Seriousness of purpose

When we want to study a subject and excel in it, we often go to great lengths to read relevant material, learn from teachers, experts, scholars and hold discussions with like-minded fellows on the matter. Being thorough and having a good understanding of the subject shows a seriousness of purpose. I have always wondered why earnest Yi students cannot afford the same for Yi studies.

Although many consider the Zhouyi or Yijing as a book, it is one of the five Chinese Classics. Probably not many Western readers understand the significance of a Classic since the West classifies many books whether fictional or non fictional as classics. Of course the word ‘jing’ (Classic) is also used by many to describe ancient books, Daoist texts and Buddhist sutras so much so that its original meaning has been watered down. However to the Chinese, the five revered Classics –Book of Documents (Shujing), Book of Changes (Yijing), Book of Odes (Shijing), Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu) and Book of Rites (Liji) - still hold a meaning of their own passed down from tradition. Since for more than a thousand years, scholars have to study the four Confucian books (Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean and Mencius) and five Classics to pass Court exams before they can become Mandarins.

Down the ages, the Zhouyi has never been easy to understand because of its profoundness and the classical Chinese. I recalled a brief discussion in London in the late 1970s with a Hong Kong University graduate in Chinese Literature. Her professor had chosen to teach only nine hexagrams to the class in her senior year and few students understood them. Since she also could not understand them, we went on to discuss other things.

Learning the Yi is not easy. However, I do find Western scholars who have a good knowledge of the Yi. This shows that when people have seriousness of purpose, many things can be achieved. A pattern has emerged in a brief analysis of these scholars. They seemed to have something in common compared to others who have equally spent decades in studying the Yi. Probably these scholars are more earnest and sincere in their learning of the subject matter. They tend to be clear, straightforward and structured in their thoughts and also do not condone frivolous questioning of the Yi. But more to the point, they are quite similar to the Neo Daoists and Confucians of the Song Dynasty, in that they too had studied the four Confucian books, the five Classics and more.

We do not have to be as learned to understand the Yi. Just be earnest and sincere in our studies and consultations. The Yi is like a venerable ancient master who had continuously taught many Chinese sages and great masters over the past few thousand years. Fortune has it that for the past century or so, the West has access to the Yi through the efforts of various Western translators such as Legge and Wilhelm who were perhaps well read in the Confucian books and classics too.

Therefore, my advice would be to accord the same respect as you would to a venerable ancient master (if not a divinity) when you consult the Yi, and to read the ancient books and classics. It is time to have some seriousness of purpose if you want to go deeper into the Yi studies. Otherwise you may remain foggy as ever and just reading more translations of the Classic could further becloud your mind with things non ancient Chinese.