（此文原載于《中國哲學前沿》2012年第2期）
Li Shuhua (Department of Philosophy, Nanjing University) Translated by Kuang Zhao
Abstract: Natural philosophy which is implied in I Ching is a philosophy of generating, which is a metaphor of life and unity of cosmology, ontology and axiology, based on practice of life which is a unity of moral practice and cognitional practice. It is illustrated in this article in an expressive way of modern philosophy that based on the implication of the originally classical text of I Ching and its commentaries, characteristics and meaning of Chinese natural philosophy could be interpreted from aspects of cosmology of morality, ontology of unity of heaven, earth and human being, theory of practice that integrates knowing with action and methodology of wholly generating. It is designated that this unique natural philosophy is not only the origin of the transcendental value of Chinese culture, but also the metaphysical foundation of ancient science of China. It conduces to create a unity of different cultures of human being from different ways which are harmonious but not uniform, in the great transformation of history and dialogue between East and West in 21st century.
Keywords: Dao, De, practice, unity of heaven, earth and human being, integration of knowing with action, wholly generating, system of images and numbers
Keywords: Dao, De, practice, unity of heaven, earth and human being, integration of knowing with action, wholly generating, system of images and numbers
I Ching or The Book of Change can be regarded as crystallization of the practice of life of ancient Chinese, which embodies abundant thoughts of natural philosophy. Different from the natural philosophy of ancient Greece which emphasizes speculation, the exploration of cosmos and human life by ancient Chinese is based on practice of life that is the unity of moral practice and cognitional practice, which, starting from the “moral metaphysics” that unites heaven, earth and human being, regards the cosmos as a process of incessant generating . This is enabled by the greatest original inspiration or the so-called “intellectual intuition” of ancient Chinese who, in the spirit and belief that the Way follows what is spontaneously so, creates a system of algorithm based on images and numbers which is originated from the pure images abstracted from the concrete things and is used to reveal the hidden mysteries of things. Thus, it can be regarded as a philosophy of generating based on a metaphor of life. This article tries to illustrate characteristics and meaning of Chinese natural philosophy in an expressive way of modern philosophy based on the implication of the original classical text of I Ching and its commentaries, which includes cosmology of morality, ontology of unity of heaven, earth and human being, theory of practice that integrates knowing with action and methodology of wholly generating. In a brief comparison with western science and philosophy of science, it is designated that this unique natural philosophy not only is the origin of the transcendental value of Chinese culture and provides the metaphysical foundation and pattern for the science of ancient China, but also supplies important cultural resource and edification for the development of culture and science of human kind today and in the future.
I. Cosmology which is originated from Dao and De
In recent time, it is a popular opinion that there is only philosophy of life in China, but not natural philosophy. In fact, Chinese philosophy of generating is a unity of natural philosophy and philosophy of life; the cosmology of ancient China is a thorough theory of wholly generating based on Dao（“the way”）and De (“the virtue”) , which also includes human being in it.
“It is the great virtue of heaven and earth to bestow life.” Natural philosophy of East and West, in ancient and modern time, all tries to answer the question of the ultimate cause of existence of the world. What is the ultimate cause of generating process of cosmos? In natural philosophy of I Ching, the world is not created and mastered by God, but by the great Way of nature and the great virtue of heaven and earth, which is the unlimited creativity of cosmos, the ultimate Good and the origin of life，maintaining the process of generation and regeneration. This is the fundamental belief of Chinese culture and science, which is vividly revealed and embodied by Qian and Kun of I Ching.
“Vast is the great and originating indicated by Qian! All things owe to it their beginning.”(I Ching, Qian, Tuan) Qian is the symbol of heaven and the Way, which means the beginning of life and (the) myriad things. “The method of Qian is to change and transform, so that every thing obtains its correct nature as appointed.”(I Ching, Qian, Tuan) In the transformation of Yin and Yang of the method of Qian, all things obtain their nature. “Yin and Yang are the way of creation of heaven.”(I Ching, On Trigrams) Through the process of “what is great and originating, penetrating, advantageous, correct and firm”, Qian bestows dynamic power of growth to all life and indicates the creativity and orientation of cosmos. The Way as the highest belief has three levels of implication: first, it is the ultimate origin of generating of cosmos; second, it is fundamental principle and dynamic power of evolving of nature; third, it is the great process of generation and regeneration.
“Complete is the great and originating indicated by Kun! All things owe to it their birth.”(I Ching, Kun, Tuan) Kun is the symbol of earth and its virtue, which means the birth of all life. Kun bestows physical figure to life, so that “the strong and weak are the way of creation of earth”(I Ching, On Trigrams). Kun means to support things with large virtue under the conferment of heaven and to maintain their life. The “virtue” as the foundation of life has three levels of function: first, it continues and saves messages of life; second, it bestows the matter of life and gives birth to it; third, the development and fulfillment of life is achieved by it.
“Qian directs the great beginnings of things; Kun gives to them their completion.”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) From aspect of natural philosophy, Qian and Kun indicate ontological and cosmological foundation of what life is. “It is the great virtue of heaven and earth to bestow life.”(I Ching, Xici, Part II) The original value in cosmos ensures the existence and continuity of life. It is designated in Commentaries of I Ching that: “One Yin and one Yang: this is called the Way. That which ensues from this is goodness, and that which is completed thereby is the nature.”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) The transformation of Yin and Yang delivers messages and rhythm of life, so that the cosmos is permeated with incessant creation and generating. This is enabled and continued by the Goodness of the Way and the Virtue existing universally between heaven and earth, which is in turn realized and completed through the nature of all things ---- to realize and complete its inner dynamic power and tendency of life.
“Qian and Kun are approaches to I Ching.”(I Ching, Xici, Part II) The creativity of powerful Qian and the practice of Kun reveal and imply the similar incessant activity and large virtue of a gentleman. The moral metaphysics of I Ching thus opens a door to a philosophy of life originated from its natural philosophy. Qian and Kun are the Way and virtue, and Yin and Yang. The life of cosmos is generated and continued not only in the sense of time, but also of value. The meaning of the Way and the Virtue is originated from Qian and Kun, heaven and earth, and has an implication for the morality and destiny of human being. This indicates a basic characteristic of Chinese culture – heaven and human are united into one.
Generation and regeneration are what is called change or I. Cosmology of I Ching based on morality delivers a thorough perspective of change centered on generation and an idea of cosmology of wholly generating. It is different from western natural philosophy and science which has always been trying to grasp the Unchanged in the process of change that philosophers of ancient China believe that the only unchanged in the world is the change itself, which is neither aggregation and dismissing of atoms, nor spatial movement of objects, but the great transformation of life and death and evolution of all things. It is said in commentaries of I Ching: “The great Primal Beginning generates the two primary forces. The two forces generate the four images. The four images generate the eight trigrams…”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) All things and cosmos itself are originated from the great Primal Beginning or the Way following their process of evolution from non-existence to existence, invisibility to visibility and birth to death, which represents a world of incessant generation and regeneration. Obviously, the theory of wholly generating in I Ching is a completely dynamic theory of process. This thought has common point with the philosophy of process of Whitehead. Their difference lies in: in the circulatory process of generation revealed by I Ching, time, space and matter are closely combined into a unity. In this thorough theory of wholly generating, human being is created by heaven and earth and thus belongs together to the great process of transformation of whole cosmos. Therefore, the process of natural generation is not in first line the object of knowledge which is independent from human being. Human being, with the nature bestowed by heaven and earth, is not independent from the myriad things between heaven and earth, but belongs to a unity of all things and heaven and earth, and thus takes part in the great process of generating of cosmos. It is important that, in I Ching, there exists axiology in the understanding of all things in the cosmos at the very start. Because of this, not only the origin of the transcendental value of Chinese culture was uncovered, but also a natural philosophy with inner value was established, which then gave birth to the science guided by morality of ancient China. This can provides a possible metaphysical foundation and be a resource for our establishing a science with inner value today.
II. Ontology of unity of heaven, earth and human being
In the beginning sages create I Ching and trigrams and hexagrams through their observing on heaven and earth, understanding of practice of life and developing of analogous images, which means “leading to destiny by exhausting the principle and human nature”(I Ching, On Trigrams). It is revealed a truth involved with noumenon instead of phenomenon, which is an unity of ontology and cosmology originated from morality. Here the noumenon does not mean something existing in the objective world and independent from human, but the world “in itself” which is inseparable from human being. This noumenon is a metaphor of life which includes human. It is not a still existence or logical presupposition, but what creates life incessantly and to which human being belongs. This establishes the basic condition of “unity of heaven, earth and human being” and “priority of practice” of Chinese culture and science and leads to its historical orientation which is different from the dualism and “priority of theory” of West.
Ontology of I Ching originates from natural “image” and “shape” and their transformations, but not artificial phenomenon. It is illustrated at the beginning of I Ching that position and transformation of Qian and Kun are based on regular changes of heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, and all eight hexagrams are established according to the natural male and female, sun and moon, thunder and rain, etc. “The sage follows divine things generated by heaven; the sage emulates the transformation of heaven and earth; the sage creates images on the basis of images disclosed by heaven, which reveals auspiciousness and knell …”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) I Ching is generated by directly emulating natural things and images and their transformations.
As earliest classic of China which focuses on natural principles, I Ching reveals the unity of heaven, earth and human being and the general principle of Yin and Yang which is immanent. The coherence of heaven, earth and human being embraces not only the natural world, but also human society. The meaning of them is predicated and disclosed by images on the relationship between the myriad things which is symbolized by trigrams and hexagrams. It is easy to discover that it is from the natural principle that the implication for the auspiciousness and knell of human affairs is derived. It is different from Western philosophy of nature in that it is not limited in an exclusive cognitive relationship between human and nature, but always involved with human behaviors; it does not try to make laws for nature, but emulates and follows nature. Its purpose does not consist in explaining and reconstructing the nature, but in emulating nature and illuminating humanity. Its ultimate concern is not to establish theoretical principles, but to guide practice. It expresses, therefore, an orientation to value and axiology rather than to cognition and epistemology. This maybe is the reason why many people believe there is no natural philosophy in China.
But I think the orientation to value and axiology of I Ching is based on the understanding of the ultimate “truth” of cosmos. The system of images and numbers is a system of deriving from principles of generation of the cosmos. Every single trigram and hexagram is based on natural principle from which every behavior in human life is to derive. As addressed by Mr. Mu Zongsan: there are three aspects of contents and meanings embodied in I Ching: first, physical aspect; second, arithmetical aspect; third, ethical aspect. All images imply “a kind of epistemology of realism” and “axiology of realism”, or “transcendental and immanent axiology”(Mu Songsan, 1988. p. 3, 5). This means I Ching includes two parts of contents: philosophy of nature and philosophy of life.
The practical turn in current research in philosophy of science reveals that ontological knowledge derives merely from practice of human. It is my belief that ontology of unity of heaven, earth and human being in I Ching is an “embodied cognition” based on practice of life (rather than idea or mere experience). It embraces a natural philosophy which has an orientation to value, which is different from that of western. Changes of every single line of a hexagram disclose the coherence of heaven, earth and human being, which means not only the integration of human being with nature, or subject with object, but also the unity of noumenon and phenomenon, spirit and material and knowing and action. Thus on one hand, the world is comprehensible, on the other hand, it is meaningful with inner value. Cosmos is not separated from or opposite to human life; they are rather coherent from both sides. “From aspect of cosmos, its origin is not rootless and depends on random hypothesis, but witnessed directly through my moral practice. From aspect of human life, the origin of the meaning of morality and of value is not confined to itself, but united with the Way of heaven explicitly without any illusion.” (Mu Zongsan, 2005. p. 120) Thus, the transcendent world is not separated from the realistic world in Chinese culture. The spiritual realm of “great man” which is illustrated in Qian of I Ching indicates that “his virtue merges into that of heaven and earth; he is as brilliant as sun and moon; his process of life follows the order of four seasons…”(I Ching, Qian) Therefore, Chinese science and philosophy originated from I Ching claims “the Way emulates what is spontaneously so” on one hand, and encourages ordinary man to dare to transform himself into sage and “reveal and represent the heart of heaven and earth and found living for people” on the other hand. This is very different from modern science and philosophy of west without such pursuit.
Since the advent of western culture in east, the word “ontology” which is regarded to be independent from human by the western philosophers and “noumenon” that can be thought about only by pure intellect of Plato’s have been translated into“本體論”in Chinese. And based on this standard, the traditional Chinese culture has been criticized for lack of an “ontology”. There have been many such ridiculous misunderstandings about Chinese culture in modern time, which have caused the interruption of traditional Chinese culture. It is my opinion that the unique spirit and wisdom of Chinese natural philosophy which is implied in I Ching as an unity of cosmology, ontology and axiology, has profound realistic and historical meaning for the reconstruction of system of value of Chinese culture, for the current research in western philosophy on “return to ontology” and “new ontology”, and especially for solving the problem of dualism of subject and object of western philosophy and the dilemma of separation of heaven and human being in modern China under the influence of Western-centrism.
III. Practical theory of integration of knowing with action
We can inquire farther on the above basis: How could knowledge of noumenon be possible? Further, how is “intuition of wisdom” possible? Obviously, it cannot be pure rational knowledge, but whole understanding only originates from practice of life. If an “epistemology of reality” is included in I Ching, then this epistemology is a theory of practice of integration of knowing with action.
I Ching originates from experience and understanding of practice of life of ancient Chinese, rather than a kind of objective knowledge based on sensation and rational knowledge. Commentaries of I Ching say: “Yin and Yang unite according to their qualities and there comes the embodiment of the result by the strong and weak. In this way we have the phenomena of heaven and earth visibly exhibited, and can comprehend the operation of the spiritual intelligence.”(I Ching, Xici, Part II) It says again: “In the I, there is no thought and no action, it is still and without movement, but, when acted on, it penetrates forthwith to all phenomena and events under the heaven.”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) Obviously, observation of philosophers in ancient China is not limited in experiential intuition originated from eyes and ears, and “no thought and no action” is distinct from artificial experiment and observation in modern western science. “Images of heaven” and “divine things generated by heaven” are presented directly before us instead of being regarded as presuppositions. This is an “intuition of wisdom” of whole life, which discloses the original “heart of heaven and earth”. On this “intuition”, there is an excellent explanation in Zhuangzi: “There is greatest beauty between heaven and earth, but it is not spoken out; there is clear rule in the change of four seasons, but it is not discussed; there are ………”
In eyes of Kant, intuition of wisdom, which “reveals the existence of objects to us by itself”, is an intuition of intellect, which “belongs to the original being, and never to a being that still depends”. Accordingly, this “intuition of non-sensibility, creation and origination belongs to the God uniquely instead of human beings.”(Mu Zongsan, 1971. pp. 146-147) While I know the presentation of the self through intuition of sensibility, I know who I am by myself through intuition of wisdom. Therefore, in the western tradition, there is just knowledge about objects and phenomenon, but not knowledge about noumenon, which is unity of heaven, earth and human being. In tradition of Chinese thoughts, “intuition of wisdom is acknowledged, so that a man could know who he is by himself and further has knowledge about thing-in-itself.”(Mu Zongsan, 1971. p. 158)
How could intuition of wisdom be possible? It originates only from practice of life and the understanding of it, because it is only in practice of life that human could be united with objects into a spiritual realm of integration of heaven with human being and subject with object. “The presentation of intuition of wisdom determines existence of the self is a realistic(or specific) one.”(Mu Zongsan, 1971. p. 160) Mr. Mu Zongsan designates: this intuition of wisdom “does not represent an already existing object to itself, but through its representation, the object is given or created at the first time”(Mu Zongsan, 1971. p. 151).
Then, is there really no thought in the I? How could there be knowledge without thought? Mr. Mu addresses: “This intuition is thought which is intuitive rather than notional.”(Mu Zongsan, 1971. p. 153) “Knowledge of intuition of wisdom…is creative knowledge instead of cognitive.” And the world is not cognized “as a phenomenon”, but “illuminates and shows itself as world-in-itself”.( Mu Zongsan, 1971. p. 159) Mr. Wang Shuren suggests that the traditional way of thinking of China which is based on images is different from that of west. It is an original and creative way of thinking which can be characterized as non-substantial, non-objective and non-fixed. Activities of thinking which creates images by observation of things in I Ching, is incessantly sublimated through the “flowing and transformation of images” and leads “the spirit of human to develop into a wholly enlightened horizon and a sublimely spiritual realm of freedom, which is in coherence with the whole dynamic cosmos”(Wang Shuren, 2006).
Philosophy of science today is trying to overcome the dispute between the representational and constructional approaches in epistemology, claiming that science is a kind of human practice and cognition and its objects emerge both in the process of practice. In history of science, many original and creative scientific discovery were achieved by inspiration and intuition instead of logical inference. Natural philosophy of I Ching provides us with historical foundation which serves for our research on the epistemology based on “priority of practice” and on “intuition of wisdom” and creative thinking of human being.
In brief, Chinese epistemology has been developing in the direction of priority of practice and orientation to value. It is neither representational nor constructional, but based on practice and penetrating experience. Its orientation is developed in following sequence: practice of life→intellectual intuition→development of analogous images which serves for discriminating things→logic based on images and numbers, rather than in the sequence: sensual perception→notions and categories→formal logic.
The priority of practice determines features of Chinese culture which is integration of noumenon with phenomenon and knowing with action, emphasizing practice and “enlightenment without words”. It is emphasized by Daoism: “the Way emulates what is spontaneously so”, and by Confucianism: “to know the heaven through practice of humanity” that human nature and Way of heaven, or human virtue and performance of heaven and earth are coherent and corresponding with each other and thus united into one. In practice of life of I Ching, there is no discrimination between practice of morality and practice of cognition, however, the priority of the knowledge of morality originating from intellectual intuition implies the cognitive knowledge originating from sensual perception and experience. Epistemology of I Ching emphasizes orientation to value instead of orientation to cognition with the latter absorbed in the former. The knowledge of a human being develops with the sublimation of his spiritual realm, and knowledge of this kind could be called “knowledge based on spiritual realm”. This kind of knowledge is very different from that of western epistemology which emphasizes notions and theoretical construction.
There are both advantages and disadvantages in either western culture which emphasizes priority of theory or Chinese culture which emphasizes priority of practice. In history, the epistemology and theoretical construction in Chinese culture has not developed as independently and sufficiently as that in western culture, which is regarded as one of the reasons why modern science had not emerged in China. But there is also crisis in western culture and science with the priority of theory. In 20th century, a critical turning has taken place in western culture, with the recent development of “practical turning” in philosophy of science. However, the kind of practice put forward in the “practical turning”, no matter by Lauce, Pickering, or Latour, is still limited in practice of cognition, leaving the problem of the subject, value and truth of the cognition still unsolved. Perhaps, natural philosophy in I Ching can supply us with important inspiration to unite practice of cognition with practice of morality, to eliminate the separation between noumenon and phenomenon and to provide modern science with a foundational origin of transcendental, metaphysical value.
IV. Methodology of Wholly Generating
How to illustrate truths of cosmos and human life? Ancient philosophers of China were aware of the limit of language in very early time. It is said in Lao Zi: “The Way that can be put into words is not really eternal way. Names that can assign fixed reference to things are not really eternal name.”(Lao Zi, Chapter 1) It is said in Commentaries of I Ching: “Writing could not reflect what is said completely; Saying could not reflect what is thought completely. However, could the thinking of sage not be revealed? ”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) Is the thinking of sage just personal knowledge which is not universally understandable and could not be communicated among us? Not at all! Commentaries of I Ching addresses: “The sage creates images to reflect his thinking, and trigrams to reflect what is true or false.”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) Our ancestors generated the way of thinking based on images with a dynamic and synthetic method which creates images and trigrams. It is embraced a methodology of wholly generating in it, which could be regarded as the unique contribution of wisdom generated by Chinese culture in human history.
In the first, I Ching is a system focused on images which is a unity of symbol, language, algorithm and human being. Wang Bi said: “Thinking is reflected completely by images; images are expressed by sayings.” “Sayings are what illustrates images; images are what preserves thinking.”(Wang Bi: A Brief Commentaries of I Ching, Illustration of Images) The limit of saying is less than images; and that of images is less than thinking. Chinese is different from westerner, who does not regard the language as limit of world. Thereby, because of symbol – “image” – and language, the world could be discussed and knowledge could be understood. I Ching utilizes images of trigrams or symbols to present the world in the followed sequence: emulating heaven and earth to create analogous images→creating images to reflect thinking completely→generating trigrams through images→using words to illustrate images→setting species and generating equipments based on images. Image presents principle and method of wholly generating of I.
Second, trigrams are created by observation of transformation of Yin and Yang in I Ching.(Cf. I Ching, On Trigrams) The transformation of Yin and Yang, or strong and weak reveals relation of generating of the myriad things in the cosmos. Images and trigrams and their deducing in I Ching not only disclose complicated dynamics of the myriad things which carries Yin on the shoulders and Yang in the arms – “the great Primal Beginning generates the two primary forces profoundly”, but also imply special way of thinking and inference of China.
Two ultimate points which is opposite to each other could not co-exist in a static condition, and in a process of dynamics, without mutual actions between them, the process could not be continued. Therefore, this method of inference influenced by the great Primal Beginning is based on the two primary forces –Yin and Yang. Based on trigrams and their method of inference in I Ching, I conclude its principles and characters as followed:
1. Mutual implication of Yin and Yang, which keeps wholly harmony in the process of generating;
2. Mutual generating of Yin and Yang, which begins a new circle of generation and regeneration after an old one finished;
3. Mutual assistance of Yin and Yang - without any one of them, the process of transformation is impossible;
4. Dynamics of Yin and Yang forms the rhythm of life, which presents various ways - evolution of one and declination of another;
5. Integral balance between Yin and Yang, which implies local instability forever.
Obviously, this method of inference of China is a logic of life, which serves for important way of thinking to understand the dynamic process of wholly generating.
Third, Commentaries of I Ching say: “It is a magic to understand an omen. …Omen is a tiny sign, which foretells the auspiciousness. A gentleman will carry out action immediately when an omen is appeared.”(I Ching, Xici, Part II) It is worthy to notice that key point of transformations of things consists in an Omen, which is tiny, “before an action and between existence and non-existence”(Cf. Zhou Lianxi(Dunyi): Book of universality, Part IV, The Sage). “The very beginning of any thing in the cosmos includes its all results in it, which is an omen.”(Mu Zongsan, 2004. p. 9) This is particular phenomenon of dynamically wholly generating. It is suggested that the beginning of generating of a system is not an atom, but a primary unity of generating, which implies all information of generating of a system.
How to grasp this beginning of process of generating of a system? Commentaries of I Ching said: “Vast is the great and originating indicated by Qian! Complete is the great and originating indicated by Kun!”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) This reveals the insight of an omen of any transformation. It is needed a method of thinking of wholly generating, which foresees followed “Butterfly Effect”. “I presents profound understanding of omen of sages. It is profound enough to touch the will of all people in the world; It reveals omens which indicates the achievement of all things in the world.”(I Ching, Xici, Part I ) It is different from western tradition that Chinese tradition focuses on omens of changes instead of achieved things. Ancient science of China emphasizes “beginning” and “generating” and creates great achievement. Today, the enlightenment of I Ching reveals the key point of modern scientific problems and the resolving of them: how to grasp an omen of process of transformation of a thing at the beginning. Maybe we need to surpass modern methodology of scientific research to resolve above problem.
With development of computer science and system science, new algorithms of mathematics are being generated, which is replacing traditional analytical method and trying to describe process of generating of a system in new ways and techniques. It is an infrequent opportunity for Chinese culture and science to innovate themselves independently. The author believe natural philosophy of I Ching not only sets the metaphysical foundation for ancient science of China, but also discloses a whole suit of principles of algorithm and logic based on images and numbers served for describing the nature(Cf. Li Shuhua, 2009), which could be regarded as meta-science of China. It is ahead of the ancient world in history, and supplies important inspiration of methodology and metaphysical foundation for development of science in today and in the future.
But it is necessary to notice that “any tradition of scientific research is rooted in unique unity of culture”(Yu Yingshi, 2009. p. IX), and science in different culture has different metaphysical foundation, field of research and way of development. Revealing the distinction among them in our time of globalization and creating a new tradition are hard work for generations. It is needed equal conversation between national cultures with unique spirit and way of thinking for the common destiny of human being under the wave of globalization and informationization, which is the only way that is possible to surpass prejudices of Western-centrism and industrial civilization and create new orders of the world, in the great transformation of history of 21st century.
In the first, I Ching is a system focused on images which is a unity of symbol, language, algorithm and human being. Wang Bi said: “Thinking is reflected completely by images; images are expressed by sayings.” “Sayings are what illustrates images; images are what preserves thinking.”(Wang Bi: A Brief Commentaries of I Ching, Illustration of Images) The limit of saying is less than images; and that of images is less than thinking. Chinese is different from westerner, who does not regard the language as limit of world. Thereby, because of symbol – “image” – and language, the world could be discussed and knowledge could be understood. I Ching utilizes images of trigrams or symbols to present the world in the followed sequence: emulating heaven and earth to create analogous images→creating images to reflect thinking completely→generating trigrams through images→using words to illustrate images→setting species and generating equipments based on images. Image presents principle and method of wholly generating of I.
Second, trigrams are created by observation of transformation of Yin and Yang in I Ching.(Cf. I Ching, On Trigrams) The transformation of Yin and Yang, or strong and weak reveals relation of generating of the myriad things in the cosmos. Images and trigrams and their deducing in I Ching not only disclose complicated dynamics of the myriad things which carries Yin on the shoulders and Yang in the arms – “the great Primal Beginning generates the two primary forces profoundly”, but also imply special way of thinking and inference of China.
Two ultimate points which is opposite to each other could not co-exist in a static condition, and in a process of dynamics, without mutual actions between them, the process could not be continued. Therefore, this method of inference influenced by the great Primal Beginning is based on the two primary forces –Yin and Yang. Based on trigrams and their method of inference in I Ching, I conclude its principles and characters as followed:
1. Mutual implication of Yin and Yang, which keeps wholly harmony in the process of generating;
2. Mutual generating of Yin and Yang, which begins a new circle of generation and regeneration after an old one finished;
3. Mutual assistance of Yin and Yang - without any one of them, the process of transformation is impossible;
4. Dynamics of Yin and Yang forms the rhythm of life, which presents various ways - evolution of one and declination of another;
5. Integral balance between Yin and Yang, which implies local instability forever.
Obviously, this method of inference of China is a logic of life, which serves for important way of thinking to understand the dynamic process of wholly generating.
Third, Commentaries of I Ching say: “It is a magic to understand an omen. …Omen is a tiny sign, which foretells the auspiciousness. A gentleman will carry out action immediately when an omen is appeared.”(I Ching, Xici, Part II) It is worthy to notice that key point of transformations of things consists in an Omen, which is tiny, “before an action and between existence and non-existence”(Cf. Zhou Lianxi(Dunyi): Book of universality, Part IV, The Sage). “The very beginning of any thing in the cosmos includes its all results in it, which is an omen.”(Mu Zongsan, 2004. p. 9) This is particular phenomenon of dynamically wholly generating. It is suggested that the beginning of generating of a system is not an atom, but a primary unity of generating, which implies all information of generating of a system.
How to grasp this beginning of process of generating of a system? Commentaries of I Ching said: “Vast is the great and originating indicated by Qian! Complete is the great and originating indicated by Kun!”(I Ching, Xici, Part I) This reveals the insight of an omen of any transformation. It is needed a method of thinking of wholly generating, which foresees followed “Butterfly Effect”. “I presents profound understanding of omen of sages. It is profound enough to touch the will of all people in the world; It reveals omens which indicates the achievement of all things in the world.”(I Ching, Xici, Part I ) It is different from western tradition that Chinese tradition focuses on omens of changes instead of achieved things. Ancient science of China emphasizes “beginning” and “generating” and creates great achievement. Today, the enlightenment of I Ching reveals the key point of modern scientific problems and the resolving of them: how to grasp an omen of process of transformation of a thing at the beginning. Maybe we need to surpass modern methodology of scientific research to resolve above problem.
With development of computer science and system science, new algorithms of mathematics are being generated, which is replacing traditional analytical method and trying to describe process of generating of a system in new ways and techniques. It is an infrequent opportunity for Chinese culture and science to innovate themselves independently. The author believe natural philosophy of I Ching not only sets the metaphysical foundation for ancient science of China, but also discloses a whole suit of principles of algorithm and logic based on images and numbers served for describing the nature(Cf. Li Shuhua, 2009), which could be regarded as meta-science of China. It is ahead of the ancient world in history, and supplies important inspiration of methodology and metaphysical foundation for development of science in today and in the future.
But it is necessary to notice that “any tradition of scientific research is rooted in unique unity of culture”(Yu Yingshi, 2009. p. IX), and science in different culture has different metaphysical foundation, field of research and way of development. Revealing the distinction among them in our time of globalization and creating a new tradition are hard work for generations. It is needed equal conversation between national cultures with unique spirit and way of thinking for the common destiny of human being under the wave of globalization and informationization, which is the only way that is possible to surpass prejudices of Western-centrism and industrial civilization and create new orders of the world, in the great transformation of history of 21st century.
References
Mu Zongsan (1988). Natural Philosophy of I Ching and Its Moral Implication, Introduction, Taipei: Wenjin Press.
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原載：Frongt Philos.China 2012.7（2）