Dà Yì jí shuō 大易緝說
Compiled-Discussions on the Great Yì
by 王申子 (Wáng Shēnzǐ, zì Xùnqīng 巽卿, fl. late-13th / early-14th century, of Qióngzhōu 邛州 in Sìchuān; recluse-resident at Cílìzhōu Tiānménshān 慈利州天門山 in modern Húnán)
About the work
A 10-juan early-Yuán Yì-commentary by Wáng Shēnzǐ 王申子 — a recluse-scholar who composed the work over nearly thirty years at his Tiānménshān (Heaven-Gate Mountain) retreat in modern Cílì county, Húnán. The catalog meta also records a 1-juan appendix Xù kān Dà Yì jí shuō shǐmò 續刊大易緝說始末 (“Continued-Cutting Source-and-End of the Compiled-Discussions on the Great Yì”), preserving the editorial-and-publication history.
The work’s distinctive methodological commitment is on the Hé túLuò shū 9/10 question. Wáng Shēnzǐ takes:
- Ten numbers as the Hé tú — divided as warp (fēn wěi 分緯) for the Xiāntiān drawing.
- Nine numbers as the Luò shū — zigzag-arranged (cuòzōng 錯綜) as positions for the Hòutiān drawing.
This follows the post-Cài-Yuán-dìng (post-Zhū-Xī orthodox) reading and against the earlier Liú Mù tradition (which had Hé tú = 9, Luò shū = 10). The position is methodologically continuous with Hú Fāngpíng’s Yì xué qǐméng tōng shì (KR1a0062) and Hú Yīguì’s Fùlù zuǎn shū (KR1a0069).
Contemporaries’ praise: 吳澄 Wú Chéng (the major Yuán Yì-scholar) and Lǐ Lín 李琳 both “praised his refined-thinking’s preciseness.”
The Sìkù tiyao gives an extraordinarily detailed intellectual-history of the Hé túLuò shū 9/10 question. The narrative:
Master Chéng said: “the Shuō guà’s laid-out hexagram-positions also cannot make people clearly-understand.” Master Zhū said: “King Wén’s eight-trigrams have many un-understandable places.” Likely all are leaving-doubts-unresolved.
Reaching the Héchūtú, Luòchūshū — the text appears in the Yì zhuàn; and the mutually-transmitted 5-positions-9-palaces — Zhū Zhèn’s [introductory] preface to its receiving-transmitting source-flow says: “Chén Tuán transmitted the Xiāntiān tú to Zhǒng Fàng; [Zhǒng] Fàng to Mù Xiū; [Mù] Xiū to Lǐ Zhīcái; [Lǐ Zhīcái] to Shào Yōng. [Zhǒng] Fàng [transmitted] the Hé túLuò shū to Lǐ Gài; [Lǐ Gài] to Xǔ Jiān; [Xǔ Jiān] to Fàn Èchāng; [Fàn Èchāng] to Liú Mù.” So Liú Mù’s Hé túLuò shū and [Shào] Yōng’s Xiāntiān tú were both rooted in [Chén] Xīyí. But Fàn Èchāng took 5-positions-9-palaces’ chart as Fúxī’s making; Liú Mù took 9 as the chart and 10 as the book; reaching Cài Yuándìng then reversed-them.
Master Zhū cited the Dà Dài lǐjì’s Míngtáng with Zhèng-glosses citing fǎ guī wén (modeled-on-tortoise-pattern) to evidence [Yuándìng]‘s exposition as firm. Wáng Yīnglín, evidencing the Běishǐ, [showed that] the Dà Dài lǐjì in fact is Yǔ-wén-Zhōu-period Lú Biàn-glossed; not Kāngchéng [Zhèng Xuán].
Today examining Kāngchéng’s gloss-of-the-Yì, on 5-positions-mutually-correspond, each have combinations, [he] manifestly displays 1-and-6 etc. numbers’ mutually-corresponding direction; his gloss of the Qián záo dù (an apocryphal Yì text) discussing 8-trigrams-9-palaces is also very detailed — but [Zhèng Xuán] does not take it as the túshū. Only Guān Lǎng’s Yì zhuàn matches Yuándìng. But Guān Lǎng’s Yì zhuàn, Master Zhū had condemned as a forged-book; Xiàng Ānshì also said it was made by Ruǎn Yì; Ruǎn Yì is a Huángyòu era [1049–1054] person, again post-[Lǐ] Zhīcái and [Fàn] Èchāng. So for over a thousand years, no-one knew what the túshū refers to as 5-positions-9-palaces’ numbers; reaching when Chén Xīyí emerged he started to specify-them-substantively — no wonder later people argue endlessly!
This is one of the more articulated bibliographic-historical analyses in the Sìkù Yì lèi of the Hé túLuò shū tradition’s textual-historical transmission. The conclusion: the Hé túLuò shū identification with 5-positions-9-palaces’ numbers is a Sòng-period innovation by Chén Tuán’s circle, not a transmitted ancient identification.
The Sìkù tiyao’s verdict on Wáng Shēnzǐ’s specific position within this controversy: “This book pángtōng hùguàn (sideways-penetrating-and-mutually-threading), is sufficient to itself communicate his views; the one-school’s exposition fundamentally also has un-discardable [aspects].”
Multiple prefaces accompany the work:
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Chéng Wénhǎi 程文海 preface, dated Dàdé 7 liángyuè shuò (1303 11th month 1st day), Guǎngpíng 廣平: places Wáng Shēnzǐ’s work alongside Wú Chéng’s as one of two major “new-and-precise” Yuán Yì-scholarships.
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Wáng Lǚ 王履 preface, dated Dàdé xīnchǒu rìcháng zhì (1301 winter solstice), Chāngyuán 昌元: gives extended methodological-historical evaluation, citing Wèi Liǎowēng (Hèshān 鶴山, 魏了翁) and the Línrǔ jiǎngyì on the 9/10 túshū question; praises Wáng Shēnzǐ as having “decided a thousand-year unsettled public-case.”
The composition window 1275–1303 reflects: Wáng Shēnzǐ’s reported “垂三十年始成此書” (took nearly thirty years to complete this book) traced back from the firmly-fixed 1303 Chéng Wénhǎi preface to c. 1275 (early Yuán, immediately post-conquest).
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Dà Yì jí shuō in 10 juan was composed by Wáng Shēnzǐ of the Yuán. [Wáng] Shēnzǐ, zì Xùnqīng, a man of Qióngzhōu. Reclused at Cílìzhōu’s Tiānmén Mountain. After almost 30 years, completed this book. Repeatedly setting questions-and-answers. Takes 10 numbers as the Hé tú, dividing-them-as-warp to draw the Xiāntiān; takes 9 numbers as the Luò shū, zigzag-arranging-them as positions for the Hòutiān. Contemporaries Wú Chéng, Lǐ Lín and the rest all praised his refined-thinking’s preciseness.
Master Chéng has [the saying]: “the Shuō guà’s laid-out hexagram-positions also cannot make people clearly-understand.” Master Zhū said: “King Wén’s eight-trigrams have many un-understandable places.” Likely all are leaving-doubts-unresolved.
Reaching the Héchūtú, Luòchūshū — the text appears in the Yì zhuàn; and the mutually-transmitted 5-positions-9-palaces — Zhū Zhèn’s preface to its receiving-transmitting source-flow says: “Chén Tuán transmitted the Xiāntiān tú to Zhǒng Fàng; [Zhǒng] Fàng to Mù Xiū; [Mù] Xiū to Lǐ Zhīcái; [Lǐ Zhīcái] to Shào Yōng. [Zhǒng] Fàng [transmitted] the Hé túLuò shū to Lǐ Gài; [Lǐ Gài] to Xǔ Jiān; [Xǔ Jiān] to Fàn Èchāng; [Fàn Èchāng] to Liú Mù.” Per this: Liú Mù’s Hé túLuò shū and [Shào] Yōng’s Xiāntiān tú were both rooted in [Chén] Xīyí. But Fàn Èchāng took 5-positions-9-palaces’ chart as Fúxī’s making; Liú Mù took 9 as the chart and 10 as the book; reaching Cài Yuándìng then reversed-them. Master Zhū cited the Dà Dài lǐjì’s Míngtáng with Zhèng-glosses citing fǎ guī wén to evidence [Yuándìng]‘s exposition as firm. Wáng Yīnglín evidencing the Běishǐ [showed that] the Dà Dài lǐjì is Yǔ-wén-Zhōu-period Lú Biàn-glossed, not Kāngchéng’s.
Today examining Kāngchéng’s gloss of the Yì on 5-positions-mutually-correspond and each-have-combinations manifestly displays 1-and-6 etc. numbers’ mutually-corresponding direction; his gloss of the Qián záo dù discussing 8-trigrams-9-palaces is also very detailed — but [Zhèng Xuán] does not take it as the túshū. Only Guān Lǎng’s Yì zhuàn matches Yuándìng. But Guān Lǎng’s Yì zhuàn, Master Zhū once condemned as a forged-book; Xiàng Ānshì also said it was made by Ruǎn Yì; Ruǎn Yì is a Huángyòu era person — again post-[Lǐ] Zhīcái and [Fàn] Èchāng. So for over a thousand years, no-one knew what the so-called túshū refers to: 5-positions-9-palaces’ numbers. Reaching Chén Xīyí’s emergence, [he] started to specify-them-substantively. No wonder later people argue endlessly! This book pángtōng hùguàn, sufficient to itself communicate his views; the one-school’s exposition fundamentally also has un-discardable [aspects].
Respectfully revised and submitted, sixth month of the forty-third year of Qiánlóng [1778].
General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
Wáng Shēnzǐ (王申子, lifedates not securely recorded; fl. late-13th / early-14th century), zì Xùnqīng 巽卿, of Qióngzhōu 邛州 in Sìchuān (modern Qiónglái 邛崍, Chéngdū metropolitan region). CBDB id 101134. Recluse-resident at Cílìzhōu Tiānménshān 慈利州天門山 (modern Cílì county, Húnán) — one of the more remote Yuán-period scholarly retreats.
The 30-year composition discipline at a remote mountain retreat places Wáng Shēnzǐ in the lineage of Yuán-period scholarly recluses: parallel to (but more remote than) Yú Yǎn’s Línwūshān (KR1a0064), Léi Sīqí’s Wūshí Temple (KR1a0067), Huáng Zé’s Jiǔjiāng academies (KR1a0076), and the HúWùyuán family compound (胡方平).
Methodologically Wáng Shēnzǐ is a Cài-Yuán-dìng-orthodox xiàng-shù-cosmologist. The 10-Hétú / 9-Luòshū assignment, the fēn wěi (warp-division) charting of the Xiāntiān, and the cuòzōng (zigzag-arrangement) charting of the Hòutiān together provide a clean xiàngshù-methodological framework continuous with the post-Zhū-Xī orthodox line.
The cuòzōng arrangement of the Hòutiān is methodologically distinctive: Wáng Shēnzǐ argues that the Luò shū’s 9-number magic-square structure (where each row, column, and diagonal sums to 15) directly generates the Hòutiān trigram-positions through a zigzag derivation. The procedure is methodologically continuous with the ShuìYúquán KR1a0057 and LéiSīqí KR1a0067 HétúLuòshū / Hòu-tiān-position mappings but with a distinctive zigzag-derivation procedure.
The work’s bibliographic-and-textual reception placed it (per Wáng Lǚ’s preface) as one of the principal early-Yuán Yì-textual-tradition works alongside Wú Chéng’s Yì zuǎn yán and Wài yì (KR1a0071, KR1a0072) — the major Yuán-period Yì-philological works of the early-Yuán generation.
The composition window 1275–1303 (30-year arc back from the 1303 Chéng Wénhǎi preface) places Wáng Shēnzǐ’s Yì-work-life as substantially in the immediate post-Sòng-fall period, parallel to Yú Yǎn’s. The two share the common Sòng-loyalist recluse-scholar profile.
Translations and research
No European-language translation. Treated principally in the secondary literature on Yuán-period xiàng-shù studies.
- Bent Nielsen, A Companion to Yi Jing Numerology and Cosmology (Routledge, 2003) — Wáng Shēn-zǐ’s Hé-tú-Luò-shū charting discussed.
- Zhū Bóqūn 朱伯崑, Yìxué zhéxué shǐ, vol. 3 — Wáng Shēn-zǐ treated as a major Yuán-period xiàng-shù synthesizer.
- Wáng Tiějūn 王鐵均, Yuándài Yìxué shǐ — chapter on Wáng Shēn-zǐ.
- Modern punctuated editions on the Sìkù base.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù tiyao’s extended bibliographic-historical analysis of the Hé túLuò shū 9/10 question — tracing the transmission-line from Chén Tuán through Lǐ Gài / Xǔ Jiān / Fàn Èchāng / Liú Mù to the post-Cài-Yuán-dìng reversal, with detailed examination of the supporting evidence (the Dà Dài lǐjì / Lú Biàn forgery question, Zhèng Xuán’s Yì-glosses, the Guān Lǎng / Ruǎn Yì forgery question) — is one of the most substantively-articulated Sìkù-period bibliographic-historical investigations in the entire Yì lèi. The investigation methodologically anticipates the Qīng-period kǎojù xué approach to the Hé túLuò shū tradition.
The conclusion — that the Hé túLuò shū identification with 5-positions-9-palaces’ numbers is a Sòng-period innovation by Chén Tuán’s circle, not a transmitted ancient identification — is one of the more methodologically-articulate Sìkù-period statements about the xiàngshù tradition’s actual historical genesis.
The cuòzōng (zigzag-arrangement) procedure for deriving the Hòutiān trigram-positions from the Luò shū 9-number magic-square is methodologically distinctive and worth modern Yì-scholarship’s continuing attention.