Sān Yì bèi yí 三易備遺
Supplying-the-Lost on the Three Yì’s
by 朱元昇 (Zhū Yuánshēng, zì Rìhuá 日華, fl. mid-thirteenth century, Chéngjié láng 承節郎 with patrol-inspector commissions in Lóngquán 龍泉, Suìchāng 遂昌, Qìngyuán 慶元 (Chǔzhōu, Zhèjiāng) and in Sōngxī 松溪, Zhènghé 政和 (Jiànníng, Fújiàn); the work completed by his son Zhū Shìlì 朱士立)
About the work
A ten-juan late-Sòng xiàngshù compilation reconstructing the three traditional Yì’s — Liánshān 連山 (Fúxī’s, Xiāntiān 先天 / Before-Heaven), Guīzàng 歸藏 (Shénnóng’s, Zhōngtiān 中天 / Middle-Heaven), and Zhōuyì 周易 (King Wén’s, Hòutiān 後天 / After-Heaven) — by Zhū Yuánshēng 朱元昇, a low-ranking late-Sòng patrol-officer-scholar of obscure native-place. The work was completed by his son Zhū Shìlì 朱士立 after Zhū Yuánshēng’s death.
The structure runs in four sections (per the Sìkù tiyao’s description): Hé tú Luò shū 河圖洛書 (3 juan), Liánshān 連山 (3 juan), Guīzàng 歸藏 (3 juan), Zhōuyì 周易 (3 juan). The Sìkù base reckons the total as 10 juan (some recensional variation in juan-divisions; the catalog meta also records 10 juan).
The auto-preface (dated Xiánchún gēngwǔ / 1270 winter solstice) gives Zhū Yuánshēng’s program with rare urgency:
The Yì was on-the-verge-of-fall, but Heaven re-kindled it; the Yì was on-the-verge-of-being-eclipsed, but Heaven re-displayed it. Heaven’s heart in wishing to bless the world by means of this Yì is luminously evident.
The historical narrative of the auto-preface: Hàn-period Yì studies “broken into pieces a single hexagram to direct six-and-seven-tenths of a day; or forced four hexagrams to control the two solstices and two equinoxes; or mixed in chènwěi texts; or led [the Yì*] into LǎoZhuāng territory — like a blind man feeling the elephant, like looking at heaven through a tube. Ten-thousand ends of speculative-talk, a thousand divergences spring up together. How could it not be the* Yì*‘s misfortune?*”
The Northern-Sòng restoration: Chén Tuán 陳摶 (Xīyí 希夷) → Zhǒng Fàng 种放 → Mù Xiū 穆修 → Lǐ Zhīcái 李之才 → Shào Yōng 邵雍 (Kāngjié 康節). Shào Yōng’s Huángjí jīngshì shū 皇極經世書 “encompassed the ten-thousand images, comprehensively included the three Yì*‘s; the lineage’s central-orientation upright-and-great, the scope-and-pattern broadly distant.*” Zhū Yuánshēng’s project: extending Shào Yōng to the xiàngshù completion of all three Yì’s.
The methodological commitments per section:
- Hé tú Luò shū: follows Liú Mù 劉牧’s (KR1a0011) numerology line — i.e., the position that the Hé tú has 9 numbers and the Luò shū 10 (the inverse of Zhū Xī’s accepted view).
- Liánshān: matches hexagram-positions to the Xià-period seasonal-qì-positions calendar. The Liánshān opens with Gèn (per Xià’s yín-month year-start; cf. Shuì Yúquán’s KR1a0057 sāntǒng-calendar reading).
- Guīzàng: matches gānzhī nàyīn 干支納音 (Stem-and-Branch sound-correspondence) to hexagram-lines. The Guīzàng opens with Kūn.
- Zhōuyì: develops the fǎnduì hùtǐ 反對互體 (reverse-pair-and-interlocking-trigram) doctrine.
The Sìkù tiyao’s judgment is methodologically careful: “Although [Zhū Yuánshēng’s reconstruction] does not necessarily truly match what Zhōuguān Tàibǔ originally [taught], yet míngxīn tànsuǒ (deep-mind exploring-and-searching) seeking-one-correspondence — may be called loving-learning and deep-thinking. Passing-and-preserving [it] may also serve as a reference for Yì*-expositors.*”
Reception under Lǐzōng court: per Zhū Shìlì’s back-colophon, the work was completed in 1270; Tángjiā xiānshēng 堂家先生 used his influence to bring it to court attention; three years later [c. 1273] Zhū Yuánshēng died. The “Tángjiā xiānshēng” likely refers to Jiā Xuánwēng 家鉉翁 (1213–1297, the late-Sòng Liǎngzhè tíxíng and major Dàoxué defender), whose submitting-letter to court is preserved at the head of the present base, dated Xiánchún 8 (1272). The Sìkù editors note an internal date-discrepancy: Zhū Shìlì’s gēngwǔ (1270) book-completion plus three-years-thence father’s death sits awkwardly with Jiā Xuánwēng’s 1272 submitting-letter; “perhaps a transmission-copyist’s error of six for eight” (the Liǎngzhè tíxíng submission date might actually be Xiánchún 6 = 1270). The 1265–1270 composition window reflects the latest plausible interval.
A bibliographic detail on titling: Jiā Xuánwēng’s submitting-letter calls the work Zhōngtiān Guīzàng shū 中天歸藏書 (“The Middle-Heaven Guīzàng Book”), “in several tens of thousands of words.” Zhū Yuánshēng’s auto-preface, by contrast, treats all three Yì’s comprehensively. The Sìkù editors speculate: “perhaps because the Xiāntiān and Hòutiān are both transmitted by the ru*, while the Zhōngtiān exposition Zhū Yuánshēng originated — hence [Jiā Xuánwēng] held it up as distinct?*” But the editors correct: “Per Gān Bǎo’s Zhōulǐ gloss: Fúxī’s Yì small-completion is Xiāntiān; Shénnóng’s Yì mid-completion is Zhōngtiān; Huángdì’s Yì great-completion is Hòutiān. So Zhōngtiān is also an ancient name, not a new doctrine.”
The composition window 1265–1270 reflects the latest plausible composition arc within the firmly-fixed 1270 auto-preface terminus.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Sān Yì bèi yí in ten juan was composed by Zhū Yuánshēng of the Sòng; his son [Zhū] Shìlì supplemented-and-completed [it]. [Zhū] Yuánshēng, zì Rìhuá; native-place unrecorded. Only the head of the volume contains the Liǎngzhè tíxíng Jiā Xuánwēng’s Xiánchún 8 [1272] submission-of-the-book-letter, calling [him] Chéngjié láng — assigned as xúnjiǎn of Lóngquán, Suìchāng, Qìngyuán [in Chǔzhōu] and of Sōngxī, Zhènghé [in Jiànníng]. At the end of the volume, Shìlì’s colophon says: “In Xiánchún gēngwǔ [1270] the Bèi yí was completed in volumes; Tángjiā xiānshēng used [his influence] to bring [it] to the court’s hearing; three years later the late father died.” We suspect [Zhū Yuánshēng] ended at this office-post. Gēngwǔ is Xiánchún 6 [1270], yet the [submission] letter is dated Xiánchún 8 [1272] — perhaps a transmission-copyist’s error of six for eight?
The book is rooted in Hé tú Luò shū in three juan, Liánshān in three juan, Guīzàng in three juan, Zhōuyì in three juan. [Zhū] Yuánshēng’s auto-preface also speaks comprehensively of the three Yì’s. But [Jiā] Xuánwēng’s submission-letter specifically calls his composition Zhōngtiān Guīzàng shū in several tens of thousands of words — the reason is unclear. Perhaps because the Xiāntiān and Hòutiān are both transmitted by the ru, while the Zhōngtiān exposition [Zhū] Yuánshēng originated, hence he held it up to display the difference? But Gān Bǎo’s Zhōulǐ gloss says: Fúxī’s Yì small-completion is Xiāntiān; Shénnóng’s Yì mid-completion is Zhōngtiān; Huángdì’s Yì great-completion is Hòutiān — so Zhōngtiān is also an ancient name, not a new doctrine.
[Zhū] Yuánshēng’s learning rooted in Master Shào. His discussion of the Hé tú Luò shū takes Liú Mù as authoritative. His discussion of Liánshān matches hexagram-positions to Xià-period qì-positions. His discussion of Guīzàng matches gānzhī nàyīn to hexagram-lines. His discussion of Zhōuyì expounds the fǎnduì and hùtǐ main-intent.
Although not necessarily truly matching what Zhōuguān Tàibǔ originally [taught], yet his deep-mind exploring-and-searching, seeking one correspondence — may be called loving-learning-and-deep-thinking. Passing-and-preserving [it] may also serve as a reference for Yì-expositors.
Respectfully revised and submitted, tenth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng [1781].
General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
朱元昇 Zhū Yuánshēng (fl. mid-thirteenth century), zì Rìhuá 日華. Native place not recorded; held Chéngjié láng 承節郎 (a low wǔjiēguān 武階官 / military rank) and seconded as xúnjiǎn 巡檢 (Patrol Inspector) in Lóngquán, Suìchāng, Qìngyuán prefectures of Chǔzhōu (modern southern Zhèjiāng) and in Sōngxī, Zhènghé prefectures of Jiànníng (modern Fújiàn).
The work was completed and published by his son Zhū Shìlì 朱士立 after Zhū Yuánshēng’s death (c. 1273); the patron Jiā Xuánwēng 家鉉翁 (1213–1297, Liǎngzhè tíxíng) submitted it to the late-Sòng court c. 1272.
Methodologically Zhū Yuánshēng is a Shào-Yōng-school xiàngshù synthesizer — pursuing Shào Yōng’s Huángjí jīngshì shū program through to the xiàngshù reconstruction of all three traditional Yì’s. The threefold Xiāntiān / Zhōngtiān / Hòutiān mapping follows Gān Bǎo’s Zhōulǐ gloss; the four-section organizational structure (with Hé tú Luò shū as foundation) provides systematic xiàngshù coverage.
The work’s distinctive contributions:
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Liú-Mù-line HétúLuòshū numerology. Zhū Yuánshēng follows Liú Mù 劉牧’s (KR1a0011) view that the Hé tú has 9 numbers and the Luò shū 10 — the inverse of the post-Zhū-Xī orthodox view (which followed Cài Yuándìng’s correction in the Yì xué qǐméng: Hé tú 10, Luò shū 9). The LiúMù view had been substantially eclipsed in the Zhū-Xí-school orthodoxy; Zhū Yuánshēng’s restoration of it represents one strand of the xiàngshù tradition that resisted Zhū-school orthodox standardization.
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Liánshān reconstruction via Xià-period seasonal-qì calendar. Zhū Yuánshēng’s specific contribution: the matching of hexagram-positions to the Xià-period seasonal-qì calendar. The Liánshān-opens-with-Gèn doctrine (per Xià’s yín-month year-start) is the structural anchor; the qì-position matching extends this into a fuller hexagram-positional cosmology.
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Guīzàng reconstruction via gānzhī nàyīn. The gānzhī nàyīn (Stem-Branch sound-correspondence) tradition is a Hàn-period calendrical-musical system; Zhū Yuánshēng’s matching it to hexagram-lines extends xiàngshù into musical-cosmological territory. The position is methodologically continuous with Cài Yuándìng’s Lǚ lǚ xīn shū 律呂新書 (the Sòng-period musical-pitch-pipe treatise).
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Zhōuyì exposition via fǎnduì hùtǐ. The fǎnduì (180-rotation pairing) and hùtǐ (interlocking-trigram) doctrines are standard Sòng xiàngshù techniques; Zhū Yuánshēng’s contribution is their systematic deployment within the Sān Yì framework.
The Sìkù editors’ qualified praise — “not necessarily truly matching what Zhōuguān Tàibǔ originally [taught], yet… may be called loving-learning-and-deep-thinking” — is methodologically articulate: the reconstructions are speculative-historical, not verifiably authentic, but methodologically rigorous.
The composition window 1265–1270 reflects the firmly-fixed Xiánchún gēngwǔ (1270) auto-preface and the implied 5-year preceding composition arc.
The JiāXuánwēng patronage is significant: Jiā Xuánwēng was a major late-Sòng Dàoxué defender who continued his loyalty to the Sòng even after the Mongol conquest (he refused service under the Yuán). His submission of Zhū Yuánshēng’s work to the late-Sòng court (1272, just three years before the Línān fall in 1276) places the Sān Yì bèi yí at the very edge of late-Sòng xiàngshù scholarship.
Translations and research
No European-language translation. The work is principally consulted for the Sān Yì reconstruction tradition.
- Edward Shaughnessy, Unearthing the Changes: Recently Discovered Manuscripts of the Yi Jing and Related Texts (Columbia, 2014) — context for Guī-zàng reconstruction efforts and the comparison to excavated bamboo-strip materials.
- Zhū Bóqūn 朱伯崑, Yìxué zhéxué shǐ, vol. 2 — Zhū Yuán-shēng treated as a Shào-Yōng-school Sān-Yì reconstructionist.
- Wáng Tiějūn 王鐵均, Sòngdài Yìxué shǐ — chapter on the late-Sòng Sān Yì tradition.
- Liào Mínghuó 廖名活, articles in Zhōuyì yánjiū on Zhū Yuán-shēng’s gān-zhī nà-yīn deployment.
- Modern punctuated editions on the Sìkù base.
Other points of interest
The post-Zhū-Xī Liú-Mù-line Hé túLuò shū numerology — placing 9 in the Hé tú and 10 in the Luò shū against the ZhūCài orthodox view — represents one of the cleaner instances of xiàngshù-tradition resistance to Zhū-school standardization. Modern xiàngshù studies have generally not followed the LiúMù view either (the Cài Yuándìng correction is now standard), but the methodological pluralism of the late-Sòng xiàngshù tradition — preserved in works like the Sān Yì bèi yí — is itself a substantive intellectual-history datum.
The 1270 auto-preface’s apocalyptic-historical framing — “the Yì was on-the-verge-of-fall, but Heaven re-kindled it” — is methodologically interesting in its late-Sòng / pre-conquest historical context. By 1270 the Mongol military pressure on the Southern Sòng was substantial; the framing of the Yì-tradition as a Heaven-rescued cultural inheritance reads as a small witness to the late-Sòng intellectual-class’s awareness of the impending crisis.
The JiāXuánwēng patronage and the work’s submission to the late-Sòng court in 1272 — three years before the Línān fall — give the Sān Yì bèi yí a small but real position in the documentary record of the very latest Sòng cultural production.