Jiao's Yi Lin Notes

Author: Shang Binghe/Shang Bingyi (edited and annotated)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Shang's masterpieces, Jiao's Interpretation of the I Ching and Annotations to Jiao's I Lin, are particularly outstanding, especially Annotations to Jiao's I Lin, which is truly brilliant. This has brought the pre-Qin symbolic and numerical I Ching back into the world, a monumental achievement! In the Preface to Annotations to Jiao's I Lin, Shang stated: "Every word in the I Lin arises from the symbolism." Shang believed that Jiao, apart from using the symbols listed in the Shuo Gua Zhuang of the I Ching, employed approximately 170 symbols related to the I Ching, while the number of symbols unrelated to the I Ching he extended was still unknown. Whether related or not, Jiao's use of hexagram symbols reached a transcendent level. The Shuo Gua Zhuang lists only 112 hexagram symbols, yet Jiao extended, established, and modeled symbols, largely based on the Shuo Gua Zhuang, further developing a more extensive symbolic and numerical system. The I Lin originates from the I Ching, yet it has a uniquely distinct character. The I Ching contains 450 hexagram and line texts, while the I Lin has 4,096 divinatory variations, ten times as many as the I Ching, greatly enriching the informational content. The I Lin further transforms the 64 hexagrams into another 64, meaning one hexagram becomes 64, and 64 hexagrams transform into 4,096 hexagrams. In this way, one hexagram within the 64 becomes another, called a "transformation hexagram," followed by corresponding texts, known as four-word divinatory verses. The divinatory texts of the I Lin are similar to those of the I Ching, but the I Lin is uniformly in four-word verse form (with occasional three-word verses), whereas the I Ching lacks this uniformity. The I Lin is undoubtedly four-word verse, just like the Book of Songs, only shorter! Thus, some have praised it as: "ancient and profound," "the world is ignorant, viewing it merely as a divination book," "subtle echoes and deep emotions," "concise and profound." The I Lin establishes its principles on rational and numerical logic, where literary elegance is secondary. Yet its powerful and exquisite writing, which cannot be fully captured in hundreds of words, is hidden within every character and phrase, leaving a lingering resonance.