Chapter 16 If you are poor, you will change, if you change, you will be successful, if you are general, you will last forever

After Shennong's death, the Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun made it, through the changes, so that the people will not tire, and the gods will make it, so that the people will be happy. "Yi" is poor and changes;Therefore, "since God blesses it, there will be no disadvantages". ——"Book of Changes: Xici II" (excerpt) On the morning of December 6, 2005, Premier Wen Jiabao, who was on a friendly visit to France, was invited to Ecole Polytechnique and delivered an important speech entitled "Respecting Different Civilizations and Building a Harmonious World Together". In his speech, the Premier pointed out: "The world Any kind of civilization in the world develops and progresses through changes. The ancient Chinese philosophical classic "Book of Changes" puts forward the idea of ​​"poorness leads to change, change leads to success, and generality leads to long-term". Chinese civilization has a long history, but it is not static. Thousands of years In the future, the Chinese civilization has continued to develop. Although it was once behind in modern times, it is not accidental that it can strive to become stronger and make great strides forward. The foundation and internal driving force of the development of Chinese civilization lie in its vigor and self-improvement, in its independent will , lies in its openness and inclusiveness, and in its reformation and transformation. It is through continuous transformation that Chinese civilization has been passed down and carried forward.”

"Poverty leads to change, change leads to success, and mastery leads to long-term development" comes from "Book of Changes: Xici Xia".As the head of Confucian classics, it was first called "Yi", and the name "Zhou Yi" did not appear until "Zhou Li". "Zhou", Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Yi Lun" believes that it means "Zhou Pu", that is, to be omnipotent, and to go round and round again.However, Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty "Zhou Yi Zheng Zheng" believed that "Zhou" refers to the place name of Qiyang, which is the name of the Zhou Dynasty.Some people think that the name of "Book of Changes" has something to do with its popularity in the Zhou Dynasty; others believe that it was written by King Wen of Zhou based on the record in "Historical Records" that "Wen Wang arrested and acted out Zhou Yi", so it is called "Zhou Yi". There are also many interpretations of "Yi", but the prevailing one is the "Three Righteousness" theory of Zheng Xuan of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Zheng Xuan's "On the Book of Changes" believes: "The name Yi has three meanings: one is simple; the other is easy; The two properties are simple and simple; the second is constantly changing; the third is constant.So many explanations, on the one hand, explain the complexity of the book "Book of Changes", on the other hand, it also shows the richness of the book's connotation.

Both the current edition of "Book of Changes" and the Mawangdui silk manuscript contain two parts, "The Book of Changes".It is a book of divination compiled by ancient Chinese divination officials (or historians) on the basis of the rich divination records accumulated over a long period of time. It was written around the end of the Yin Dynasty and the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty in the 12th century BC. "Yizhuan" is an interpretation of hexagram paintings, hexagram images, hexagram words, and line words. It was written from the Spring and Autumn Period to the middle of the Warring States Period, and it contains extremely rich philosophical thoughts.

The excerpts at the beginning of the chapter are from "Book of Changes · Xici Xia", expounding the "Tongbian" thought. The idea of ​​"Tongbian" is one of the most important ideas in "Book of Changes".This idea was put forward when explaining the yarrow method. "Xi Ci Zhuan" said: "Change to make the best profit, and dance the drum to make the most of the spirit." That is to say, the change of the image of the line has the change and the change; the change of the image of the line shows the nature of the thing that is occupied. And the trend of change can guide people to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.He also said: "Changing and cutting is called change, and pushing and doing is called understanding." "Changing and cutting" refers to the adjustment of changes in hexagrams and lines, even if yin lines become yang lines and yang lines become yin Yao, therefore, here "change" refers to the change of hexagrams; "Xi Ci Zhuan" also uses the performance of the two hexagrams of Qian and Kun to explain Bianhetong. It says: "Closing a household is called Kun, opening a household is called Qian, closing and opening is called change, and endless exchanges are called Tong." The performance of Kun is the main development, and the performance of Kun is the main closure.Yin Yao becomes Yang Yao, and Yang Yao becomes Yin Yao.This reciprocating movement of opening and closing is "changing", and this endless back and forth movement of opposites is "tong".So, what is the need for flexibility?On this issue, "Xi Ci" also made a full discussion.This discussion is the first excerpt of the text.In this text, "poor" refers to the end, terminal, and end; "tong" refers to unobstructed.The translation of the whole sentence is "After Shennong, Huangdi, Yao and Shun came one after another. They will change the use and system of the previous generation, so that the people will make progress; in practice, they will change miraculously, so that the people can use it appropriately. "Book of Changes" The truth is that when there is extreme poverty, there will be changes, and the changes will be smooth, and the smoothness will be long-lasting, so it can be like what is said in the first nine of "Da You", "Blessings from the sky are auspicious and not harmful."" (Huang Shouqi, Zhang Shanwen " Zhouyi Translation and Annotation") here is to explain the effect of the sage's image making device with the flexible theory of the yarrow method, and then explain the important significance of the flexible method.In the view of the author of the "Book of Changes", the development of things is always poor first and then change, change and then become clear, and then become long after being clear, this kind of attention and affirmation of change is a further development of the theory of yin and yang change.

Tongbian thought is of great significance in the history of Chinese culture, and has had a profound impact on philosophy, medicine, astronomy, politics, ethics, literature and art and their theories.The issues of revival and innovation in the ideological field and political level, the issue of "flexibility" in the history of literary development discussed by Liu Xie, and the issue of "anti-economics and harmony" in the field of calligraphy (Wang Wenzhi's "Inscription and Postscript of Kuaiyutang") are all related to " There is a direct connection with the concept of flexibility in Zhouyi.

Premier Wen Jiabao quoted this sentence from "Book of Changes", once again vividly interpreting the immortal thought of this ancient classic, and also explained the internal reasons for the continuous development of Chinese civilization.