Jīng Fáng 京房
Style name Jūnmíng 君明. Native of Dùnqiū 頓丘 (in modern Hénán). Born approximately 77 BCE; died 37 BCE under sentence of execution by the Western Hàn Yuándì.
The principal Hàn-period Yìjīng numerical-divinatory commentator and Confucian-political theorist. Student of 焦延壽 Jiāo Yánshòu. Through Jiāo Yánshòu’s guàqì zhírì (hexagram-pneuma duty-day) tradition, Jīng Fáng developed the most elaborated Hàn-period Yìjīng numerical-divinatory system: the bāgōng guà 八宮卦 (eight-palace hexagrams) division of the 64 hexagrams into 8 groups of 8 each (Qián-palace, Kǎn-palace, etc.); the fēifú 飛伏 (flying-and-hidden) doctrine of the relationship between manifest and concealed lines; the nàjiǎ 納甲 (incorporating-trunks) assignment of the 10 heavenly-trunks to the 6 lines of each hexagram; and the guàqì 卦氣 (hexagram-pneuma) seasonal-day-attribution system that became foundational for late-imperial Chinese xiàngshù Yìxué (image-and-number Yì-studies).
His political career combined this divinatory expertise with a reformist Confucian policy program. Promoted to jǔxiào lián and given imperial audiences with Yuándì; advocated for the kǎogōng kèlì 考功課吏 (officials-evaluation) reform that would have systematically assessed bureaucratic performance. The reform proposal was rejected by the dominant court eunuch faction (Shí Xiǎn 石顯, Wǔ Lùchōngzōng 五鹿充宗); Jīng Fáng was sent into provincial assignment as Wèijùn tàishǒu (Magistrate of Wèi commandery), and shortly thereafter executed on a fabricated charge.
His principal surviving work is the Jīngshì Yìzhuàn 京氏易傳 (KR3g0030) in 3 juàn — the systematic exposition of his Yì-divinatory methodology. Through the work, the Jīngshì Yìxué tradition became one of the principal Hàn-period Yì-traditions, alongside the Mèng Xǐ 孟喜 tradition (Jiāo Yánshòu’s-and-Jīng-Fáng’s own predecessor-school) and the Fèi Zhí 費直 tradition. The Jīng Fáng numerical-cosmological apparatus would shape WèiJìn Xuánxué (Mystery-Learning), Six-Dynasties commentary, Tang Yī Xíng’s astronomical work, and the Sòng xiàngshù school.