I Ching (Yi Jing 易经) is the very foundation of
Daoism and Chinese culture. But I Ching that
we normally refer to is just one third of all
I Ching that were created by the ancient
Chinese.
This one third of I
Ching we know today is actually called
"Zhou Yi (Change in Heaven 周易)", meaning: "the I
Ching compiled during the Zhou Dynasty"
(1100 BC – 221 BC). It consists of three
key parts: concepts (li 理), charts (xiang 象) and numbers (shu 数), and illustrates three
fundamental tenets: transcendence of all
things (bianyi 变易), simplicity of
underlying principles (jianyi 简易) and eternality of unblemished
Dao (buyi 不易).
The other two I Chings
are Lianshan (Link to Mountain 连山) and Guicang (Save in
Earth 归藏), both were evidently
compiled before that of Zhou Yi.
Unlike Zhou Yi that
starts with the hexagram of Heaven, in
Lianshan the first hexagram is Mountain, and
in Guicang it is the Earth hexagram that tops
the rank.
While Zhou Yi is
believed to be compiled by Duke
Zhou
and Lianshan is allegedly created by Red
Emperor - who was a thousand-year older than
Zhou - Guicang is said to have an even more
venerable author: the Yellow
Emperor himself.
There
are purported original text
of Lianshan and Guicang in Books
Discovered in Three Ancient
Tombs (Gusanfen Shu
古三坟书) and Lost
Classics Recovered by
Yuhanshan Studio (Yuhanshanfang
Yishu 玉函山房辑佚书), but
both are considered fake by
most experts.
In
March 1993, large amount of
fragmented bamboo books were
unearthed from a tomb dating
back to the Qin Dynasty (221
BC – 207 BC). It contains
over 4000 characters and more
than 70 charts on the topic
of Guicang. However, a
readable version of any page
is yet to be reconstructed.
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Three I Chings,
apparently, contemplate the universe from
slightly different angles. Zhou Yi places its
emphasis on Heaven, Guicang views the world
from the perspective of Earth, while Lianshan
focuses on Mountain, the linkage between
Heaven and Earth.
