At a glance
- Parts
- Ten
- Text layer
- Commentaries differ from statements
Definition and terminology
The ten parts are upper and lower Tuan, upper and lower Xiang, upper and lower Xici, plus Wenyan, Shuogua, Xugua and Zagua. Wings metaphorically support the classic; they are not ten additional hexagrams. Their styles and interests vary, so they should not automatically be treated as a single composition.
Structure and rules
Tuan explains whole hexagrams; Xiang treats overall and line images; Wenyan emphasizes Qian and Kun; Xici discusses change and divination; Shuogua lists associations; Xugua explains sequence; Zagua juxtaposes meanings. Their different purposes provide complementary reading tools rather than interchangeable statements of one method.
Worked reading
For Kan, read the base text, then the Xiang’s use of water imagery, then the Shuogua association list. These answer different questions: what the statement says, how commentary interprets it, and how images expand. The exercise prevents later associations from being silently inserted into the earlier statement.
Context and limits
Traditional attribution to Confucius establishes classical authority within the tradition; historical study considers layered composition and transmission. Authorship and dating therefore require qualification. Philosophical interpretation and divination influenced one another, but the intellectual value of commentary is not experimental evidence of predictive efficacy. Identify the received text and edition being discussed.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 《易传·系辞上》Primary / tradition source
Public-domain commentary; traditional accounts of polarity, taiji, images and stalk divination; traditional attribution is not settled authorship.
- 《易传·说卦》Primary / tradition source
Public-domain commentary documenting traditional trigram associations and directions.
- 《周易》Primary / tradition source
Public-domain classic; documents hexagrams and textual statements, not predictive effectiveness.