About this page. The original text of 《易林(焦赣)》 (Taixuan 太玄部, 10 volumes) is shown in Classical Chinese as transmitted in the Godners/DaoZang edition. An English interpretation of the 6 passages on this page accompanies it: select a passage or press “Interpretation” to show it. All texts in English
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The Yilin (Forest of Changes), also known as the Jiaoshi Yilin (Mr. Jiao’s Forest of Changes), was compiled by Jiao Gan, a Han dynasty scholar of the Changes, also written Jiao Gong or Jiao Yanshou. The “Treatise on Classics and Literature” in the Book of Sui records it as sixteen juan; the present edition has ten juan. Its base text comes from the Wanli Supplementary Daoist Canon and is included in the Daoist Changes studies section of the Zhonghua Daoist Canon.
The preface to the hexagram sequence of the upper and lower classics in the Yilin says: all transformations and image-numbers—hexagram images and numerical patterns—cannot escape the scope of the Changes, while human sincerity and deception are the hardest to know. Those who divine value consultation; those in distress thereby find repose. Jiao Gong was wise, and so left behind this system of mantic arts. Wang Yu recounts that he lived by farming among the rocks of Dongxiang, beset by hardship and obscurity. A guest condescended to come to his thatched hut and showed him several scrolls of Mr. Jiao’s Changes phrases. Wang Yu had read Ban Gu’s History of the Han, historical biographies, genealogies of famous ministers through the ages, and discussions of various schools; among them he found strong praise for the following: Confucius transmitted the Changes to Shang Qu, a disciple of Confucius, and thereafter only about ten generations passed; Jiao Yanshou’s Changes learning and traditions were connected in time with Meng Xi, a Han dynasty Changes scholar. Between the reigns of Emperors Yuan and Cheng of the Western Han, political affairs declined; the master sometimes took office and sometimes lived in retirement. He often used the Way of the Changes to seek audience with the King of Liang, a Western Han feudal prince, and was consequently recommended by his commandery and by imperial edict appointed to fill the post of magistrate of Xiaohuang. He could foreknow the truth of hidden matters in the county; because of this he received special favor, was promoted, and finally died in office. His work, the Dayi Tongbian (Great Changes Penetrating Transformations), contains 4,096 hexagram topics—each of the sixty-four hexagrams changing through sixty-four, totaling 4,096. Its affairs and principles are all-encompassing yet reduce to simplicity; its wording is borrowed from the classics and histories, and its meaning accords with the divine. If one fasts and purifies oneself and is single-minded in sincerity, no divination inquiry will fail to hit its mark. Its words are close at hand but its meaning is profound; it is easy to recognize but difficult to exhaust. One must not, out of ignorance, dislike it as verbose. If later lovers of the matter know the man and his conduct, then the book of Ziyun—Yang Xiong’s courtesy name—can be transmitted forever without decay. At the end the preface is signed, “Preface by Wang Yu of Yunxi during the Huichang era of Tang.” The final heading is “Preface to the Collated Jiao Gong Yilin,” that is, the preface to the collated Yilin of Jiao Gong, or Jiao Gan.
Your servant Huang Bosi, Court Gentleman for Consultation and Acting Collator of the Palace Library, while collating Jiao Yanshou’s Yilin, found that some characters in it are erroneous—for example, “cheerful” is written as “discontented,” “sheep” as “hand,” “joy” as “auspicious,” and “crane” as “magpie”; judged by the sense of the text, however, both readings can stand. Jiao Yanshou, whose personal name was Gong, was a man of Liang. Because of his love of learning he was appreciated by the King of Liang, who supplied him with funds and expenses and let him devote himself single-mindedly to exhaustive study. After completing his studies he served as a commandery clerk and was recommended to fill the post of magistrate of Xiaohuang. He could foreknow every robber and bandit, and for this reason they did not dare commit crimes. In the assessment of administrative achievements he ranked highest and ought to have been promoted; but the officials and common people submitted a petition asking that he be retained, and the emperor issued an edict permitting an increase in his stipend and rank. He later died in office as magistrate of Xiaohuang. People say of Jiao Yanshou’s method of divination: whenever one obtains a hexagram, one observes the Lin pronouncement of the changed hexagram in order to determine good or ill fortune; if the hexagram lines do not move, one looks only at the Lin pronouncement of the original hexagram. There was a man named Wang Bi who, in the spring of the second year of Yongxi, encountered an extraordinary person and obtained the Guan hexagram changing into the Bi hexagram. The Lin pronouncement said, “Going east, there is no gate; going west, one comes out at Mount Hua; the road is blocked by hardship; the wandering traveler is afflicted”—and sayings of this kind proved most exactly fulfilled. Those who later read the Yilin must not fail to distinguish such matters. Although Jiao Yanshou’s work is a book of divination and comes from the Yin-Yang school, it was completed in the mid-Western Han, not far removed from the Three Dynasties; its diction is elegant and plain, and it is quite worth reading. I respectfully transcribe and submit it.
Miscellaneous Note: Fei Zhi of Donglai, courtesy name Zhangweng, said: “The divination by changes of the sixty-four hexagrams is the book of Jiao Yanshou, a native of Jianshen in Tianshui during the time of Wang Mang. It comes from the Yin-Yang school; yet it was completed in the mid-Western Han, not far removed from the Three Dynasties, and its diction is elegant and plain, quite worth reading.” I respectfully transcribe and submit it.
Fei Zhi (courtesy name Changweng) of Donglai (in present-day Shandong) said: The Yilin, which expounds the transformations and divination of the sixty-four hexagrams, was compiled by Jiao Yanshou, a man of Jianxin and Tianshui, during the Wang Mang period. How vast is the Dao of the Yi! Spoken of as far-reaching, it cannot be exhausted; spoken of as near, it is quiet and upright; spoken of as filling the space between heaven and earth, it leaves nothing unprovided for. What the Yi sets forth, however, is the sixty-four hexagrams; when these are extended and elaborated, they can disclose what the Shuogua has not fully articulated. Thus, although the wording of the Lianshan, Guizang, and Zhouyi differs, their hexagrams are the same; the three traditions running in parallel merely each grasp one corner. Jiao Gan (that is, Jiao Yanshou, whose personal name was Gan) mastered Yin-Yang and also made this book to develop the meanings in the Yi that had not yet been revealed. When it divines survival and ruin, good and ill fortune, if the category of the matter accords, it often proves effective; as for trivial matters that do not fall into a corresponding category, it is not accurate. Jiao Gan could penetrate hidden and profound principles, but this is only one facet of the sage’s realm. Jiao Yanshou alone obtained the teachings of a recluse.
According to the History of the Former Han (Qian Hanshu), Jing Fang, courtesy name Junming, studied the Yijing (Book of Changes) under Jiao Yanshou (personal name Gong), a native of Liang and a Han-dynasty Yijing scholar. Jiao Gong came from a poor and lowly background but loved learning. He gained the appreciation of the King of Liang, who supplied him with funds and allowed him to pursue his studies to the fullest. After completing his studies, he served as a commandery official and was recommended to fill the post of magistrate of Xiaohuang. He was good at detecting and foreseeing wicked and crooked matters, so that thieves could not commit crimes; he also cared for the officials and people, and civilizing instruction was carried out in the county. In the evaluation of administrative achievements he ranked highest and should have been promoted. The Three Elders (village and community elders) and subordinate officials submitted a petition requesting that he be retained, and the emperor issued an edict permitting an increase in his salary and his retention in office. In the end he died at Xiaohuang. Jiao Gong once said: “The one who will bring upon himself the disaster of losing his life because he obtained my doctrine will be Jing Fang.” Jiao Gong’s doctrine was skilled in calamities, anomalies, and transformations; it assigned the sixty hexagrams to take turns on duty and preside over daily affairs, using wind, rain, cold, and warmth as omens, each with its own verifications. Jing Fang applied it with particular subtlety. Meng Kang (a third-century Wei scholar and commentator on the Hanshu) said: the method of assigning hexagrams to daily duty is that one line governs one day, and the sixty hexagrams together cover three hundred and sixty days; the remaining four hexagrams, Zhen, Li, Dui, and Kan, serve as the offices of regional lords and supervising inspectors. Zhen, Li, Kan, and Dui are used because they correspond to the duty days of the winter solstice, summer solstice, spring equinox, and autumn equinox, and are also the governing qi of each of the four seasons. Each hexagram governs one day, and the method of divination is to observe good and evil on the day when each hexagram is on duty.
Under the heading “Recorded Verifications” is signed “Recorded Verifications by Cheng Jiong of Shasui”; this means that these cases of divinatory verification were recorded by Cheng Jiong of Shasui (a place name).
At the end of the Xuanhe era of the Northern Song, when Cui Xianggong of Changqing Fu was prefect, the realm was peaceful and free of trouble. Thinking of this sacred book, he devoutly divined for himself and obtained the Daguo hexagram changing into the Dun hexagram. The Daguo hexagram statement says: “Classics and canonical writings are stored in the Lantai; though they encounter the chaos and defeat of war, alone they meet no disaster.” The Dun hexagram statement says: “Before the mat is warm, trouble knocks at the door; climbing the wall and fleeing north, pursuers come from behind, but in the end one escapes the tiger’s mouth.” Ten days after the divination, turmoil broke out in the prefecture. Cui Xianggong climbed the wall and escaped; his family was unharmed and all was peaceful. After returning to the capital, he realized that this book was the work of a worthy. At first it was hard to grasp, but later, upon detailed investigation, there was no case in which it did not prove accurate and fitting. Those who see this book should revere it. Though gold is precious, it cannot compare with this book.
At the end of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song, Wanyan Liang (Emperor Hailing of Jin) invaded. Someone used Jiao Gong’s (that is, Jiao Yanshou, a Han dynasty Yijing scholar) Yilin to divine and encountered the Jie hexagram changing into Dazhuang. The hexagram statement says: “The arrogant Hu, in the form of fire, does evil and acts fiercely; in the end he accomplishes nothing and thus brings destruction upon himself.” Its immediacy and verification were such that even Tianwang and Chunfeng could not surpass it. Since the creation of the world, only Wanyan Liang has been able to bear this hexagram statement. How could Jiao Yanshou, when writing his book, have foreseen that Wanyan Liang would exist in later generations? The transmission of Yijing learning by Jiao Yanshou and Meng Xi of the Han dynasty, and their deeds, are seen in the Ru Lin Zhuan. This is the book he wrote. Fei Zhi inscribed “Transformations of the Sixty-Four Hexagrams” at the front of the book, and Wang Yu of the Tang also wrote a preface describing it. Each hexagram changes into sixty-four hexagrams, making 4,096 entries in all, all rhymed divination statements, very similar to sayings such as “The phoenix flies, its harmonious cry resounds” recorded in the Zuo Zhuan and “The great transverse is firm; I shall be the heavenly king” in the Han Shu. Could it be that diviners of antiquity already had books of this kind? At the time, during the Lihuang years, the year being Zhaoyang Dahuangluo (a cyclical designation, roughly the guisi year), in the Gu month (the eleventh month), on the Huangji day.
Shiyi means the ritual norms for milfoil divination.
Choose a clean place as the yarrow chamber (a room dedicated to divination), with its door facing south, and place the divination table in the center of the room. The table should be five chi long and three chi wide, and should not be placed too close to the wall.
Take fifty yarrow stalks, first wrap them in fumigated silk, then put them into a black cloth bag and place them in a wooden casket (du, a box for holding yarrow stalks), which is set on the table. The casket may be made of bamboo tube, hard wood, or lacquered cloth; it should be three cun in diameter and equal in length to the yarrow stalks, with one half forming the base and the other half the lid. A separate stand is placed beneath so that the casket sits securely and does not tip over.
To the south of the wooden casket set up a wooden rack (a horizontal wooden frame for displaying the incense burner, recording board, and so on), positioned north of the divination seat. The rack is made of a horizontal wooden board, one chi high and equal in length to the table; in the middle carve two large marks one chi apart; to the west of the large marks carve three small marks about five cun apart; fit horizontal feet below so that it stands upright on the table.
To the south of the wooden rack place an incense burner, and to the south of the burner place an incense box; burn incense and pay respects each day. When about to divine, first sprinkle and sweep the area and wipe it clean, wash the inkstone and add water, and prepare one brush, one inkstick, and one yellow lacquered board (a lacquered board for noting matters during divination), placing them east of the incense burner, with the east as the superior direction. The diviner must observe fast and purification, be clean, and dress neatly; facing north, he washes his hands, burns incense, and pays respects.
The ritual of the diviner facing north is seen in the Yili (a Confucian ritual text). If someone is asked to divine on another’s behalf, the host, after burning incense, steps back slightly and stands facing north; the diviner comes forward and, at the corresponding position, faces south to receive the matter to be divined. The host states directly the matter he wishes to ask about, and the diviner responds in assent. The host then turns to the right and stands facing west; the diviner turns to the right and stands facing north.
The diviner lifts the lid of the wooden casket with both hands and places it south of the wooden rack and north of the incense burner; he takes the yarrow stalks from the casket, removes the cloth bag, unties the silk wrapper, and places them east of the casket; he gathers together the fifty yarrow stalks, holds them with both hands, and passes them over the incense burner.
The number of yarrow stalks used thereafter and the manner of handling them are set out in detail in the Qimeng (Primer, the book on which the divination method is based).
The invocation to the yarrow says: “I borrow your great divination numen; divination has its constant method; I borrow your great divination numen; divination has its constant method. I, official so-and-so by name, now on account of such-and-such a matter… do not know whether it is acceptable or not.” The ritual procedure in all cases follows the Qimeng.