A Question about changes in "Tai Xuan Jing"

[peter]

...or "Tai Hsuan Ching" by Yang Xiong (Yang Hsiung?). I read some brief texts about this book, brief enough to inform only about the essence of it.

I know that there are three types of lines there - not only classical "Yin" and "Yang" (mother and father), but also a third type, a double-broken line, a "child". But how do any line changes? Are there a fixed sequence of changes, or maybe any line may change in any of two others?

And there is also a question about how to cast a tetragram of "Tai Xuan Jing" ("The Book of the Great Mystery")?

With best regards.

 

[boyler]

Hi Peter,

The lines in TXJ represent Heaven, Earth and Man, not the yinyang.

The lines in TXJ do not change, and have no distinct meanings of its own, except they are arranged in four places each representing region (fang ??), province (zhou ?B), department (bu ??), and family (jia ??), meaning of which is not quite clear.

It's rather text of heads (shou ??) and nine appraisals (zan ??) for each of the 81 tetragrams that is used, and these texts have no apparent connection with the lines of gua (tetragrams).

Instead lines changing, during divination one receives three appraisals of the same tetragram, representing thought, good fortune and calamity - the three aspects of the situation in question in development.

Try to obtain "The Elemental Changes" by Michael Nylan, or, if more scholarly inclined, her "The Canon of Supreme Mystery". The both books contain complete translation of TXJ, with Michael Nylan's commentaries, except the latter book has extensive introduction and endnotes.

Derek Walters' "translation" is terrible, and is not recommended.

The method of the divination with TXJ is described in the introductions of the above mentioned books.

TXJ as a book for divination is meant only for self-cultivation, and "training" in acquiring traditional Confucian virtues.

If you are interested, you can maybe learn more at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Taixuanching/

--
Boyler
www.hiden-city.net

 

[peter]

Hello, Boyler,

Thank you for this complete information. But it is very strange to me that lines do not change. I remember the structure of a tetragram. And in total TXJ has even less common with YJ than it may seem at first glance. I wonder why Yang Xiong created these things.

Thanks for invitation, but now I'm too involved in YJ and don't want to delve into totally another system.

With best regards.

 

[heylise]

Add a 'b' to Boyler's website (hidden city instead of hiden) and you get to this page with the wonderful Chinese texts Tom mentioned.

http://www.hidden-city.net/chinesephilosophy/confucianism/oldtextsschool/yangxiong/taixuanjing/

Boyler, thanks for them!! Must have been a huge work..

LiSe

 

[boyler]

Hi Peter,

These were not complete information, of course.
This is why I said you can maybe learn more at TXJ mailing list, although it's much better to study it first.

The changing lines are pertinent only for YJ, and it could be maybe also conditionally said for YL, but change itself is, of course, inherent in TXJ too.

TXJ in fact describes, throughout its 81 heads, change and interplay of yin and yang qi in the nature in a linear, calendar order. So it describes mutual change of yin and yang, just does not use lines for the purpose.

The triple answer one gets when consulting TXJ also represents the change, or transformation, from thought through good fortune to the final calamity of the situation at hand.

It may seem to you that TXJ has less common with YJ than it may seem at first glance, but it is in fact written with an intention to elucidate YJ, albeit through the prism of Confucian thought as it was in the time of Yang Xiong. It's directly connected with YJ calendar based on works of Meng Xi and Jing Fang. Thus to each tetragram is ascribed a hexagram from YJ (some hexagrams are of course doubled as there is 81 tetragrams and only 64 hexagrams). They sometimes share same imagery, even tetragram names are same, or very similar to the corresponding hexagram names from the YJ.

If interested these relationships between TXJ and YJ you can find in the 'Table of relationships among solar calendar, 60 gua of "Yijing", and 81 shou of "Taixuanjing"' or 'Tetragrams and 60 hexagrams' at

http://www.hidden-city.net/downloads/

So in the final analysis TXJ, although in itself independent philosophical work,and could be used on its own, it's also an accompanying book meant for better understanding of YJ.

Anyway Yang Xiong, imitating (in positive way) YJ, wrote a completely new philosophical work, the TXJ, and this book is since his times a recognized work from YJ tradition. It caries the title of Classic (jing), and it's and extraordinary poetic and philosophical work which value is, unfortunately, still not recognized enough. Of course, none is obliged to study it if not interested in it. But lives of those who study it would be enriched by beautiful poem full of profound philosophy that came to us from the times of ancient Han Dynasty. It's highly recommended, and as would Nathan Sivin said "this is one of the titles on the short list of Chinese books every cultivated person should read."

--
Boyler
www.hidden-city.net

 

[boyler]

Hi LiSe,

Thank you for retrieving of the hidden "d" in my "hidden-city" )
It went unnoticed (by me) for about half of the year )

I have some "bad" and a good news about Chinese YL text ) for you and Harmen, also I slightly re-edited LQJ and TXJ texts, to make them more uniform, and I'll let you know when I put these emended and re-edited texts on my webpages. I am also planning to put Chinese text of MWD (Mawangdui) YJ there.

Any commentaries, emendations, finding of missing characters, etc., are, of course, very welcome. Thank you.

--
Boyler
www.hidden-city.net