relationship between being and non-being which he argued for.In his discourse,furthermore,the being and non-being relationship shifted completely into a substance and function relationship,which highlighted the idea that nonbeing is the Way and substance,while being is concrete things,images,and function.In this way,the precedenc e relationship with regard to production and completion turned completely into one in terms of logic,and was no longer a precedence relationship in the sense of cosmogenesis.Not only that,but Kong used a more advanced concept,that is,the principle ofyi,to encapsulate their relationship,believing that the principle ofyiis complete and contains both being and non-being,and the relationship between the Way and the images ofyicontained by it is the very relationship between substance and function.It is justif iable to say that Kong’s application of the substance and function theory to explaining theshengshengrelationship between being and non-being,the physical and the metaphysical,the Way and concrete things,and the Way ofyiand its images,heralded the relevant arguments made by Song Confucians,though their discussions ofshengshengwould shift their focus fromqito principle.

Informed by the above discussion and analysis,the explanations of the statement that“yiis on e name containing a threefold meaning” given byYixuefrom the Han to the Tang went through two stages,represented respectively by “QianOpens the Channel” with its cosmogenesis-based explanation,and Kong Yingda who,in hisRectified Meaning of the Book of Changes[周易正义],went further and transformed and advanced on the basis of the former.

Closing Remarks[75]

Emphasizingshengorshengshengis an important traditional conception of Chinese philosophy.Shengis a definitive concept of traditional Chinese cosmogenesis,andshengshengfurther stresses the continuity and persistence ofsheng,which displays a strong value inclination.From its beginning,Yixuewas directly influenced by the theory of the Heavenly Canopy,while in the Warring States period it became highly philosophical.One of the manifestations of this turn was its emphasis on the concept ofshengorshengsheng.

Seen from the perspective of theCommentaries on the Book of Changes,theshengshengphilosophy of theBook of Changes,roughly speaking,consists in the following f ive aspects.First,the binary opposition between Heaven which is higher,yangin nature,and honorable and Earth which is lower,yinin nature,and humble constitutes the substance of thesh engshengphilosophy of theBook of Changes.Second,“change” and “production and completion” are the two basic laws of thesh engshengphilosophy of theBook ofChanges,and constitute an essential summary of the phenomenal world.Third,shengshengrefers not only to the changes in the production and completion of the myriad things,but also to where their value and purpose lies.Fourth,continuity and connectivity are two characteristics of theshengshengphilosophy of theBook of Changes.Fift h,mutual interactionis an important principle of theshengshengphilosophy of theBook of Changes,which subsumes action and response,exchanging interaction,interactive penetration,and interactive production,withshengshengand harmony as their purpose.

The idea that “yiis one name containing a threefold meaning” is an interpretation of thesh eng shengphilosophy of theBook of Changes.This proposition was put forth by Han dynasty scholars,who extended the concept of alteration or change in theCommentaries on the Book of Changesinto three concepts:simplicity,change,and changelessness.Among Confucians from the Han to the Tang,explanations of “yias one name containing a threefold meaning,” which conveys theshengshengphilosophy,can be divided into two stages.In the f irst stage,the prevailing explanation was based on cosmogenesis,represented by “QianOpens the Channel” and Zheng Xuan’s commentary ontheBook of Changes.In the second stage,Kong Yingda,under the double influence of Dark Learning and Buddhism,went further and,through applying the binary mode of thinking on the basis of the substance and function theory,proposed the idea that “the principle ofyiis complete and contains both being and non-being” to complete his new interpretation of the principle ofshengsheng.

The Song dynasty saw a paradigm change in the basic theoretical framework.Song Neo-Confucians interpreted theshengshengphilosophy through fresh concepts and new approaches.With theli—qi理气 (principle—vital energy) dualism,they attempted to explain the generation of Heaven,Earth,and the myriad things,and according to them,the successive movement ofyinandyangrefers toqi,which is physical,while what causes it is the Way and principle,which is metaphysical.The relationshipbetween the Way andqican be described as neither separable from the other,with the opposition betweenyinandyangas two interdependent energies and their flowing operation constituting the very Way and principle.This “interdependence” means exchange and this “flowing operation” means change.With these two meanings of “exchange” and “change,” the brothers Cheng Hao 程颢 (1032—1085) and Cheng Yi 程颐 (1033—1107) as well as Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130—1200) replaced the proposition that “yiis one name containing a threefold meaning” of Confucians from the Han to the Tang.16Zhu Xi 朱熹 explained “yi meansshengsheng” by saying that “Yin gives rise toyang andyang toyin.Such change is endless.This is true of understanding both the principle and theBook of Changes.” As recorded inClassified Conversations of Master Zhu Xi [朱子语类],Zhu Xi said,“As regardsyin andyang,there is both flowing and position-fixing.‘Successive in movement and repose,they constitute each other’s root’ speaks of flowing,as illustrated by summer going and winter coming.‘With distinction made ofyin andyang,the two elementary forms are set up’ speaks of position-f ixing,as illustrated by Heaven and Earth,the higher and the lower,and the four cardinal directions.Yi has two meanings.One is change and the other is exchange,which concern flowing and opposition,respectively.” See Li Jingde 黎靖德,Classif ied Conversations of Master Zhu Xi,vol.65,ed.Wang Xingxian 王星贤 (Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company,1986),1602.On this basis,they reinterpreted and stressed that “the great virtue of Heaven and Earth issheng” and “yimeansshengsheng,”two def initive propositions ofYixue.For Song—Ming Neo-Confucians,shengorshengshengis the cosmological law (principle),the mind of Heaven and Earth,the humanity or mind of humanity,and the feeling of sympathy.They even believed thatshengorshengshengis the original substance of the cosmos.17Gao Panlong 高攀龙 (1562—1626),a scholar in the Ming dynasty,as recorded in his “Reading Notes” [札记]in Surviving Works of Master Gao [高子遗书],said “the original substance of theChanges is nothing but the single charactersheng.” Cited in Huang Zongxi 黄宗羲,Case Studies of Ming Confucians [明儒学案],ed.Shen Zhiying 沈芝盈(Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company,1985),1408.Here,they broke completely through the boundary between humankind and the cosmos,believing that all things in the cosmos constitute a single body in which a unifying spirit ofshengshengflows.In a word,theshengshengphilosophy was strongly promoted in the Song and Ming dynasties,and it constitutes an important part of Song—Ming Neo-Confucianism.

Bibliography of Cited Translations

Chan,Wing-tsit,trans.and comp.A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy.Princeton,NJ:Princeton University Press,1963.

Legge,James,trans.Book of Changes.http://ct ext.org/book-of-changes,accessed November 26,2021.