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Footnotes

I The Text under each hexagram consists of one paragraph by king Wăn, explaining the figure as a whole, and of six (in the case of hexagrams 1 and 2, of seven) paragraphs by the duke of Kâu, explaining the individual lines. The explanatory notices introduced above to this effect will not be repeated. A double space will be used to mark off the portion of king Wăn from that of his son.

Each hexagram consists of two of the trigrams of Fû-hsî, the lower being called 'the inner,' and the one above 'the outer.' The lines, however, are numbered from one to six, commencing with the lowest. To denote the number of it and of the sixth line, the terms for commencing' and 'topmost' are used. The intermediate lines are simply 'second,' 'third,' &c. As the lines must be either whole or divided, technically called strong and weak, yang and yin, this distinction is indicated by the application to them of the numbers nine and six. All whole lines are nine, all divided lines, six.

Two explanations have been proposed of this application of these numbers. The Khien trigram, it is said, contains 3 strokes ( ), and the Khwăn 6 ( ). But the yang contains the yin in itself, and its representative number will be 3 + 6 = 9, while the yin, not containing the yang, will only have its own number or 6. This explanation, entirely arbitrary, is new deservedly abandoned. The other is based on the use of the 'four Hsiang,' or emblematic figures the great or old yang, the young yang, the old yin, and the young yin). To these are assigned (by what process is unimportant for our present purpose) the numbers 9, 8, 7, 6. They were 'the old yang,' represented by 9, and 'the old yin,' represented by 6, that, in the manipulation of the stalks to form new diagrams, determined the changes of figure; and so 9 and 6 came to be used as the names of a yang line and a yin line respectively. This explanation is now universally acquiesced in. The nomenclature of first nine, nine two, &c., or first six, six two, &c., however, is merely a jargon; and I have preferred to use, instead of it, in the translation, in order to describe the lines, the names 'undivided' and 'divided.'

I. Does king Wăn ascribe four attributes here to Khien, or only two? According to Appendix IV, always by Chinese writers assigned to Confucius, he assigns four, corresponding to the principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and knowledge in man's nature. Kû Hsî held that he assigned only two, and that we should translate, 'greatly penetrating,' and 'requires to be correct and firm,' two responses in divination. Up and down throughout the Text of the 64 hexagrams, we often find the characters thus coupled together. Both interpretations are possible. I have followed what is accepted as the view of Confucius. It would take pages to give a tithe of what has been written in justification of it, and to reconcile it with the other.

'The dragon' is the symbol employed by the duke of Kâu to represent 'the superior man' and especially 'the great man,' exhibiting the virtues or attributes characteristic of heaven. The creature's. proper home is in the water, but it can disport itself on the land, and also fly and soar aloft. It has been from the earliest time the emblem with the Chinese of the highest dignity and wisdom, of sovereignty and sagehood, the combination of which constitutes 'the great man.' One emblem runs through the lines of many of the hexagrams as here.

But the dragon appears in the sixth line as going beyond the proper limits. The ruling-sage has gone through all the sphere in which he is called on to display his attributes; it is time for him to relax. The line should not be always pulled tight; the bow should not be always kept drawn. The unchanging use of force will give occasion for repentance. The moral meaning found in the line is that 'the high shall be abased.'

The meaning given to the supernumerary paragraph is the opposite of that of paragraph 6. The 'host of dragons without their heads' would give us the next hexagram, or Khwăn, made up of six divided lines. Force would have given place to submission, and haughtiness to humility; and the result would be good fortune. Such at least is the interpretation of the paragraph given in a narrative of the Žo-Kwan under B. C. 513. For further explanation of the duke of Kâu's meaning, see Appendixes II and IV.

App-1:a The name Thwan, and the meaning of the character so-called, are sufficiently established. The Thwan are king Wăn's explanations of the entire hexagrams. It seems impossible now to ascertain how the character arose, and how it was named Thwan. The treatise on the Thwan is ascribed to Confucius; and I have considered in the Introduction, p. 30, whether the tradition to this effect may to any extent be admitted.

App-1-1:I The hexagram Khien is made up of six undivided lines, or of the trigram Khien, Fû-hsî's symbol for heaven, repeated. The Thwan does not dwell upon this, but starts, in its exposition, from the word 'heaven,' supposing that the hexagram represented all the meaning which had ever been intended by that term. In paragraphs 1, 2, 4 the four attributes in Wăn's Text (2 being occupied with the second, though it is not expressly named) are illustrated by the phenomena taking place in the physical world.

App-2:a Like the Text under each hexagram, what is said under each in this treatise on its symbolism is divided into two portions. The first is called 'the Great Symbolism,' and is occupied with the trigrammatic composition of the hexagram, to the statement of which is always subjoined an exhibition of the use which should be, or has been, made of the lesson suggested by the meaning of the whole figure in the administration of affairs, or in self-government. If the treatise be rightly ascribed to Confucius, this practical application of the teaching of the symbols is eminently characteristic of his method in inculcating truth and duty; though we often find it difficult to trace the connexion between his premiss and conclusion. This portion of the treatise will be separated by a double space from what follows,—'the Lesser Symbolism,' in the explanations of the several lines.

App-2-1:I Khien is formed by redoubling the trigram of the same name. In the case of other hexagrams of similar formation, the repetition of the trigram is pointed out. That is not done here, according to Kû Hsî, 'because there is but one heaven.' But the motion of heaven is a complete revolution every day, resumed again the next; so moves 'the unwearied sun from day to day,' making it a good symbol of renewed, untiring effort.

App-4-a The title of this Appendix is in Chinese the Wăn Yen Kwan, 'The Record of Wăn Yen;' and according to the analogy of the titles of the three Appendixes that follow, Wăn should perform the part of a verb and Yen that of a substantive. So the characters are usually taken, and to Wăn is given the meaning of 'Explaining (Shih);' and to Yen that of 'Words or Sentences,' meaning the Thwan of king Wăn, and the Yâo of the duke of Kâu on the first two hexagrams. The document treats of these, and of no others. 'It shows the amount and depth of meaning in them,' says Kû Hsî, 'and the other hexagrams may be treated after the analog supplied here.' Confucius, it is said by others, died before he was able to carry out the plan which he had formed. But, as I have shown in the Introduction (pp. 28-30), it is more than doubtful whether we have in this Appendix anything at all directly from the sage.

App-4-1: I Chapter I, paragraphs 1-3, shows how the attributes of Khien, as explained by king Wăn, are to be understood of the constituent principles of human nature. What is remarkable is, that we find paragraphs 1, 2, with very little variation, in one of the narratives of the Žo Kwan, as having been spoken by a marchioness-dowager of Lû in B.C. several years before Confucius was born One so familiar as Kû Hsî was with all the classical literature of his country could not be ignorant of this. His solution of the questions arising from it is, that anciently there was this explanation of the characters of king Wăn; that it was employed by Shû Kiang (of Lû), and that Confucius also availed himself of it; while the chronicler used, as he does below, the phraseology of 'The Master said,' to distinguish the real words of Confucius from such ancient sayings. But who was this chronicler? No one can tell. The legitimate conclusion from Kû's criticism is this, that so much of this Appendix as is preceded by 'The Master said' is from Confucius;—so much and no more.

The ascription in paragraph 3 of 'the four virtues' to the superior-or normal man, man in his best estate, and yet inferior to 'the sagely man,' is Confucian,—after the style of the teaching of the Master in the Analects.

App-4-1: II In chapter II, paragraphs 4-9, Confucius is introduced, explaining, with considerable amplification, what is said by the duke of Kâu under the several lines of the hexagram. 'The dragon' becomes the symbol of 'the superior man;' and of the great man,' or the sage upon the throne. The language approaches at times to the magniloquence of Mencius, while in paragraph 8 the voice hardly seems to be that of the sage at all.

With paragraph 5, compare chapters 8 and 14 of' the Doctrine of the Mean,' agreeing much in language and sentiment with what we have here. The line, a strong or undivided line, and therefore yang, is said to be 'exactly in the central place;' but the line is in the second, an even place, that proper to a yin line; and in other passages this might be explained in an unfavourable way. The Chinese character kăng has the meaning given to it, now of 'exact,' and now of 'correct,' the latter being always favourably interpreted.

Paragraph 8. The fifth is almost always the place of honour and authority in the hexagram, and therefore 'the great man' here continues to be the great man, 'the sage.' The argument is that as things of the same kind respond to and seek one another, so is it with the sage and ordinary man. They are of the same kind, though far apart; and when a sage appears, all other men look to him with admiration and hope. The continuity of the illustrations, however, is broken by the introduction of the dragon and clouds, and the tiger and wind. Are these of the same kind? Kû Hsî says he does not think that the real dragon and real tiger are intended; but he does not tell us how he understood the terms. Žâi Khing (early in the Ming dynasty) says:—'The dragon feels the influence of the clouds surcharged with rain, and rises from the deep, and when the tiger feels the approach of the cold winds he roars. Thus when the dragon rises, the clouds are sure to collect; and when the tiger screams, the winds follow,' but all this does not help us to appreciate any better the words of the text. And the concluding illustration is nearly as foreign to our way of conceiving things. By 'things that draw their origin from heaven' all animals—moving creatures—are intended; and by those that draw their origin from the earth are intended all plants,—things that stand and do not move. The former turn their heads to the sky, and the latter their roots to the earth. So we read in Kû Hsî; but I continue to wonder that Confucius selected such illustrations and spoke in such a style.

Paragraph 9. As I have said above, the place of honour and authority in the hexagram belongs to the fifth line, and no other plays so unimportant a part as the sixth; and hence it is represented here as having 'no place' at all. Before he whom it represents is called to act, the battle has been won or lost. Movement from him will only accelerate and intensify the result.

App-4-1: III Chapter III, paragraphs 10-16, goes over again the Yâo of the duke of Kâu with very brief explanations, grounded chiefly on the consideration of the place or position occupied by the several lines, and the time of their introduction into the action of the hexagram.

Paragraph 16. See the note on the Text of Khien, corresponding to this line, page 58, and also that on paragraph 7 of the symbolism of the figures and lines, Section i, page 165. There is the same difficulty in understanding the first part of the short paragraph; the conclusion of it must be a consequence of the language of the Yâo, though it is not repeated here.

App-4-1: IV Chapter IV, paragraphs 7-23, goes over the same ground for a third time, treating the various paragraphs chiefly from the standpoint of time.

Paragraph 17 tells us that time and circumstances are essential, as well as inward power, to successful development and demonstration. In paragraph 18, the words of the Yâo about meeting with the great man are not quoted, but they prompted the latter half of it.

Paragraph 19. Compare the language on paragraph 6, towards the end.

Paragraph 20. The subject passes here from the lower trigram and enters into the upper. We are told not to lay stress on 'the method of Khien.' In paragraph 21 we have the sage upon the throne. Time and opportunity are both in progress in 19; here in 22, they are both passed, have reached their extremity or end.

Paragraph 23:—see on paragraph 16. 'The model of heaven,' says Wû Khăng, 'is the due blending of the strong and active with the weak and passive, the regulation of movement in accordance with the highest reason, so that there shall be neither excess nor deficiency.'

App-4-1: V Chapter V, paragraphs 24-29. The author here, leaving the treatise on the symbolism of the Yâo, turns to that on the Thwan, or expositions of king Wăn, and amplifies it, not quoting from it, however, so fully and exactly, as he has done in the previous chapters from the Yâo.

Paragraphs 24 and 25 are based on the statement of the significance of the Thwan under Khien, and not on the treatise on the symbolism. The originating power cannot be separated from that of penetration and development. The latter issues from the former s the summer follows on the spring, according to an illustration of Kû Hsî. 'The advantageousness' and 'firm correctness,' he compares also to the autumn and winter, saying that the Khien power in its essence, as it is in itself, is best described by these two latter characteristics, while the two former describe it in its operation. It is thus that he tries to give his readers an idea of what he understood by 'nature and feelings' in 25. But this chapter treats of the Khien power in nature rather than in humanity. Confining our view to the power so operating, we cannot say that the description of it in 26 and 27 is magniloquent or hyperbolical.

Paragraph 28 returns to the explanations of the lines of the hexagram by the duke of Kâu, which exhibit the power in different positions and relations, bringing out all its significance; and then 29 confines us to the fifth line, in which we have its ideal. The spheres of nature and of men seem to be in the view of the author, and therefore I introduce 'the great man,' as the subject, after the example of the best critics. Like the clouds and the rain to the thirsty earth, so is the rule of the sage to expectant humanity.

App-4-1: VI Chapter VI, paragraphs 30-36., The author leaving the Thwan, turns again to the treatise on the symbolism of the Yâo, his main object being to show how reasonable are the decisions and lessons of the duke of Kâu.

The subject of paragraph 30 has the virtue; but his position in the lowest place shows that his time is not yet come.

In paragraph 31 we have the superior man developing, by means of the processes described, into 'the great man,' with the attributes of a ruler, the appearance of whom is a blessing to men.

The twofold symbol of strength in paragraph 32 is the yang or undivided line in the third place (odd) proper to it. There will be no mistake, because the subject of the line, in the exercise of his caution, will abstain from any forward movement.

According to paragraph 63 of last Appendix, Section ii, both the third and fourth lines in the hexagram. belong to man, and are intermediate between those of heaven and those of earth. Khung Ying-tâ, to get over the difficulty in what is said on the fourth line, says that, as a matter of fact and locally, man is nearer earth than heaven, and is aptly represented therefore by the third line and not by the fourth;—I prefer to point out the inconsistency, and leave it. The subject of this fourth line will move very cautiously, and so escape blame.

The eulogium of 'the great man' in paragraph 34 cannot fail to recall to the classical scholar the thirty-first and other chapters of 'the Doctrine of the Mean,' where the sage is described as 'The Equal of Heaven.' In one sentence here he is spoken of as sometimes taking precedence of Heaven, which then does not act in opposition to him! I do not know of any statement about the sage, coming without doubt from Confucius, that is so extravagant as this. It is difficult—in fact impossible—to say from the Yî itself, what we are to understand by the kwei shăn, which I have translated here by the spirit-like operations (of Providence).' The compound denomination does not often occur in the book. In Appendix III, Section i, 21, kwei is the anima and shăn the animus; and in paragraph 50, I have translated the terms by 'the contracting and expanding operations.' In Appendix I, page 226 and page 259, the name is used as in the present text. That second instance and this paragraph were evidently constructed, the one on the model of the other. I think it likely that the breath or air, khî, became the name with the earliest Chinese for their first concept of spirit; then the breath inspired or inhaled was called kwei, and became the name for the grosser part of the spirit, returning to the earth; and shin, the breath exhaled or expired, the name for the subtler and intellectual spirit, ascending to a state of activity and enjoyment. The explanations of the terms in the R Yâ and other dictionaries seem to justify this view. The combination kwei shin is sometimes best translated by 'spiritual beings.' The school of the Sung philosophy understand by it—the contracting and expanding of the primary matter, or that matter conceived of in two forms or with two opposite qualities. Khăng-žze says here: that I Heaven and earth are another name for tâo, and kwei shăn another name for "the vestiges of making and transformation;" and that the sage being in harmony with the tâo or practical reason of the universe, how can men or the kwei shăn be contrary to him?' Whatever be thought of the Sung speculations and theories, I think that a translator ought to give an indication of the primary meaning of the name kwei shăn.

Paragraphs 35 and 36 suggest the description of Confucius by Mencius, V, ii, 1, 5, as the one among the sages who was most governed by the consideration of time, doing continually what the circumstances of the time required.