Digest Week 8 Trinity Term 2025

Book of Changes seminars

This series of the reading group will offer an interpretation from nine perspectives: the truth of the body, the ancient sages and Confucius of “today”, Confucius’s transformation of the Way of Heaven (tian dao), What is the Way of Earth (di dao), What is the Way of Humanity (ren dao), the Sun(损, decrease) and  Yi(益, increase) of Heaven and Earth, the Sun(损, decrease) and Yi(益, increase) of the Middle Heaven, the Sun(损, damage) and Yi (益, benefit) of the Way of Humanity, and the rhythms of human life.

Through this initial series of readings, participants will, although only attaining a preliminary and superficial understanding, nonetheless gain a correct and meaningful entry into Confucius' thought on the I Ching (Book of Changes).  This will aid us in comprehending the truth of human life and the profound implications of Confucius’s composition of the hexagrams. It will significantly benefit our subsequent series, which will focus on how to interpret each hexagram and explore Confucius’s ideas concerning human civilization.

We look forward to the participation of everyone interested in Confucius’s thought, the truth of life, and the direction of human civilization in this reading group.

Title: The Sun and the Way of Human Beings

Time: 18.00-19.30

Venue: Colin Matthew Room 

In the Readings we will examine the “Shuogua Zhuan”(《说卦传》) in conjunction with other chapters of the Yi and interpretations of certain hexagrams, in order to understand the ontological foundations, epistemological methods, categories, and logic that underlie Confucius’s composition of the Yi.

I. Qian Kun San Suo (乾坤三索)

II. Qian and Kun as Parental Figures

III. A Detailed Explanation of the Qian Hexagram

IV. A Detailed Explanation of the Kun Hexagram

V. The Way of  Yi Begins with the Xian Hexagram